Vacherie · Great River Road · Louisiana

Oak Alley Plantation Tours

Guided trips from New Orleans to the River Road, compared in one place

Oak Alley Plantation tours run from New Orleans to the quarter-mile avenue of live oaks at Vacherie, where twenty-eight trees older than the house frame a Greek Revival front of twenty-eight columns. Every trip here includes your admission and the guided house tour, so you arrive with the ticket already paid.

Hours, prices and access verified by the Oak Alley Plantation tours team — last checked August 26, 2026

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead on almost every trip — and the two exceptions say so on their own card.

75 minfrom New Orleans

28live oaks in the alley

From $75admission included

Oak Alley Plantation Tours›Tours & Tickets

Updated: August 26, 2026

Start here

Top Oak Alley Plantation Tours for 2026

The three that rate highest across the most reviews, spread over three different kinds of day. Each has its own page with the itinerary, the restrictions and the meeting point.

Best seller

Swamp Boat Ride and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.83,508 reviews7 hours 45 minutes

2 hours at the plantationMax 28

Board a covered swamp boat on the Manchac wetlands, then spend two full hours under the oaks at Oak Alley with a timed slot on the guided house tour. Both admissions and the narrated River Road drive are inside the fare, which is why this reads cheaper than it looks for a seven-and-a-half-hour day. The boat is a pontoon rather than an airboat, so there is no height rule and no restriction on pregnancy, back or heart conditions. Check in at the Gray Line Lighthouse on Toulouse Street fifteen minutes early, and pick a morning departure, because the afternoon one takes you to Destrehan instead.

Check in at the Lighthouse, French Quarter
Coach along the Great River Road
Oak Alley Plantation, guided, 2 hours
Drive past Lake Pontchartrain and the Spillway
Cajun Pride swamp boat, 90 minutes
Return to the French Quarter

From $131 per person

View details Check Availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans

★ 4.31,820 reviews5 hours 30 minutes

2 hours at the plantationMax 55

Travel out by full-size coach from the French Quarter for two hours at the plantation, with the gate ticket and the costumed house tour already paid for. This is the only Oak Alley Plantation tour with transportation that will carry a folding wheelchair, given forty-eight hours of notice to the operator. A ninety-minute pontoon swamp run can be added at checkout if you want the day to run longer. Departure is from 400 Toulouse Street rather than your hotel, so it suits anyone staying within walking distance of Jackson Square.

Check in at the Lighthouse, French Quarter
Coach along the Great River Road
Oak Alley Plantation, guided, 2 hours
Free time on the grounds and gift shop
Optional 90-minute pontoon swamp tour
Return to the French Quarter

From $89 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

New Orleans: Oak Alley Plantation & Airboat Swamp Combo Tour

★ 4.81,032 reviews8 hours 30 minutes

2 hours 15 minutes at the plantation

Two hours and fifteen minutes on the grounds — the longest of any combination here — then a hundred-minute airboat run through the marsh and lake of the Barataria Basin. Hotel collection at both ends, the entry ticket and the airboat fare are all included, and tips are the only thing left outside the price. Hearing protection is handed out at the dock, because an airboat is open and loud in a way a covered boat is not. Note the rules before you book: 48 inches minimum, and no pregnancy, back problems or heart conditions.

Hotel pick-up in New Orleans
Coach to Vacherie, 75 minutes
Oak Alley Plantation, guided, 2 hours 15
Drive to Jean Lafitte Preserve
Airboat run in the Barataria Basin, 100 minutes
Return to your New Orleans hotel

From $160 per person

View details Check Availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Why book here

Trusted by Thousands of Visitors

Everything you need to choose between eighteen departures for the same house.

★

Best Guides

The guides are what travellers write about afterwards — a driver who narrates sixty miles of River Road, and a costumed guide who takes you through the Big House. Every trip here includes both.

✓

Book With Confidence

Almost every trip refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead, and the two that do not say so on their own card. Your Oak Alley Plantation booking includes the gate ticket, so there is nothing to pay on arrival.

☼

Experience of a Lifetime

You walk a quarter-mile avenue of trees that were old before the house was built, tour a National Historic Landmark, and stand where the people who built it lived. It is a day that stays with you.

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure on almost every trip listed — the exceptions carry their own note.

The honest answer first

Do You Need a Tour at All?

