Oak Alley Plantation And Small Airboat Tour From New Orleans

Lots of time on a bus but the plantation was beautiful and the boat tour so much fun. The tour guide bebop was hysterical!

Beautiful plantation! The Oak trees are beautiful!!! I was in awe of them! Great history too!

I want a refund. The tour was suppose to be with a small group with a guide instead there was 5 bus changes total and no narration on the way back we were dropped off a block away in the pouring rain. It was suppose to be door to door small group for the increased price and a guide to narrate. It was a bus driver only on a large tour bus! I travel a lot I’m very disappointed

Enjoyable tour - great way to spend the day. Don’t forget sunscreen for the airboat tour!

Very awesome trip, this is a must

Plantation was beautiful and fantastic to see. Lots of driving involved, but drop offs and pickups were well organized. Air boat ride was very fun. We saw many gators that came right to edge of the boat. Guide was fun, friendly, and very knowledgeable about alligators. We got a chance to hold a baby gator, and that was very cool.

This was a fantastic trip, picked up on time and the tour guides at the plantation and airboat captain were knowledgeable.

Plantation tour was a bit disappointing. The grounds were beautiful and the oak tree canopy cover drive was majestic. Tour information was not very detailed about the actual workings and history of the plantation itself. Felt the information provided was a bit generic and also lacking any real substance, mostly fluff about unimportant details. The Swamp tour was fun, interesting extremely informative, our boat tour guide was Amazing and the gators did not disappoint. We also spotted a bald eagle. It was very enjoyable!

This has to be one of the best trips you will do . We were on a small airboat which was brilliant . Beebop our guide was bery good and made our trip so incredibly interesting introducing Willy the gator , and Frank .

A lot of time is spent in transit, but the coaches are very comfortable. Oak Alley was OK but a little limited. The airboat tour of the swamp was amazing with Captain Ernie.

Oak Alley Plantation is beautiful. The grounds are lovely. It seems funny to mention this but the public restrooms are the cleanest I've been in. The Best part of the tour was the Airboat ride. Rocky, our guide, was amazing. He got us up close to gators and let us touch a baby one. It was awesome. I would definitely recommend.

Loved loved loved the airboat tour. We had Bebop as a guide and he is one of the best we've experienced.

Absolutely loved everything - especially the airboat tour on the smaller airboat (well worth the extra money to be in a small group). Our guide, Bobby, knew so much about the area and wildlife and made it so much fun. It was easily the best thing we did in New Orleans. The bus drivers were on time, informative, and the bus was comfortable.

The tours at the Oak Alley Plantation and on the airboat were exceptional! Both guides were very knowledgeable. The guide at the plantation was very knowledge, very spoke very deliberately and clearly, and kept our larger-sized group together. She answered questions as they were asked, although she had to limit questions during the tour since there was another group directly behind us, but offered to answer any questions at the end of the tour. The guide on the airboat was also very knowledgeable, personable, and expanded the gator focus of the tour to point out an eagle its nest and a horned owl that he had spotted. The bus driver spent way too much time at the beginning of the trip figuring out payments for people who still owed money. We - who had already paid in full - had to sit in the bus for maybe a half hour while the driver repeatedly got on and off the bus - to work through other people payment issues. This cut short the time we had to spend at the Plantation. The online description said there would be an hour to explore or eat after the tour ended - that did not happen. For whatever reason that caused this, it needs to be fixed by the tour company.

Overall, this tour had some fantastic elements but one part of the experience left us a really bad impression. Read about driver Reginald at the end! Oak Alley Plantation: Oak Alley itself is beautiful and absolutely worth visiting. Unfortunately, the schedule felt rushed. We were only given 45 minutes to see all of the exhibits before the house tour, which simply isn’t enough time to experience everything. We had to rush through several exhibits just to make sure we didn’t miss our house tour slot. Other people in our group were also frustrated because they had to choose between seeing the exhibits or grabbing food. Airboat Tour: The airboat portion was AMAZING and easily the highlight of the day. Our guide was knowledgeable, energetic, and clearly passionate about what he does. He made the ride exciting and shared tons of interesting information about the swamp. Huge credit to him for making the swamp tour memorable. The Driver (Reginald): Unfortunately, the biggest negative of the entire experience was our driver, Reginald. When we purchased our tickets, they clearly stated hotel pickup and drop-off. However, at the end of the tour we were dropped off 20min walk away from our hotel. When my boyfriend politely explained that this wasn’t what we paid for, Reginald responded with a rude “oh well, it’s too late.” That response was incredibly unprofessional and unnecessary. After a long day of touring, the last thing you expect is to be dismissed with attitude when pointing out that the service didn’t match what was advertised. It left a very sour ending to what had otherwise been a good day.

