Experience Cajun Country: Swamp Boat Adventure and Plantations Full-Day Tour from New Orleans

During this tour we enjoyed small boat swamp experience, visit the Oak plantation and unforgettable tour with a deep history in Laura plantation. Highly recommend

Cajun County Boat Adventure and the Plantation day tour were memorable experiences. Hearing and the reading of stories about the old south will come to life on this tour. The bayou swamp tour was interesting – alligators galore! The architecture of the plantation homes with their interior and exterior grandeur, the slave cabins, the dress and the people was well explained at the two plantations that we visited. Our main guide Ellen was excellent. She is a true native of New Orleans and knew every detail about everything, which she generously shared. This tour is highly recommended.

We booked the Swamp Boat Adventure and Plantations Full-Day Tour from New Orleans. It was an early start and our tour guide John was on time for the pick up in a brand new van. His narrative was very entertaining and kept everyone laughing and interested. Captain Eric very personable who took us on the airboat gator tour which was amazing. We got to see quite a few gators which was exciting. We then moved on to Oak Alley Plantation where our guide was Robert. He was enthusiastic in his telling of the history of the estate and certainly had an extensive knowledge when people asked questions. Lunch was traditional, gumbo, jambalya, etc We then moved on to Laura Plantation and our guide Kyle. Again an entertaining storyteller.

This tour was organized by the company Tours by Isabelle and within a few days of booking I received an e-mail asking where we were to be picked up. Pick up was prompt and the ride was fairly comfortable. Our guide was Muriel and she gave wonderful insight of the city, the history, the culture of the Cajuns/Cadiens/Acadiens from a variety of perspectives. As a teacher by profession, I would highly suggest this tour for educators and student trips. Also, if you are French-speaking, they offer tours in French. The bayou boat ride was fun and we got see alligators and other wildlife. There was even a bald eagle. I wanted to take this particular tour because I show my French students the Globe Trekker episode on New Orleans and they learn about the slavery and plantation life. The two featured plantations were Oak Alley and Laura. In the series, the representation of Oak Alley was that of Southern Belles and American aristocracy, which doesn't capture the whole story. I was pleasantly surprised by the tour being very honest about who ran the plantation and giving credit to the slaves who built it and the horrors they experienced. Laura plantation exceeded my expectations in that our docent gave a thorough history of the family and the feelings Laura felt about the plantation's past and her feelings toward slavery. Again, if you are an educator or interested in the History of Louisiana, I would highly recommend this tour.

We really enjoyed this experience. Overall it was enjoyable and our tour guide was very informative. We really enjoyed the swamp tour and saw LOTS of gators. The plantations were beautiful and sad (which we found very historically accurate). We wish that the time allocation between plantations would have been more even, as we felt we spent too much time at Oak Alley. Also, Joe, our tourguide, didn't allow talking while on the bus (he was giving us Louisiana info) and that became a little tiresome.

I really wanted to like this tour more than I did. I find the very controlling nature of American "big house" tours annoying - you can't walk around by yourself, you have to be taken round by a tour guide and I always feel like I'm being treated a bit like a naughty child with the constant reminders not to touch etc. The two houses (Laura and Oak Alley) are interesting, as much for the family history in Laura's case, but also heavily whitewashed. The slave history is acknowledged but I got very little sense of anything other than the lives of the owners. I think Oak Alley is trying to change this with additional resources outside the main house, but your time at the plantation is strictly limited to the tour of the main building and there is little opportunity to explore beyond this. Lunch at Oak Alley was excellent however - Louisiana staples of gumbo, jambalaya, ettouffee, with bread pudding or peach cobbler (or both) for dessert). The bayou tour takes about 45 minutes and we were lucky to see a lot of alligators and some birds and turtles, but I could have done without the detailed rundown of what different jobs in Louisiana pay and the complaints about hunting controls and licences. All in all, this tour could have been so much more, and it was a little disappointing.

On day two in New Orleans we took this tour. It was probably one of the best days we spent in New Orleans. Gisele was our tour guide and she was full of wonderful information. We did our swamp tour first where we got to see several alligators. We then headed to Oak Alley plantation where we had an amazing lunch followed by a tour of a beautiful French plantation. We then headed to Laura plantation which is a authentic Creole plantation not far down the road. Both plantations were like night and day from each other. Gisele gave us so much information about Ariel landmarks and even showed us some other plantations on the drive back into town. Overall I totally recommend this trip. It was money well worth spent.

Loved the boat tour, only our small group in the boat and the guide was very interesting and knowledgeable. Both plantations were gorgeous. Lunch was good, but it is a set menu. We were not fond of our driver, Johnny, he was a pretty aggressive driver and a bit rude when he was gathering our group at each location.

Excellent tour - highly recommended for anyone who doesn't mind getting their shoes a bit dirty in the swamps and playing around with the crocs... LOL just kidding! It's a fabulous site to go check out the plantations!!

Gene the driver was knowledgeable and engaging throughout the entire tour. Providing ongoing historical information personal stories of New Orleans.

excellent tour, our guide was well versed on the local wildlife. We saw birds and animals and several gators lots of fun

Even though this tour is a full day,, it is amazing and worth the price. My swamp boat captain Derek was a joy! He goes above and beyond to make sure we had a beautiful ride on the bayou. saw plenty of alligators, he lets you drive the boat,, he tells stories and is a credit to this tour operation. Both plantations were lovely.. I learned a lot about life in the past. Had a perky speaker ,, Bree,, she had great knowledge and shared it all with us! Ginny, took us all around ,, she was the van operator and I would like to note.. that she gave the entire tour in English and in French ,, and didnt miss a beat. Another wonderful tour operator,, I thought she would get tired of speaking 2 languages but she was amazing.. If you can walk a lot,, take this tour!