No. Anyone can drive to the gate and buy an Oak Alley Plantation ticket for $30. But the plantation is sixty miles up the River Road, there is no bus and no train, and the Foundation itself says rideshare is not reliably available for the journey back.

Drive yourself ifThere are three or more of you, or you want
more than three hours on the grounds, or you want the alley at opening.
The costing is here.
Take a trip ifYou are one or two people. The cheapest fare is
about $45 more than the gate ticket, and it covers a hundred and twenty miles of driving
plus a guide.
Either wayTicket sales stop at 4 p.m. and the last guided
house tour leaves at 4:30. Those two times matter more than the
closing time.

The full list

All Oak Alley Plantation Tours & Tickets

Every one of the Oak Alley Plantation tours and tickets listed here bundles the gate admission with the drive. Half-days, swamp and airboat combinations, and pairings with a second River Road house — ranked by rating and review volume. The last two on the grid drive past the plantation without stopping, and their cards say so.

Top rated

Full Day Plantation and Swamp Tour in New Orleans

★ 5.088 reviews7 to 8 hours

3 hours at the plantationMax 12

Start with three hours at Oak Alley, then drive on for a ninety-minute swamp boat with Cajun Pride — the only combination here that does not cut the plantation short. Admission to both, bottled water and air-conditioned transport are covered, with breakfast, lunch and onboard WiFi excluded. Twelve travellers is the cap, which is small enough that the guide can answer a question rather than run a script. Pick-up runs from eight, or you can meet the driver if that is easier.

From $137 per person

Check Availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Private New Orleans Double Plantation Tour: Oak Alley and Laura

★ 5.010 reviews5 to 6 hours

1 hour 30 minutes at the plantationNon-refundable once booked

Your own vehicle, your own pace, and collection from any address inside the New Orleans city limits rather than a published pick-up list. Ninety minutes at Oak Alley and ninety at Laura, with both admissions and bottled water included and an optional lunch stop at your own cost. Infant seats and strollers are accommodated, which very few trips here state outright. One thing to weigh before booking: this is non-refundable and cannot be amended for any reason, so treat the date as fixed.

From $585 per person

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Non-refundable once booked

Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Pickup from New Orleans

★ 4.888 reviews4 to 5 hours

3 hours at the plantationMax 12

Three hours at the plantation, which no other trip here matches, in a vehicle capped at twelve travellers. Admission, bottled water and USB charging are included, and you can either be collected or meet the driver directly between eight and quarter to nine. Three hours is what the exhibits actually need: the Slavery at Oak Alley display alone is billed at an hour by the Foundation. The route also passes Whitney, Laura and Saint Joseph, though Oak Alley is the only stop.

From $86 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley Or St. Joseph Plantation Plus Swamp Tour Combination

★ 4.824 reviews7 hours 30 minutes

2 hours at the plantationMax 28

Ninety minutes on a Cajun Pride swamp boat, then your pick of Oak Alley or neighbouring Saint Joseph for two hours. Air-conditioned transport, hotel collection and both admissions are covered, with taxes included in the quoted fare. Combination departures run once a day with a pick-up window between half past ten and eleven, so there is no flexibility on timing. No food or drink is included at any point — pack something, because the swamp landing sells snacks and little else.

From $125 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley Plantation and Large Airboat Swamp Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.7745 reviews8 hours

2 hours at the plantationMax 16

Two hours under the oaks, then a sixteen-seat airboat through the Barataria Preserve for an hour and forty. Hotel collection is included at both ends and the group is capped at sixteen, so the road transport is a van rather than a coach. Airboats run shallow water at speed and then cut the engine to drift where the wildlife is, which will feel nothing like a covered boat to you. The dock rules apply as written: 48 inches minimum height, no pregnancy, no back or heart conditions.

From $160 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

New Orleans: Bayou Swamp Tour and Oak Alley Plantation Tour

★ 4.61,200 reviews7 hours 30 minutes

2 hours at the plantationFull refund only if you cancel 2 days ahead

Manchac Swamp comes first on this one, then a fixed three o'clock slot on the Oak Alley house tour with two hours on the grounds. Hotel pick-up, the narrated swamp cruise and the plantation admission are all inside the fare. The operator recommends a hearty breakfast and a packed lunch, which is honest advice for a seven-and-a-half-hour day with nothing catered. Check the refund line before you commit: this one needs two full days of notice rather than the usual twenty-four hours.