Expensive but really worth it. No regrets. Staff highly professional and pleasant. Both the plantation and the Bayou boat trip beautiful and enlightening experiences.

We loved our guide - Hughie. He made the tour very interesting and fun. He clearly is very passionate about the alligators and sharing information about local history. We saw plenty of wildlife not just gators. Highly recommend this tour

Other travellers we met had a MUCH better experience on this tour than we did! First of all our driver, Donna was lovely. But then, for us the issues were : Our guide at the plantation had such a strong AAVE accent that we REALLY struggled to understand any of what he was telling us (and the only paper guides available were in French or German since we had an 'English speaking' guide!!!). We could hear other guides doing a much better job for their groups. And even more disappointing was our airboat ride - which was a HUGE disappointment. Throughout the entire ride we only saw about 8-10 gators (all chomping on marshmallows thrown out by our 'captain). We didn't stay when we did spot one for long enough to get a decent picture before racing off again. There was very little narration and when we stopped (for 15+ minutes) we were treated to watching 2 moorhens - exactly the same birds we see at home - wandering about and pecking at another of his marshmallows, while listening to him chunter on with our 2 fellow passengers about their home state! To be honest our 'captain' seemed to be not much more than a bored 'minute pincher' and again we met others afterwards who'd been out and had seen lots of alligators of all different sizes up close, as well as snakes and other wildlife.

The plantation is so beautiful. The guide was very knowledgeable as well as our driver who told us a lot about the area.

The small airboat is well worth it! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the swamp and gators. The Oak Ally plantation was absolutely beautiful. It was enlightening and very moving to visit a place where people were bought, sold, enslaved and treated as property.

The staff on both tours were awesome, very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. I would highly recommend both tours.

We booked this Tour because this particular plantation is well known in the area. We booked our tour with the bus transportation service, which was a great decision considering it took almost an hour to get there and the bus driver would point out facts about the area, which was a bonus. Once we arrived at the Plantation, we just were amazed at how beautiful it looked like, not counting the wonderful scents of the trees and flowers surrounding us. We just couldn't wait for the house tour to begin with our guide. We got to see but just a few rooms, everything else was blocked off. I have visited many other plantations in different areas so I was surprised at how little of the house we got to visit. But what we were the most disappointed in was the narration of the tour itself. The guide was very vague in explaining the specifics of the history of Oak Alley. To add insult to injury, within 30 minutes or so she prompted us to leave the premises as another tour was waiting. Thank God there was a Mint Julep station outside! So for the beauty of the plantation itself it's worth going but read on it before so you can actually get a better sense of the premises and history. To us, it was kind of a big deal that the narrated tour was mediocre at best.

Fun, fun, fun! Our tour guide on the jet boat was Ian. He made the tour extra special! We got up close & personal with the alligators. He gave us a lot of information about the area as well. Loved Oak Alley plantation as well! Highly recommended tour!

Really great day with two very different t experiences - Rocky our swamp boat tour guide was fantastic - a real aligator whisperer

It was a beautiful plantation, the tour was informative. We enjoyed the extra time allowed to tour the grounds in our own and eat/shop.

Good time. Guided tour was very informative. Plenty of time to see property. Cayanne was a very knowledgeable guide and answered all questions. Small airboat tour was fantastic, would highly recommend it. Guide was very very knowledgeable and fun. Saw plenty of gators!!

Wonderful. Oak alley was beautiful and terribly sad at the same time. I’m glad we went. The bus driver was very nice. The swamp airboat tour was the highlight of our trip. Must not miss!

The boat ride is definitely worth it. That was our favorite part. The plantation tour is nice something I'd recommend doing once. The airboat I could do every weekend and not get bored. What I will say is that the busses back really weren't very organized. We had to get off the bus we were on to switch with another couple and this held up both busses for quite a while. We were told to get on the first bus and our names were checked off. After 15 minutes we were told to board another bus instead.

