Avery Island Experience- Tabasco & Jungle Gardens Self-guided tour
Description
Where is TABASCO® sauce made? With this Avery Island Experience, find out how The McIlhenny family has made TABASCO® Sauce on Avery Island, Louisiana for over 5 generations. Built on a salt dome, it is a mysteriously beautiful place where the red peppers grow, the factory hums, and abundant wildlife can be seen in the Jungle Gardens. Explore the 10 stop tour that takes you from seed to sauce, get a full tasting at the tasting bar in the TABASCO® Country store, light your taste buds up with authentic Cajun dishes and a Bloody Mary in Restaurant 1868, and explore the ancient oaks and admire the wildlife on a 14 stop tour in Jungle Gardens.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Where is TABASCO® Sauce made? The McIlhenny family has made TABASCO® Sauce on Avery Island, Louisiana for over 5 generations. Built on a salt dome, it's a mysteriously beautiful place where the red peppers grow, the factory hums, and abundant wildlife can be seen in Jungle Gardens. Spend the day learning about how our famous sauce got its start in 1868, discover the process from seed to sauce, feed your soul with authentic Cajun dishes in Restaurant 1868!, shop for those hard to find sauces and TABASCO gear in our country Store and explore Jungle Gardens, a 170-acre wildlife and botanical garden.
The Tabasco Factory tour is a 10 stop tour that takes you from seed to sauce. Stop 1: the Museum Stop 2: Green House replica Stop3: Barreling and pepper mash warehouse viewing Stop 4: Blending Stop5: About Avery Island Stop6: Salt mine replica Stop7: Bottling line viewing Stop 8 : Tabasco today Stop 9: the Tabasco Country store and sample bar tastings Stop 10: Restaurant 1868!
Jungle Gardens is a 14 stop tour that makes a 3 mile loop that you may drive, hike, bike, or walk. Stop 1: Giant oak trees Stop 2: Bayou petit Anse/Marsh trail Stop 3: Alligators Stop 4: Boat House Stop 5: Venetian Gardens Stop 6: Cleveland Oak Stop 7: Holly Hedge Stop 8: Buddha temple Stop 9: Wisteria Arch Stop 10: Palm Gardens Stop 11: Bird city Stop 12: timber Bamboo Stop 13: sunken Gardens Stop 14: Camellia Nursery
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The audio guide is available only on the Jungle Gardens Tour.
Reviews(325)
This was awesome! The wildlife is great to see, the tour is interesting and surprising. We had a great tour by Lisa. I did almost melt in the August heat on the first stop but then we hit some AC 🤣. She was fun and the tasting at the end was great. Definitely recommend the guided tour!
I recently visited the Tabasco Factory in Avery Island with 3 of my children, ages 14, 12 & 10. We had a blast! The moment you step out of your car, you can feel the hot sauce in the air (and definitely smell it). It's a working factory with a small history museum, and it is well worth the price of admission for the self-guided tour. There is ample signage at each stop along the tour so that you can follow along. (They do offer a tour app for iPhone, which you can access at the museum, but as it isn't yet available on Android devices, we couldn't try it.) Some of the information at the stops is repetitive with what you read in the museum, but not terribly so. It was hot, but the buildings were air-conditioned, but do watch for the heat in the middle of summer. My 14-year old and I really enjoyed the tasting station at the end of the tour. It is located along the back wall of the store. I expected my kids to not last too long, but between the tour, the tasting and then driving the gardens, we were there for over 3 hours. For the gardens, you can drive through them and then get out at various locations. If you are used to flower gardens, this will be different. It's more about greenery and atmosphere and there wasn't as much to read or help guide you (aside from the designated stopping points), but for botany hobbyists, it is probably wonderful. If you like hot sauce or history, we certainly recommend the museum & factory.
So besides this Louisiana blistering heat!! The experience was better than expected. From learning of the history, to seeing the process of how this deluxe hot sauce is made. The food in the cafe was good well seasoned. And the gift shop with the taste testing and so many other items it’s so hard to choose because you literally want to buy everything in there. If you ever visit the Lafayette area this is a must go. Let’s not forget the incredible sights of the 3 mile 30-45 min ride in your car of the beautiful sights and wildlife.
It was a very interesting visit with lots to see and well laid out. Good value for money and the jungle gardens were a bonus but didn't see an alligator.
I wouldn’t walk this as it is a bit of a walk and weather can change quickly. Thoroughly enjoyed the self guided tour and all the education that is provided.
We just showed up and bought tickets. We toured the museum, watched a couple short movies (which were excellent) and then explored the other 8 buildings at the Tabasco Factory. Then we toured the store and tasted the different tabascos. We even tasted tabasco flavored ice cream. It was all yummy and I am not a Tabasco fan. I did find some at the store I liked. So I am now a fan. We then drove around Jungle Gardens. We saw alligators, deer, the bird sanctuary which is full of beautiful white birds, the Budda, and so much more. There were workers tending the grounds. To keep it in such great shape they must work year around. So glad we came here and did this
We opted to take the Tabasco guided tour, which was about a two hour experience. Lisa was our tour guide and not only do I feel like we’re friends now😉, but I also feel like I know so much about the Tabasco experience. Throughout the tour, Lisa explained the detailed steps of the Tabasco making process while sharing wonderful stories about time-honored family traditions. I had heard good things about this tour, but Lisa took it over the top. Definitely worth your time and money to visit Avery Island and take a tour with Lisa!!
We had the best time! We stayed on the property for almost three hours! The tour was very well laid out, and so very interesting! There’s a lot more to that little bottle than I realized!! We also loved the Jungle Gardens. My husband wants to do the whole thing again. We ate at the restaurant and spent too much money (haha) in the gift shop. Highly recommend.
Yes, you must go. Such a great tour. It was well laid out and I learned so much about Tobasco!! We had a great lunch at the restaurant and spent too much money in the gift shop. My husband absolutely loved the Jungle Gardens, and wants to go and do the whole tour again!! Thank you so much for the great experience.
We were on a fly drive holiday and visited Avery Island as we'd seen it on YouTube. We weren't initially wanting to go in the tabasco factory, just the jungle drive, but I'm glad we did. We both enjoyed it, it was fascinating, and the gift shop with all the free tasting was good. The jungle drive was beautiful, we saw a few alligators. We would definitely recommend visiting here 😀
