Airboat and Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans
Description
A grand mélange presentation of Cajun and Creole cultures including a high-speed airboat tour of the cypress swamps. Visit Laura Plantation, built in 1804, and learn about Laura's personal family saga. Enjoy a gourmet, unlimited buffet lunch in the elegant dining room of Houmas House Plantation, followed by a guided tour of this grand mansion. The small-group atmosphere ensures a more personal experience.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You'll start your day driving out to Cajun Country, where you'll go through wild cypress swamps, over the Mississippi River on an impressive suspended bridge, and along vast sugarcane fields, as the guide tells a unique story of the odyssey of the Cajun people. Next take a thrilling high-speed airboat ride as you comfortably glide over marshes and into deep, secluded bayous. Your Cajun guide, also an alligator hunter and fur trapper, will share his knowledge of the swamp including reptile habits, healing plants, and exotic birds. After your ride, explore his picturesque swamp zoo on Bayou Boeuf.
Discover Laura, an 1804 Creole Plantation and learn about Laura's personal family saga. See how the West-African enslaved's work influenced all segments of the Creole culture, best seen today in cuisine, music, family-centered traditions, architecture and life-style. At Laura's Slavery Museum Exhibit, hear personal stories of individual men, women and children who lived there, illustrating how the lives of the enslaved, both Créole and American, were intertwined with those of their owners.
After a short drive from Laura Plantation, you'll settle into a seated lunch in Houmas House' elegant dining room. After lunch, walk through the 250 year history of this estate and how a succession of owners and the Mississippi River grew this modest manor house into the estate it is today. A collection of art, furniture, and antique artifacts help tell the story of plantation life. 38 acres of gardens surround the mansion.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Must be centrally located, contact local supplier to confirm pick up point. Supplier will contact you to give an exact pick up time the day before your tour.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Service animals are permitted. Please advise at time of booking to arrange accommodations
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking in the special requirements field
- Tour operates in all weather conditions. Umbrellas and rain ponchos are available for use if guests forget their own. If a tour cannot operate due to inclement weather you will be notified
- Due to the nature of the airboat, children under the age of 5, pregnant women, people with back or neck issues or recent surgeries are not allowed to participate in the airboat portion of the tour.
Reviews(1,254)
The tours were great. Isabella planned the perfect tour. Each manor was so different. Rene was the tour guide that took us to the mansions and was knowledgeable and energetic. Because of the wether, we did not get to do the airboat the same day, but Isabella set it up for us to do on a later date. She made it easy . The food was great as well. Rene had umbrellas and ponchos ready for us each step. Thinking ahead about our needs
Thank you so much for your very nice comments, I am so happy we were able to make it all work out for you guys in spite of the tropical storm! Please come back to visit us soon. Cordially , Isabelle C.
Very beautiful visit with Gisèle, a wonderful experience with a lot of explanations and information. Once again, a big thank you.
Je vous en prie Emmanuel et Cindy, nous sommes si contentes que cela vous ait plu! Je fais suivre a Gisele et merci a vous deux d’être venus! Isabelle Cossart
Excellent tour and excellent tour guides! Highly recommended!!!
Thank you ! Isabelle
Isabelle ĺooked after us extremely well.Communicated with us on times and activities .We did three tours with her during our week in New Orleans .Rene our guide was brilliant and knowledgeable. Thanks for making our week special Nigel and Caz
Thank you so much Nigel and Caz, I am so happy you enjoyed your 3 tours...You all were a pleasure to work for! I will forward this to our driver-guide Rene Isabelle C.
Isabelle has been actively involved in providing excellent LA (Louisiana y'all) tours for 35+ years, yet even now she personally calls to coordinate our tour and confirm our date. The guide on today's tour (Rene) was a wealth of knowledge and fun to banter with on the drives out to the three venues and back again (all day tour). Exemplary plantation tours steeped in history and full of period pieces. I learned a lot today!
Thank you Roger for this wonderful review! I will share it with Rene. Yes i LOOOVE my work and will keep on doing in! Take care y'all! Isabelle C.
We would highly recommend this tour! The two plantations were very different but both interesting, lunch was delicious, Rene was fun and full of great information. The swamp was beautiful, riding in the airboat was super fun!
Thank you Ms Kathryn! We appreciate your great review! I will share it with Rene...We are so lucky to have him on our team! Isabelle C.
This was a fun experience! It’s a full day! The van is comfortable and clean! Our travel guide, Rene, is full of historical information. We really enjoyed all the stops!
Thank you Ms Regina. I will pass your positive comment on to Rene. We are so happy you enjoyed our Grand Tour! Isabelle C.
Great tour which gives you a tour of the swamps and to learn about the history of the sugar plantations. Isabelle was great to communicate with prior to the tour and Robert our tour guide was wonderful. He was full of knowledge and information and really looked after us. I can highly recommend this tour.
Thank you so much Ms Donna! I am sharing this with our Driver-guide: Robert! Enjoy the rest of your stay in NOLA! Isabelle C.
Gisele was an extremely knowledgeable, fun, and kind tour guide. She blew away our expectations with her knowledge of Louisiana history. We learned about the layered history of the multiple cultures in Louisiana, famous places, and food. The Plantations were excellent visits. We went to one medium sized plantation and then one of the largest that was operating out of Louisiana. We learned so much on both of these visits. The lunch was excellent and also went above and beyond our expecting. Our air boat tour was also very nice. We saw a lot of birds and the tour guide took us on a wild ride doing donuts in the Bayou. It still felt safe though. Very pleasurable experience and I am so glad that Gisele was our guide. She made the tour easy and meaningful.
What a great tour! Amazing food. We learned so much. Renee was a wonderful guide. I highly recommend Isabelle Tours and I can’t wait to use them again when I’m in New Orleans.
Oh yes, the lunch at Houmas House is delicious, for sure. We are so happy you liked it! Thank you so much for your recommendation and I will forward your compliment to Rene ! Thank you. Isabelle C.
