Best Plantation Tours around New Orleans
 

What are the best plantation tours around New Orleans?

I would just drive your own car or rent one and got the River Road area(about an hour outside of N.O.) I don't think I would do a tour from NO on a bus.

Having been to all of the major homes, we like Oak Alley and Nottoway the best. Houmas, San Francisco, Destrehan, and Laura are all good too.
Oak Alley and Nottoway are probably our favorites just because of the house itself and/or the landscape. Houmas is very similar to those too. The actual tour at San Francisco and Laura and the history at those two are very good and different. San Francisco is a "Creole Plantation" while Nottoway is and "English Plantation". So, you might want to see at least one Creole Plantation, just to see the difference. We actually spent the night in Nottoway and that was very good experience too. Some of them do have a dining room, so you might time it during a meal. About 3 or 4 homes is enough for one day in my opinion.

Thank you. how nice of you to respond so quickly!! We are renting a car and staying for a night at Nottoway and will look to tour maybe two other plantations.

We enjoyed Nottoway imensely and were glad we stayed there. However, the breakfast we had the next morning was lacking. Perhaps just off that day.

Here is a link to a trip a couple of years ago to NO and River Road Plantations. Sorry, the photos aren't labeled. I think all the plantation homes I mentioned are on this one with the exception of Destrehan. We had been to it on a previous visit.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0IatW7FqybsWvu

Here is a trip to some Plantation Homes in Natchez Miss, for future reference. Our daughter really likes to see the plantation homes and places like The Biltmore in NC or Hearst Castle in CA.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0IatW7FqybsWvd

Please report back on which ones you see and your impressions of all. I live near New Orleans but the last time I've been to any of the river road plantations was two weeks before Katrina hit in Aug 2005. I took a friend who was visiting from Germany to Laura and Oak Alley, and she was very impressed. Laura was having major work done at that time and we weren't able to go inside. One house had a bad fire withing the last couple of years, but I cannot remember which one and can't seem to dig it up on the internet.

I hope you enjoy whichever ones you tour. I grew up in Natchez (parents still live there) and the antebellum homes there are spectacular - all are much grander than these plantations. But if you haven't seen them, you won't be constantly comparing as I can't help but do. ;-)

crepes,
I think Nottoway, Oak Alley, and Houmas are better than those in Natchez.

I've only been to Oak Alley and Laura, both were lovely and like spiro we just drove there in our car. We didn't get a chance to see anything in Natchez because when we were there they were having a Home and Garden tour so everything was booked up.