New Orleans is shaped by music, food, and the Mississippi, and this journey lets your group experience all three. Walk the French Quarter with our Storyteller Guides, from Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral to Royal Street’s iron balconies and beignets at Café du Monde. Ride the St. Charles Streetcar beneath live oaks to the Garden District, then enter Louisiana’s cypress-lined bayou country. A paddlewheel cruise on the Mississippi and an evening of live jazz bring the city’s river heritage and musical traditions together, while Creole and Cajun dishes give your group another way to understand New Orleans.
The evening opens with a welcome dinner of Creole and Cajun classics, then a first walk through streets where music drifts out of doorways and balconies glow overhead. Travelers can turn in early or linger a while in the French Quarter.
Spend the day on foot in the French Quarter, compact, flat, and easy to walk. Our Storyteller Guides lead your group through Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, along Royal Street's iron balconies, and into the French Market. Morning coffee means beignets and café au lait at Café du Monde, powdered sugar included.
Board the St. Charles streetcar, the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, and ride beneath the live oaks to the Garden District for a walk past grand nineteenth-century mansions and cast-iron fences. In the afternoon, a guided swamp or bayou excursion enters cypress country where alligators and other wildlife live. Groups that want it can add a hands-on Creole cooking class.
Step aboard Steamboat Natchez for a paddlewheel cruise on the Mississippi, with live jazz on deck and lunch available on board. The river has carried steamboats past this waterfront for two centuries. In the evening, a live jazz performance brings the group back to the music that has shaped the city.
Enjoy one more Southern breakfast and a final stroll through the French Market, trading since 1791. Before departing, pick up a can of the city's famous chicory coffee, the New Orleans blend served at Café du Monde, to bring the taste home.
Choose either experience, or ask us about making room for both. We will build your selection into the custom itinerary and confirm timing for your travel dates.
Follow the American experience of World War II through personal stories, artifacts, and immersive galleries covering the home front and the European and Pacific theaters. This substantial museum may merit additional time or an added day.
Step inside the working float den to see artists and craftspeople building the floats and props that bring Mardi Gras to life throughout the year.
Jackson Square & St. Louis Cathedral: Spatms (CC BY-SA 4.0); Royal Street Balconies: Infrogmation (CC BY-SA 4.0); St. Charles Streetcar: Infrogmation of New Orleans (CC BY-SA 4.0); Garden District: Daniel Hartwig (CC BY 2.0); Steamboat Natchez on the Mississippi: Bernard Spragg. NZ (CC0); Beignets & Café au Lait: Pburka (CC BY-SA 4.0); The French Market: Selena N. B. H. (CC BY 2.0); French Quarter Street Jazz: Richard Martin (CC BY 2.0)
Transportation options
Group airfare or motor coach transportation to and from New Orleans can be included on request.
Share who's traveling, your preferred dates, and the experiences that interest you.
We build the itinerary, accommodations, transportation, and dining around your group.
Adjust the days, stops, and pace together, then we plan and coordinate the details.
Tell us your group and your dates. We’ll take it from there.
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