Plantations near New Orleans or Baton Rouge LA

Louisiana’s Historic Plantation Alley is always a place that I wanted to visit. Plantations have a lot of history, amazing architecture, and lots of photo-worthy areas. It also has a dark past revolving around slavery. These plantations are a place where you can learn more about the divide between the enslaved and their owners. Here are day trip ideas to see plantations from New Orleans or Baton Rouge. 

If you’re driving to or from Lafayette, this corridor is a great destination as a stopover off Louisiana’s I-10. These are a list of plantations to visit near New Orleans. All are within an easy driving distance on a day trip from New Orleans or Baton Rouge.  

This post is part of our Louisiana series. Here are a few other posts you can visit as you plan your trip: 

• Day of History at Lafayette, Louisiana 
• Historic plantation day trips from Baton Rouge or New Orleans LA
• Outdoorsy things to do near New Orleans

Other long weekend ideas to visit from Jacksonville, FL:

• Weekend in Gainesville Florida with a toddler
• Daytona Beach Weekend Getaway (with a toddler)
• How to Spend Three Days In Tulsa OK (Itinerary)
• How to travel to Columbus OH for cheap
• How to Spend 4 Days in USVI (Itinerary)

A Brief History of Plantations in Louisiana

When original French settlers came to Louisiana, tracts of land were provided by the government. Each settler then had a chance to cultivate the land and grow their earnings. Those successful enough became plantation owners who ended up buying more land. In order to maintain the land, the plantation owners bought slaves.

The slave trade is part of America’s history. Whenever we talk about plantations and their grand architecture, we must also consider the unpaid and forced labor the enslaved workers had to do. The enslaved were the main reason why the owners amassed their wealth. Going on a tour of these plantations help shed more light on what conditions and reality were in those days. 

Let’s also not forget why we visit these plantations in the first place: they’re really beautiful to begin with. It reminds us of the original settlers and the architecture that they had left behind. A few of these plantations are still privately owned, which we will discuss in more detail in a bit. 

Plantations have been historically located by the Mississippi River. This helps the land to be irrigated as plantation owners grow various crops to make their living. Tracts of land have been mapped to owners, and the owners can then buy out other owners to get more land. 

Land and slaves were the main currency of plantation owners

If you are rich, you have land. With land, you will need crops to grow and harvest, and with that, plantation owners needed slaves. To save money, plantation owners had these enslaved people working long hours in terrible living conditions for little or no pay. Human trafficking became a huge business at the time. People from Africa were being taken away from their homeland and forced to work in a new country. 

Plantation owners became rich through human trafficking. Everybody had a price depending on the condition of the slave. It was a trillion dollar industry (in today’s money), and these plantation owners were billionaires of their time. Here are a few plantation houses to visit as day trips from New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

Can I take Uber or Lyft to get around the plantations near New Orleans? 

Maybe, but it is really not advisable to do so. It may take a while for you to get back since there are not many ride sharing services in the area. It is better if you had your own car to drive around or to go on a group tour. 

The plantations are in what they call “the country”, even if they are only within 30 to 40 minutes from New Orleans. Your best bet for taking Uber or Lyft to a plantation is visiting Destrehan Plantation, which is the closest historic plantation located near New Orleans airport. 

7 Plantations to visit near New Orleans and Baton Rouge

Here’s a list of 7 plantations to visit near New Orleans or Baton Rouge. We should have included more on the list, but as of this writing, a few of the other plantations are temporarily closed. A lot of them have incurred significant damage from Hurricane Ida of 2021, and you’ll still see some buildings and houses that are badly in need of repair as of this writing (Oct 2022). 

The list below are all open and are welcoming visitors in. A majority of the plantations have resumed doing house tours with the exception of one, where a restaurant is only operating as of this time. 

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens – closest plantation from Baton Rouge

Address: 40136 LA-942, Darrow, LA 70725

Located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Houmas House Plantation and Gardens is around 30 minutes east of Baton Rouge, and around an hour west from New Orleans. This is a dog friendly plantation, where dog parents can take turns going on tours of the home. Dogs are welcome in the Gardens and the outside areas.  

