• 4 day trip: Friday 2/23 - Monday 2/26 (these dates are tentative and will be confirmed soon)
     
    Day 1 Bonjour New Orleans
    Meet your tour director
    New Orleans guided sightseeing tour
    French QuarterWarehouse Arts DistrictGarden DistrictJackson SquareSt. Louis Cathedral
    Dinner
    Details: New Orleans guided sightseeing tour
    Experience the authentic flavor of New Orleans as you walk amongst the history, architecture and splendor of the famed French Quarter, the bustling Warehouse Arts District, the opulent Garden District, and the historic Lafayette Cemetery. Along the way, you’ll see the former homes of famous local residents and you’ll even have a chance to swing by the always lively Bourbon Street.
    Details: Audubon Zoo visit
    Get a taste of the Louisiana Swamp – all without getting wet! See authentic bayou wildlife, like the famous white alligator, amid cypress trees and Spanish moss in this imitation swamp. Sample Cajun cuisine, watch an alligator feeding, and learn all about the habitats and wildlife found in Louisiana.
    Day 2 New Orleans landmarks
    Breakfast
    Details: Mardi Gras World visit
    Get the skinny on Fat Tuesday with a behind-the-scenes tour of the world’s leading maker of floats, sculpture and props. From the streets, Mardi Gras may look like mayhem, but there’s truly an art and science to these party parades.
    Details: French Market visit
    The French Market, once a Native American trading post on the shores of the Mississippi River, has become a cultural, commercial and entertainment treasure to New Orleans. Wander through the open-air community flea market, cultural shops and unique boutiques to see arts, crafts and trinkets unique to New Orleans.
    Details: Audubon Aquarium of the Americas visit
    One of the top five in the country, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas features more than one million gallons of fresh and saltwater exhibits of 530 species in a variety of wondrous habitats.
    Details: Riverwalk, the scenic and popular riverside mall
    Walk through the premier festival marketplace in New Orleans, watch cruise ships, riverboats and steamers come and go at the New Orleans Port and wander along a half-mile of shops and restaurants offering a taste of the unique Cajun and Creole culture.
    Details: Evening Mississippi Riverboat dinner and jazz cruise
    Experience what it felt like to live in a time when life was as slow and graceful as the current on the Mississippi. Savor the beauty and romance of the New Orleans skyline aboard the authentic Steamboat NATCHEZ. Enjoy buffet-style dining prepared fresh onboard while the Grammy nominated "Dukes of Dixieland" perform live jazz music.
    Day 3 Plantations & bayou country
    Breakfast
    Dinner
    Details: Whitney Plantation Guided Tour
    You will have a guided tour of Whitney Plantation, the only plantation museum in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on the lives of enslaved people. You will visit Whitney’s memorials and restored buildings to enter the world of a Louisiana sugar plantation and to remember those who built and worked the property. On your tour, your guide shows you through slave cabins, a freedmen’s church, detached kitchen and outbuildings, a 1790s owner’s house and memorials built to honor the enslaved.
    Details: Swamp tour
    Embark on a swamp tour featuring a private swamp refuge and narrated boat tours with alligators and other wildlife sightings.
    Day 4 Goodbye New Orleans
    Breakfast
    Travel home
    Details: St. Charles Avenue
    Lee Circle separates downtown and uptown sections of this grand avenue. Heading upriver, stroll past an impressive showcase of southern mansions where the power players of The Crescent City once lived. And ride on one of the longest running streetcars in the world anchored by renowned universities, Loyola and Tulane.
    Details: Lafayette Cemetery visit
    Why are cemeteries in New Orleans largely above ground? Contrary to myth, it’s not about the water table. Learn the truth as you walk through this “City of the Dead,” a former French plantation turned final resting place for legends of the Civil War and hundreds of victims of the 19th century yellow fever plague.
     
     
    TOUR INCLUDES:
    • Round-trip transportation
    • 3 overnight stays in hotels with private bathrooms
    • Breakfast daily (except arrival day)
    • Dinner daily (except departure day)
    • Full-time services of a professional Tour Director
    • Guided sightseeing tours & city walks as per itinerary
    • Visit to select attractions as per itinerary
    • Overnight security chaperone
    • Tour Diary™
    • Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.