Louisiana Plantation Life

Información

Choose 2 of these 3 plantations to visit on the Great River Road that winds along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The combination choices are: Whitney/Laura, Whitney/Oak Alley, or Laura/Oak Alley.

WHITNEY: In 2014, the Whitney Plantation opened its doors to the public for the first time in its 262 year history as the only plantation museum in Louisiana with a focus on slavery. Through museum exhibits, memorial artwork, restored buildings and hundreds of first-person slave narratives, visitors to Whitney will gain a unique perspective on the enslaved people who lived and worked here. The Big House is one of the finest surviving examples of Spanish Creole architecture and one of the earliest raised Creole cottages in Louisiana. As a site of memory and consciousness, the Whitney Plantation Museum is meant to pay homage to all slaves on the plantation itself and to all of those who lived elsewhere in the United States.

LAURA: Travel back in time to Laura Plantation, an operating sugar farm built in 1805, on what has been called “the best history tour in the U.S.” You'll have the chance to visit 11 historic buildings on the National Register, including slave cabins in which the West-African folktales of Compair Lapin (later known as Br’er Rabbit) were recorded over 140 years ago. Laura Plantation was awarded the “Top Travel Attraction in Louisiana” by the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association in 2007. It was also listed among “the top 25 most popular house museums in the U.S.” by the American Academy of Architecture and Design.

OAK ALLEY: Feel the gentle breeze of Southern hospitality on a tour that takes you back to the glory of the Old South! You'll experience a bygone era in one of the South’s most beautiful settings-Oak Alley Plantation, built in 1839. Marvel at the unbelievable quarter-mile long alley of 28 magnificent Oak trees, each over 250 years old, and view the Majestic Cypress Trees in Louisiana’s swamps bordering the Mississippi River. Your guided tour will reveal the fascinating stories of the home and its history. Perhaps the most photographed plantation ever, Oak Alley has been the setting for such motion pictures as Interview with a Vampire, Primary Colors, and the wedding of Bo and Hope from the daytime soap opera, Days of our Lives.

Meeting/pick-up point: Gray Line Lighthouse Ticket Office at Toulouse St. and Mississippi River, only 1 block from Jackson Square in the French Quarter.
Duration: 7.5 hours (included travel time).
Start/opening time: At 9am.
Operational days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.From November 1st operation days will be Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Languages: English.
Others: Due to the home's historic nature, access to the second floor is by stairs only. Walking the grounds is an integral part of this experience. No video is allowed inside the plantation home. Includes guided tour and narrated motor-coach transportation.