Things to do in New Orleans
From a guided walk through St Louis Cemetery No. 1 to a plantation tour on River Road and an airboat ride through the bayou, New Orleans rewards visitors with experiences for every kind of trip.
Signature experiences
The categories that define a first trip to New Orleans — a French Quarter walking tour, a plantation visit on River Road, and a night of live music on Frenchmen Street.
Ghost and vampire tours
Evening walking tours through the French Quarter and Garden District built around the city's reputation for hauntings and vampire lore.
4 guides
Voodoo and cemetery tours
Guided visits to St Louis Cemetery No. 1 and other above-ground cemeteries, alongside tours covering the history of New Orleans voodoo.
3 guides
Plantation tours
Guided visits to River Road plantations such as Oak Alley, Laura and Whitney, sites of history that center enslaved people's lives and labor.
6 guides
Swamp and bayou tours
Airboat and pontoon trips into the wetlands around Lafitte, Slidell and the Barataria Preserve to see alligators, egrets and cypress swamp.
4 guides
Food and drink tours
Guided tastings and walking tours covering Creole cuisine, po'boys, beignets and cocktails across the French Quarter and beyond.
6 guides
Jazz, music and nightlife
Live music venues and guided nights out along Frenchmen Street and through the jazz history of Tremé and the French Quarter.
3 guides
Walking tours
Guided walks through the French Quarter, Garden District and Tremé covering architecture, history and local stories on foot.
14 guides
History and culture tours
Tours covering the city's Creole, French and African American history, from colonial New Orleans to the aftermath of Katrina.
8 guides
River cruises
Mississippi River cruises departing New Orleans, including paddlewheel boats with sightseeing or dinner and music on board.
2 guides
Bus and city tours
Narrated bus and van tours covering the French Quarter, Garden District and other New Orleans neighborhoods in a single outing.
1 guide
Day trips from New Orleans
Guided day trips to River Road plantations, the bayou country, Lafayette's Acadiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
10 guides
Museums and attractions
Ticketed sites including the National WWII Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art and other attractions across the city.
4 guides
Bike and carriage tours
Guided bike rides and mule-drawn carriage tours through the French Quarter and Garden District at a slower pace.
2 guides
New Orleans tours
A broad set of guided tours across the city, for visitors comparing formats before choosing a first outing.
1 guide
MSY airport transfers
Private and shared transfers between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) and hotels in the city.
2 guidesMore ways to experience the region
Specialist interests and practical planning - museums, transport, seasonal timing, and the comparisons every first-time visitor searches for.
Tours for a first visit
A starting set of tours and activities that work for a first trip to New Orleans, whatever the rest of the itinerary looks like.
13 guides
Tours worth comparing
Similar New Orleans tours placed side by side to compare route, duration and inclusions before choosing one.
3 guides
Seasonal New Orleans activities
Activities shaped by the calendar, such as Mardi Gras season, French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest and the hurricane season window.
7 guides
Getting around New Orleans
Streetcars, buses, the Jazzy Pass and the Canal Street ferry as ways to move between the French Quarter and other neighborhoods.
3 guides
Family-friendly activities
Tours and activities suited to traveling with children, from City Park to river cruises and daytime swamp tours.
3 guides
Accessible New Orleans tours
Tours and attractions noted for wheelchair access or reduced-mobility accommodations.
1 guide
Low-cost things to do
Free and low-cost ways to spend time in New Orleans, including French Quarter walking, City Park and the Canal Street ferry.
0 guidesBrowse by destination
Tours and activities organised by where you're headed — the best of each city and region.
Good to know about things to do in New Orleans
New Orleans' things-to-do hub is organised around the activities that actually sell here, because the right day depends heavily on what brought you. Ghost and vampire tours cover the French Quarter's haunted history after dark, while voodoo and cemetery tours explain how the above-ground tombs work and why Saint Louis No. 1 can only be visited with an archdiocese-approved guide, not on your own. Plantation tours run up River Road to Oak Alley, Whitney, Laura and the other estates, each telling a different piece of the same history.
Swamp and bayou tours cover Honey Island and Barataria by airboat or flat-bottom boat, best from late March through October when alligators are actively feeding rather than in winter brumation. Food and drink tours and jazz and music nightlife sit close together in practice — Frenchmen Street's clubs, the Tremé's musical history, and the city's restaurant scene overlap constantly. Walking tours and history and culture tours cover the French Quarter's Spanish and Creole architecture, rebuilt after the fires of 1788 and 1794 rather than French as often assumed, plus the Garden District's mansions.
River cruises and bus and city tours cover the Mississippi waterfront and the wider city loop, while museums and attractions and bike and carriage tours round out the in-town options. The day-trips category exists because River Road, Bayou Country, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and the Gulf Coast sit well outside downtown and deserve their own planning. Transport and airport-transfers are their own categories because the streetcar network, rental cars and the drive out to MSY each shape a different kind of stay.
Seasonal content matters as much here as the sights themselves: hurricane season runs June through November with an August-to-mid-October peak, Mardi Gras is a movable date between early February and early March, and spring and fall bring the most comfortable weather. Comparison rounds the hub out, answering the questions travelers actually ask — French Quarter or Garden District as a base, a plantation tour versus a swamp tour — where the honest answer depends on how many days are on the calendar.
Frequently asked questions about things to do in New Orleans
Why does this hub split things to do into so many categories?
The hub is organised into categories from ghost and vampire tours to plantation tours, swamp and bayou tours, and day trips, because the right day in New Orleans depends heavily on what brought each visitor here in the first place, and a single list would bury the choices that matter most.
Why do voodoo and cemetery tours get their own category?
Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 can only be visited with a guide approved by the archdiocese — independent visits have not been allowed since 2015 — so the booking rules and limited time slots need their own planning space rather than a single entry among dozens of other activities.
What's the difference between a plantation tour and a swamp tour?
Plantation tours run up River Road to estates like Oak Alley and Whitney, about an hour from the city and focused on history and architecture. Swamp tours head into Honey Island or Barataria, twenty to forty-five minutes out, focused on wildlife and the bayou landscape — a different day for a different interest.
What kind of family activities does this hub point to?
The family category favors what genuinely works with children, such as a riverboat cruise or a daytime plantation visit, rather than the later-night ghost tours and Frenchmen Street nightlife that suit adults better.
What's a realistic day trip to add onto a New Orleans stay?
Bayou Country is the closest option, twenty to forty-five minutes out and easily fills a morning or afternoon with a swamp tour. River Road takes about an hour and works well as a half-day, while Baton Rouge, Lafayette or the Gulf Coast around Biloxi are far enough to plan as a full day on their own.
Ghost and vampire tours on GetYourGuide
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GetYourGuide does not provide a product photo for this activity — the image shows the meeting point, photographed by us.
