Small-Group Tour of Laura and St. Joseph Plantations from New Orleans

Today, we did a plantations tour with Ellen. She picked us up in a new, spotlessly clean van and gave us a great overview commentary of NOLA and the areas that we passed through. She also offered recommendations and answered all the questions we had regarding restaurant recommendations in the French Quarter and beyond. Merci bien, Isabelle and Ellen, for making our tour a fun and memorable day!

My wife and I contacted Isabelle, owner of Tours by Isabelle, the day prior to our scheduled Tuesday tour. Isabelle told us that she had been trying to reach us because there was only one other party of 2 that wanted to take a tour, but the tour was a different one than the one we scheduled. There was nobody else scheduled for the tour we were interested in. How sad it was to learn that! The Covid-19 coronavirus was obviously taking it’s toll on tourism in New Orleans. Isabelle then offered to provide us a private tour in her vehicle for an additional amount, rather than the planned 14-passenger van that we expected to be nearly full of fellow tourists. The additional amount was very reasonable so we agreed, and she told us she would pick us up at 11:30am the next day. Isabelle also told us that St Joseph Plantation was closed because of damage from Hurricane Ida, but she had booked another tour to Destrehan Plantation to go along with visiting Laura Plantation. That change was fine with us. Promptly at 11:30am on Tuesday, Isabelle picked us up at our hotel, showed us a large plastic-laminated map of the metropolitan area on one side and the locations to which we would be traveling on the other, and we were on our way. As we made the approximately one hour drive to Laura Plantation, Isabelle explained to us the types of industries, the types of vegetation, and a brief history of the areas we were passing through and answered our questions. Isabelle also told us something we had never heard before: The City of New Orleans is an island! When we arrived at Laura Plantation, we joined only one other couple in the tour of the plantation hosted by guides in period dress. The hour-plus tour began by describing the history of the plantation and its owners while we toured the main house where we saw several rooms with period furnishings. We then toured the grounds behind the main house and learned about the slaves that were on the plantation and also toured a small building that once housed slaves. We learned that in 1872 the plantation was renamed in honor of Laura Locoul, a great granddaughter of the original plantation owner whose “Memoires of the Old Plantation Home” describe the plantation and those who lived there. Isabelle then drove us for about 40 minutes to Destrehan Plantation where we had another guided tour hosted by guides in period dress and, with again, only one other couple. In the Plantation Home, we saw a number of rooms with period furniture and learned that the original Home was completed in 1787 making it the oldest Plantation Home in the lower Mississippi River Valley. Our small group also saw some other buildings and slave cabins on the grounds. The Destrehan Plantation property closed at 4:30pm, and Isabelle had us back to our hotel by 5:30pm as she had originally estimated. Isabelle then texted me 9 pictures of my wife and me in various situations while we participated on the two tours. What a nice surprise! We strongly recommend that anybody who wants to see 2 plantations in the Lower Mississippi River Valley in one day choose Tours by Isabelle. Isabelle has been a small business tour owner for over 40 years since she first arrived in New Orleans, and she knows the City of New Orleans and the surrounding area very well. Also, if Tours by Isabelle is an option for another Viator tour you are considering, we recommend you choose Tours by Isabelle. You will be very glad you did! If you want to take a tour in the New Orleans area, this would be a good time to do it. The crowds are small, but the locals, like Isabelle, are very eager and capable to provide visitors engaging and long-remembered experiences.

The whole experience was terrific!! Gazele was great!! The plantation were very clean and beautiful.

Rene our driver was great and so informative. Kristyn at Laura was incredible and so full of poise. Very informative. St. Joseph's was also informative but different since it was from a descendant's POV. Hard to hear the truth of the past but important to learn.

Isabelle was fantastic with communication in advance due to bad weather, and a wealth of knowledge about the area and history. Unfortunately we booked this trip specifically to visit Laura plantation and we found out during our tour that we will be visiting a different plantation (and only one, not two). Tour was cut short to less than 4 hours, although we stopped by in some areas in NOLA. I wish we were given a choice prior to this tour to participate in a shorter version or to cancel, especially since the price of the tour was significantly higher than other tours.

Excellent tour of two very different plantations! Guides are well-versed in the history, portraying the lives of both the “big house” and the “back of the house” in a respectful and illuminating the way of life of this time period!

Madeline was our driver/guide on the bus, and she is fabulous. She knows her history and is spell-binding in how she tells her stories. The tours at each of the plantations were given by staff at each location, and were just okay. We had more time at Oak Valley, so I brought a bagged lunch that I enjoyed under the massive oaks.

We loved the tour to the plantations!! Muriel was a great guide!! Very informative and good natured!! The weather wasn’t cooperating at all!! Was a very foggy and dreary day!! So sad we could not see but a few yards in front of us!!

It was a great tour. It was nice to get to see two very different plantations . The guide at Laura was the best.

The Oak Alley tour of the house is nice but exploring the grounds etc is even better. We would have liked more time here as there was so much to see and do. The Laura plantation was excellent and it was a lovely experience to do these tours with a small group.