Tour Description

Your package includes deluxe transportation and accommodations, all listed tour fees, and 10 meals.

Imagine being able to explore some of Louisiana’s most famous and historic plantation homes along the Great Mississippi River Road and learn about their stories, secrets and occasionally…spirits. Feel the wind in your hair on a thrilling airboat swamp tour, where you might even hold a baby alligator. Enjoy Cajun and Creole food that is as rich and vibrant as a bayou sunset. Smell the beautiful spring flowers in the Southern Gardens. And, lest we forget, the lure of “N’awlins” with its diverse cultures and music plus Jackson Square, Bourbon Street and The French Quarter. “Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler” (lay-ZAY-lay bon tah ru-Lay) Let the good times roll!

Day 1:

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Meals: Dinner
Our travel day will be filled with excitement as we anticipate this beautiful spring tour to visit the historic, magnificent Plantations of New Orleans. Our destination today will be West Memphis, Arkansas. Before we retire for the evening, Making Memories Tours has planned a welcome dinner for you to help you get acquainted with your new traveling companions.

Day 2:

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Meals: Breakfast
Excitement builds as we continue south this morning. Following lunch and a short break to tour the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, we will reach our destination of New Orleans early evening and check into our hotel for 4 nights.

Day 3:

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Meals: Breakfast
This morning a step on guide will board our coach for a narrated tour of the City of New Orleans. We will see such things as the above ground cemetery, St. Charles Street, Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, the St. Louis Cathedral and the French Quarter… among other things. After this most interesting and informative tour we make our way over to New Orleans’ World War II Museum. With an awe-inspiring collection of artifacts and educational snippets documenting first hand experiences of civilians and soldiers, this museum will hold your interest captive. More than just a typical history lesson, you will be transported through a looking glass to a tumultuous time of war in American culture. As soon as we leave here, get ready for your free afternoon to check out New Orleans on your own… and there is plenty to check out.

Day 4:

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Meals: Breakfast / Lunch
Today is the day we have been waiting for. We will board our coach to begin an awesome journey into New Orleans Plantation Country to tour some of the most majestic plantations along the River Road and hear the stories of Louisiana’s vibrant culture. Our first stop this morning will be an exhilarating ride on an Airboat. Experience the Louisiana Swamps and Wildlife like never before. Needing only inches of water to run in, the high-speed airboats are able to go deep into the swamps and get up close and personal with the residents. Our next stop will be the Oak Alley Plantation, one of the world’s most photographed plantations with its alley of 300-year-old oak trees and Civil War History. We will have time to visit their Slave and Civil War Exhibits as well as a guided tour of the plantation house. We have included lunch here at the Oak Alley Plantation so be ready for some mouth- watering Cajun food. Our last stop for today is the Laura Plantation, a Creole Plantation that has tours based upon Laura’s detailed memoirs of life in Creole Louisiana in 1805 and the interaction between the slaves and her family. This plantation is also noted as the place where the tales of Br’er Rabbit were first recorded. We return to New Orleans and the remainder of the evening is free.

Day 5:

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Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Our first experience on this exciting day will be at Cajun Pride Swamp Tours. Cajun Pride Swamp Tours is unique in that their privately owned swamp ensures that your narrated tour will not be disturbed by other boats. The native Cajun Captains are all natural…homegrown in the Bayous of South Louisiana. With accents and humor they will take you back to the early days of Louisiana bayou and swamp explorations. Our next adventure takes us to Destrehan Plantation, established in 1787 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Destrehan Plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley. From here we make our way to our next plantation, Houmas House Plantation called “The Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road.” At one time during the 19th century, Houmas House farmed sugarcane on tens of thousands of acres, and became the largest producer of sugar in the country. We have included lunch here, so you can take time to relax and experience the South the way it was meant to be. As we return to New Orleans this evening, we have a surprise for you. New Orleans School of Cooking: this is where you can learn to make some delicious home-cooked Cajun dishes and we will be eating the results!

Day 6:

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Meals: Breakfast

We must leave the history and charm of New Orleans behind as we begin our journey back home. We will cross over the Mississippi River and travel through the Arkansas Delta on our way to Little Rock, Arkansas and the last night of our tour.

Day 7:

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Meals: Breakfast

We have a short travel day and it will go by quickly as we say “so long” to our new friends and reminisce over the fabulous things that we have seen and enjoyed as we made some memories together.