New Orleans' historic cemeteries are included on many walking tours.
You can explore New Orleans' historic French Quarter, Garden District and their surroundings through a variety of walking tours. Whether you're interested in architecture, ghosts, pirates, the antebellum era, Prohibition or history in general, you can find walking tours tailored to your tastes and budget. Take a self-guided tour, stroll with a knowledgeable local or follow a flamboyant guide through the streets of this unique city. As of August 2010, walking tour prices ranged from free--for self-guided tours with a map--to $40 per person for guided tours.
French Quarter Tours
The French Quarter or Vieux Carre ("old square"), the original settlement that grew into New Orleans, is known for jazz, Mardi Gras, pirates, voodoo and much more. You can receive a valuable introduction to this unique area and an overview of its fascinating history on a French Quarter walking tour. The St. Louis Cemeteries No. 1 and No. 2, various restaurants, Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, the open-air French Market, pirate Jean Lafitte's blacksmith shop and various museums are popular stops on many French Quarter walking tours.
Garden District Tours
The Garden District, accessible from downtown via the St. Charles Avenue streetcar, developed during the 1830s as the American section of New Orleans. Tours may showcase the homes of famous residents such as actress Sandra Bullock and novelist Anne Rice, noteworthy examples of the district's architecture and gardens, shooting locations for films such as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Interview with the Vampire," the historic Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and more.
Voodoo Tours
Voodoo, which fuses West African spirituality with Roman Catholic beliefs, came to New Orleans via slaves from the Caribbean. Marie Laveau, perhaps the city's most famous voodoo practitioner, is buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, and her grave continues to be the site for various rituals and observances. Voodoo tours may showcase her grave and her house, voodoo shops in the French Quarter, contemporary churches and Congo Square, the site of early gatherings.
Cemetery and Ghost Tours
Because much of New Orleans is below sea level, most of the city's burials take place above ground in mausoleums. The city's historic cemeteries---St. Louis Nos. 1 and 2 and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1---appeal to visitors not only because of their architecture, but also because of the insight they provide into the city's history, early settlers, famous characters and tragedies such as fires, floods and yellow fever epidemics. With these events and the city's legacy of slavery and piracy, New Orleans is often billed as one of the most haunted cities in the United States. Ghost tours, usually offered in the French Quarter, offer insights into the lore of local hauntings, as well as historic events and people allegedly responsible for some of the city's ghost stories.
Other Tours
If you're interested in musical history, you might enjoy a walking tour focused on New Orleans' musical heritage, with stops in Storyville, the red-light district where many jazz notables started their careers, and the former J&M Studios building, where famous local and visiting musicians recorded their work. Or take a pirate tour and learn about Jean Lafitte and other outlaws who made New Orleans their headquarters. Local companies offer an array of other themed tours, from vampires to plantations to Hurricane Katrina recovery.