Houmas House has two restaurants onsite, one is a sit down restaurant where you order from a menu, and the other is a buffet lunch in the cafe. Try the bread pudding dessert! When you go to the premises, check out the Turtle Bar as well. The Turtle Bar hasa beautiful interior, but it was catered mostly to the male clientele in terms of furnishings.

Your tour guide at Houmas House will be wearing a period costume, which adds to the ambiance. The entire house is made from three original houses, and renovations by previous owners made it to the big house that you see now. You’ll see all three different styles during the tour, when your guide will point out distinctive marks between them.

Drink a mint julep at Oak Alley Plantation

Address: 3645 Hwy 18, Vacherie, LA 70090

Oak Alley became famous for the thick foliage of live oak trees creating an alley framing the plantation. Hence the name of the site, Oak Alley Plantation. 

Recent hurricanes have not done Oak Alley any favors. Where the leaves and great oak branches used to be all green and lush, they are a little bit sparser now. The oaks still remain, but they definitely lost a few branches from the hurricane. 

Oak Alley Plantation is famous for their mint juleps. People go far and wide to drink it, and too much sometimes. Security is strict at this plantation, so you definitely can’t just walk up to get a photo of Oak Alley’s entrance without paying the entrance fee. Previously, one could easily just walk in, snap a photo and go. 

I’ve only done a drive-by of the site, so I can’t comment much on the inside or history of the plantation, other than what our guides have mentioned on our other tours. Hopefully, we will get a chance to go back and see what’s inside Oak Alley to discover more of what it has to offer! 

If you’ve ever seen the movie Interview with the Vampire (with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt), parts of the film were shot on Oak Alley! 

Visit an original Creole heritage site at Laura Plantation 

Address: 2247 LA-18, Vacherie, LA 70090

One of the most excellent tours I’ve been on was in Laura Plantation. The level of detail they contained on certain enslaved people was eye opening, based on first hand accounts and historical documents. Grab a copy of the book titled “Memoirs of the Old Plantation Home & A Creole Family Album” by Laura Locoul Gore to see the diary written by the last owner of Laura Plantation. She ended up selling the plantation and moving to be with her husband in St Louis, MO.

The plantation house is colorful and carefully restored to how it used to look. A fire from 2014 destroyed some of the structure. The plantation was rebuilt after the 2014 fire and rebuilt again after damage from Hurricane Ida (2021). When you visit the plantation, you’ll see how these houses are built: an equivalent of the 1700’s IKEA furniture waiting to be assembled. You’ll also see the basement area of the plantation, which elevates the house and protects it from flooding. 

A history of the Duparc family and their enslaved workers

Through the main plantation house and slave houses out back, you’ll get to know more about the Duparc family, the original owners of Laura Plantation. You will learn how the matriarch of the family managed the business and treated enslaved people, even those of her own blood, as commodities to be traded. In those days, the family lived in the same house, so there are no secrets. You’ll learn more about that life once the tour talks about Flagy Duparc. 

There is also a museum that’s free and open to the public in case you don’t want to pay for the plantation house and grounds tour. This museum tells you more about the enslaved people who worked at Laura Plantation, and some of the artifacts that were left behind. It is small, so don’t expect too much, but the level of information and the research that went into the displays is outstanding. 

Closest Plantation to New Orleans – Destrehan Plantation 

Address: 13034 River Rd, Destrehan, LA 70047

This is the closest plantation to New Orleans Airport, so it is a perfect day trip from New Orleans or if on a long stopover from the airport. 

Destrehan Plantation opens early and starts tours at 9:30am. The tours are comprehensive, and you will be able to know more about some slaves who were held in one of the rooms as part of the 1811 Slave Revolt. The plantation house is interesting: the sloping floors make it feel like you are falling, but they were intentionally designed that way to let water flow down outside. 

Our tour guide is directly related to the original owners of Destrehan, and provided histories and backgrounds on the family history and what life was like living in the plantation. She also explained that barrel makers were worth more than other enslaved people, since their skills were highly sought after, as evidenced from one of the bigger barrels that flanks the side of the plantation. 