Oak Alley was great and insightful! Mr. Anthony was a great private tour guide and I highly recommend asking for him upon booking a tour. Captain Dewey served as our Airboat Captain, and he was truly exceptional. Despite the cold temperatures, everyone on our small airboat tour was eager and excited, anticipating the wildlife we would encounter in the swamp. The highlights of the tour included seeing alligators up close and even having the opportunity to hold a baby alligator. Captain Dewey’s keen eye also allowed us to spot an owl perched in a tree, a bald eagle nest, and egrets. I highly recommend and encourage you to request Captain Dewey for the small airboat tour—his expertise and enthusiasm greatly enhanced the experience.

Good tour of the plantation house and surrounding huts etc.. The Airboat tour was brilliant and the guide Ian was excellent explaining everything thing about the swamp and all the birds and animals that live there,the icing on the cake was a year old Alligator he gave us to hold for photos etc..

Oak Alley was a beautiful plantation and the airboat ride was amazing with Captain Dewey being a very knowledgeable and fun guide.

This excursion was a great way to kill two birds with one stone as was well worth it. First visit was to the Oak Valley plantation. The oak tree walkways are beautiful. I wish there was more discussion and emphasis regarding the life and history of slavery during the tour. I preferred to go to the Whitney plantation for this but this was not an option for this two excursion tour. Next time I would’ve just booked the excursions separately on a different day. Nevertheless it was a busy full day. The air boat swamp tour was the highlight for this excursion. We opted for the smaller airboat with a smaller group which was a wise choice. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable being a 9th generation in this area. We saw several gators and other forms of wildlife. Seeing the bald eagles was another pleasant surprise.

I booked this tour because it had the combo plus transportation to and from the venues. Like other reviews, I think it would have been better to rent a car and drive out yourself. Even though the transportation company was organized the driver we got was awful and sort of ruined our experience out to the plantation as he kept droning on about nothing or swerving in and out of traffic. Many people felt unsafe. I was also bummed that we got switched to the afternoon air boat rides as many animals are out in the mornings(of which they didn’t tell us but assumed we would know). The plantation guide was fantastic though. Our favorite part was the air boat. We had Jason as our captain who I would highly recommend!

Don’t use this tour company due to the rude and crazy drivers. This is a transportation only company. No guides are provided by them. The plantation and swamp boats provide their own guides. First off, the stops were really good. The plantation was beautiful and the on-site guide was great at her job. The swamp tour was also great. We opted for the small boat in our reservation, and it wound up being just my wife and me and one other couple. The scenery was gorgeous and we saw a lot of alligators and other wildlife. Second, and this is why I would strongly recommend booking this tour with another company: it was not the small group as advertised and the drivers were crazy and, in one case, rude. While they do pick up and return to your hotel, it is not the small ‘max 9 people’ promised in the description. Our trip to the plantation was 22 people, which made for many more hotel stops than it should have been for the advertised 9 people. Also, because our group was so large, the house tour was much bigger than it should have been, something the on-site guide mentioned several times on our tour. And, while the boat tour was great with only the four of us, the bus trip back was with at least 30 people, all with different hotels. Also, prior to leaving to return to New Orleans, we sat in the bus for at least 20 minutes, with everyone accounted for, while the driver chatted up various passengers, even after he stated we would be late getting back due to rush hour traffic and increased congestion due to the Taylor Swift concert. When we, and other groups, asked to get going, the driver proceeded to question why we were in a hurry and criticized passengers for booking a tour that ended as late as this one, which made several people feel uncomfortable. He got confrontational with the passengers asking to get going, causing us to feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Do this tour in some way, but do not use Louisiana Tour Company.

Completely enjoyed this trip. The guides in the busses were knowledgeable and personable. The plantation was a real sight to see. But the swamp tour was a blast. Captain Jason did a great job taking us about and insured that we got to see plenty and take the pictures we wanted to take. This is a must for your New Orleans trip.

