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Best Tours & activities in New Orleans (2026)

A guided tour is one of the best ways to make sense of New Orleans, whether on foot, on the river or out in the wetlands. Friends of the Cabildo, a non-profit that supports the Louisiana State Museum, runs two-hour French Quarter history walks twice a day from Jackson Square. The New Orleans Steamboat Company runs daytime and evening jazz cruises from the Toulouse Street dock, currently on the Riverboat City of New Orleans while the Natchez is renovated.

To see the landscape beyond the city, Cajun Encounters runs two-hour boat trips into the Honey Island Swamp, as well as plantation and combination tours. After dark, Haunted History Tours has led ghost, vampire and voodoo walks since 1995, and its tours run rain or shine. Food lovers can join Doctor Gumbo Tours for three-hour food or cocktail history walks, a good introduction early in a trip. Book popular tours in advance, especially at weekends and during festivals, and remember that St Louis Cemetery No. 1 can only be entered with an authorised guide.

5 places · Updated October 27, 2026

Our top 3 tours & activities in New Orleans

  1. Friends of the Cabildo French Quarter Walking Tour Historic walking tour, French QuarterTwo-hour French Quarter history walks led by volunteer guides from Friends of the Cabildo, starting daily from the 1850 House on Jackson Square.
  2. New Orleans Steamboat Company River cruise, French Quarter riverfrontThe riverboat operator behind the Steamboat Natchez, running daytime and evening jazz cruises on the Mississippi from the Toulouse Street dock in the French Quarter.
  3. Cajun Encounters Swamp and plantation tours, French Quarter office, Honey Island Swamp baseA tour company running two-hour boat trips into the Honey Island Swamp, plus plantation, city and ghost tours, with an office on Decatur Street.

Tour operator

3. Cajun Encounters

Swamp and plantation toursFrench Quarter office, Honey Island Swamp base

A tour company running two-hour boat trips into the Honey Island Swamp, plus plantation, city and ghost tours, with an office on Decatur Street.

View details — Cajun Encounters