The Mardi Gras Indians – carrying on a tradition

We also met the clan leader of one of the crewes that participated as Black Masking Indians during Mardi Gras. These are also known as the Mardi Gras Indians and are known for their colorful Native American apparel. He explained that the costumes they make are unique every year, and that it takes a lot of manpower and man hours in sewing these costumes by hand. These leaders are passed down from father to son, and they have their own queens that parade with them during the festivities. 

Destrehan’s gift store has books of local interest, as well as New Orleans souvenirs and other local items to take home. Overall, between the tour and looking around at the facility, expect to spend a minimum of 2 hours exploring. It’s a really great quick trip from New Orleans airport, so if your plane is delayed or you have a long layover, this place is a great option to visit. 

St Joseph and Felicity Plantations

Address: 3535 LA-18, Vacherie, LA 70090

St Joseph Plantation is known as the movie destination of the south since it is still being used as a filming site even today. The plantation is still owned by the original family and still processes sugarcane to this date! Felicity Plantation is located inside the St Joseph Plantation grounds, and you can visit both when you come and visit. 

Ormond Manor/Plantation 

Address: 13786 River Rd, Destrehan, LA 70047

Ormond Manor is not open for tours to the public. It does, however, have an on-site restaurant from where you can see the exterior of the plantation. The plantation is mostly used for event rentals, but you can see the exterior of the plantation house when you dine at the restaurant. No word yet on when they will resume tours of the house, but based on our tour guide, this plantation does not have a comprehensive history of the enslaved people nor the owners that used to own the place. 

Whitney Plantation

Address: 5099 LA-18, Edgard, LA 70049

Whitney plantation focuses more on the enslaved history and is open to the public to tour! Tours are 1 hour and 15 minutes long, and provide more context on the legacies of slavery within the US. While the guided tours are only available on the day of and are first come first served, you may also opt to do self-guided tours where you go about the grounds at your leisure. 

Day Trip from New Orleans: Plantation Alley 

Note that the last 3 plantations that we’ve included on the list have very short descriptions of them since we have not personally visited these places ourselves. They just seemed interesting and we would love to come back to the area to visit these. We will update the post if there are more plantations that open after restorations from the hurricane have finished. 

How to plan your perfect day trip to Plantation Alley from New Orleans

You can do one plantation in the morning and get there as soon as they open: most of these plantations open at 10am. Tours of the main house last an hour or so, and you are free to look around the grounds after.

You can have lunch in one of the cafes or restaurants located within the plantation premises, or have lunch at another plantation altogether. If you are on a budget, prepare sandwiches in advance and eat in one of the grounds so you don’t have to spend as much time or money for lunch.  

You may opt to visit a second or a third plantation in the afternoon, depending on how fast you manage to finish lunch, and if you are quick and timed your trip well enough to book a tour in another plantation and finish in time for the last tour on a third plantation before heading back to New Orleans or Baton Rouge. 

There are also hotels located close to some of these plantations, so you can opt to stay 1 night nearby without needing to base yourself in the New Orleans or Baton Rouge area. These hotels are generally cheaper than staying in the cities, so this is a great option to do your comprehensive plantation tour and extend your visit to 2 days or more! 

Are you planning your trip to visit these plantations near New Orleans?

These tours are very popular with Mississippi River cruising day trippers, and we can see the appeal in them! Once you visit one, you’ll definitely want to visit more and more! From 100+ plantations, we are down to a handful of plantations and we really should visit before these plantations are gone – either from natural forces like hurricanes or other reasons. Unfortunately, most of the land is being bought by refineries so some of these historic places are disappearing for good or are being left abandoned. 

Best to visit while you still can, and learn more about the history that we have in the US! 

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This tour has been hosted by Louisiana’s River Parishes. While we only got to visit Destrehan plantation, Houmas House, Laura Plantation, and the outside of Oak Alley, I included the other plantations as a list for me to go back to and visit!