Oak Alley Plantation was very beautiful and interesting. A small stand outside offered delicious mint julep drinks and the restaurant had some very tasty menu items, followed by a delightful gift shop. Wish I had time to order their tempting pecan pie. The inside tour was most interesting, enjoyed the samples of the outfits worn and the history of the owners and slaves. A fascinating wall in the slave quarters listed many if not all of the slaves names. We also took the large Airboat Tour and what a great time that was. Our "captain" swerved and did slow circles in the swamp inlets drawing out numerous alligators, tossing them marshmallows. At one point two of the boats pulled up on the bank and one operator hopped out and hand-fed a large alligator while tapping the snout of a 2nd nosy alligator. Amazing. Sorry to see the tour end, it was so much fun.

Efficient tour company. Everything ran smoothly although it is a long bus ride to the plantation and swamp. It is worth combining the two tours.

Highly recommend this tour! The pick up at our hotel was timely and we had a nice bus ride to the swamp. They were well organized and prompt. We got on the small fan boat and toured through the swamp. We saw so many alligators!! We learned a lot and had a wonderful time! After the swamp, we got back on the bus and headed to Oak Alley. We toured the plantation, grabbed a snack and jumped back on the bus to head home!

We are still buzzing from our visit. This excursion is highly recommended. The plantation brought me to tears. A beautiful house with awful stories. The swamp was on another level. From being top of my husbands bucket list, the airboat ride was both thrilling and interesting. Trey our captain was knowledgeable, funny and really cares about the Gators. We hoped to see one and ended up seeing about 50! Who knew they'd like marshmallows 😆

We had a great adventure today .I would highly recommend it. Thanks so much. We would di this again or another tour with you guys.

Plantation Tour was very informative and presented a piece of history only known from distance. The Swamp Boat Tour via Airboat, only way to do it and you get up very close and personal with the alligators.

The airboat was fast & loud, definitely the best part of the trip. So many alligators to see, they come right up to the boat. The plantation was also good but too quick, not enough time for the visit.

Our bus driver was very enthousiastic and gave us a very good overview of the specificities of New Orleans. Oak Alley is beautiful and worth seing. The tour of the mansion is quite expeditive but nonetheless interesting. The slaves quarters describe the life at the time and are quite revealing of their hardship. As for the small airboat tour, even if a bit more expensive than the large one, was really worth it. We saw aligators and many types of birds. I would definetely recommend this tour.

Out Tour guide at Oak Alley was very knowledgeable and considerate. It is sad due to the circumstances. Something you would never want to forget. However, the small airboat ride was amazing! He drove fast! I forgot his name but he had ear gauges/plugs. Shared many fun facts! Was saw many alligators, some would come to our boat. I recommend the small airboat due to less people. We very much enjoyed swamp tour! Would definitely do this again!

We went on the Oak Alley Airboat Swamp tour on Thursday 14th March 2024, it was my second time going and first time for my daughter. Last time the bus driver was giving us lots of information on the trip to the plantation, so it was a bit disappointing not to have this experience, also when he was talking, it was hard to hear him as he was not speaking to the bus, but to the front window. The tour of Oak Alley was great and informative. The airboat ride was great and getting very close to alligators. It was great going really fast in the boats as well. Our tour guide was Trey he was very informative and funny. I would highly recommend this tour.

The plantation tour was very informative and the people there did a nice job teaching us how conditions and life were like for the people that were forced to live there. The airboat was extremely fun. We had a great tour guide named Trey and he did an amazing job answering questions and keeping the whole group excited. Definitely recommend a small airboat as it was a lot more intimate.

Most enjoyed the air boat ride through the bayous, marshes and canals. Quite a rich diversity of nature and wildlife! Found the Oak Alley visit fairly underwhelming. 30 minute tour of the “Big House” was interesting but not really worthy of the hour trip out there. Not a particularly immersive experience.

We had Ernie as our tour guide for the small airboat tour. He was amazing! He was funny and full of information. We saw 20+ alligators and had a fantastic time. Will definitely go again and will request to have Ernie again.

Oak Alley was beautiful however there were too many people in our group and the guided portion could have been more in depth. It was an hour ride to the plantation. Small airboat tour was fabulous. Our guide (Bob) was very informative and get us close to a lot of aligators, eagles, a turtle and explained the bayou. Our boat had 9 passengers. Definitely worth it!