New Orleans: Swamp Boat Ride and Historic Plantation Tour

Meet your guide in New Orleans, then leave the city behind as you travel back in time. Choose the morning tour to visit the Oak Alley Plantation. See the plantation's quarter-mile-long alley of oak trees, each over 250 years old, and the cypress trees that border the Mississippi River. Explore the plantation with your guide, and listen to stories of its history dating back to 1839. Learn about the site's former uses and residents, and visit the plantation's on-site exhibitions, Slavery at Oak Alley, Blacksmith Shop, and Sugarcane Theater, to learn more about its past.  Opt for the afternoon tour and head to Destrehan Plantation, the oldest documented French Colonial-style house in the lower Mississippi Valley. Discover the majestic antebellum plantation home that watches over the banks of the Mississippi River, just a few minutes upriver from New Orleans. Costumed docents will intrigue you with the history of the Destrehan family’s sugar dynasty, historic events that occurred at this site, and the unique architectural features of the plantation. Watch daily trade demonstrations by costumed artisans and gain insight into long-forgotten skills that were a vital part of everyday life centuries ago. Afterward, travel past several of the area’s plantations as you head to the Manchac Swamp. Explore this privately-owned wildlife refuge, and hear about the legend of the Rougarou werewolf. Take a boat ride across the swamp, and get up close to alligators and other wildlife.