Things to do at Oak Alley

Oak Alley Plantation sits on the River Road about an hour's drive upriver from New Orleans, and it is built around one image: a quarter-mile canopy of 28 live oaks, planted well before the 1830s Greek Revival house at its end.

General admission runs roughly 28 to 35 USD and covers the grounds, the mansion tour and the exhibits on the enslaved workers whose labour ran the sugar plantation, in cabins reconstructed near the parking area. 5 to 2 hours; the alley itself is free to photograph from the levee outside the ticket gate.

Go on a clear morning if possible, since the oaks cast the alley into shade by midday in summer, when the humidity is heaviest.