From $125 per person

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Full refund only if you cancel 2 days ahead

Oak Alley Plantation and Small Airboat Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.6191 reviews8 hours

2 hours at the plantationMax 9

Nine travellers maximum, on a six or nine-seat airboat — as close to a private swamp run as anything here gets. The day pairs an hour and forty in the Barataria Preserve with two hours at the plantation, both admissions included. A smaller boat sits lower and turns tighter, and that is what you are paying for at the top of the band rather than a mark-up for its own sake. Standard airboat restrictions apply, so check the height and health rules before booking for a family.

From $185 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation Tour with Transportation

★ 4.6107 reviews8 hours

1 hour 30 minutes at the plantationMax 25

Whitney Plantation first, an hour and a half of self-guided exhibits on the history of slavery, then an hour and a half at Oak Alley with its guided house tour. Both admissions, all fees and taxes and air-conditioned transport are in the fare. This is the Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation tour that answers the most common thing travellers say afterwards about the single-house trips. Note two details: pick-up is from one named hotel on North Rampart from half past nine, and a 7.9% processing fee is added to your payment.

From $111 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Small Airboat and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.625 reviews7 hours

2 hours at the plantationMax 24

Two full hours on the plantation grounds, followed by two hours on a small airboat with Ragin Cajun — longer on the water than any other trip listed. Parking fees are covered and hotel collection runs between eight and half past. The extra time on the boat is the whole proposition here, so it suits anyone for whom the swamp is the main event rather than the add-on. Bring your own lunch, and check the usual airboat health restrictions before you book.

From $178 per person

Check Availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Best value

From New Orleans: Oak Alley Plantation Tour

★ 4.5524 reviews5 hours 30 minutes

2 hours at the plantation

Collected from your hotel and driven seventy minutes up the Great River Road for a guided walk through the Big House with a guide in period dress. The entry ticket is included, which makes this the cheapest Oak Alley Plantation tour from New Orleans that comes with a guide attached. Two hours on the grounds afterwards covers the alley, one exhibit and the gift shop at an unhurried pace. Nearly two hundred pick-up addresses are listed, so you are unlikely to need a cab to the start.

From $75 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley Plantation and Swamp Boat Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.4405 reviews8 hours

2 hours at the plantationMax 32

Covered swamp boat, air-conditioned minivan, and two hours at the plantation between them. This is the accessible combination: wheelchair and stroller accessible, with no height minimum and no health restriction of any kind, which the airboat versions cannot offer. You get an hour and forty on the water in the Barataria Preserve, with hotel collection at both ends of the day. Food and gratuities are excluded, so budget for lunch at the restaurant on the grounds.

From $130 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley or Laura Plantation with Transportation From downtown

★ 4.4398 reviews4 hours

2 hours at the plantationMax 28

Four hours door to door, hotel collection from eight in the morning, and your choice at checkout of Oak Alley or Laura. Whichever you pick, you get two hours there with a professional guide and the admission covered — more time than either pairing allows. Laura is a Creole family history told from an unusually complete record; Oak Alley is the house and the avenue. It is the shortest Oak Alley and Laura Plantation tour listed, so it suits a half day rather than a full one.

From $79 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Oak Alley Plantation Half-Day Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.3180 reviews5 hours 30 minutes

2 hours at the plantationMax 32

Pick-up runs from a quarter past eight, putting you at the plantation before the day warms up and back in the city by early afternoon. Admission and the guided house tour are in the price, and a three-hour New Orleans city tour with a stop at Saint Louis Cemetery No. 3 can be bolted on at checkout. Two hours on the grounds is the standard allowance and it covers the house comfortably. Groups run up to thirty-two, so expect a coach rather than a van.

From $75 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

New Orleans Small-Group 3 Plantation Tour with Gourmet Lunch

★ 4.8141 reviews8 hours

Drive-past onlyNone at the plantationMax 13

Drive-past only at Oak Alley: the route admires the avenue and continues. The three it enters are Destrehan, Whitney and Houmas House, with guided admission to the 1811 Slave Revolt exhibit and an unlimited gourmet buffet lunch with gratuity included — the only listing here that feeds you. Thirteen travellers maximum in an air-conditioned van, with vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free options arranged in advance. Choose it for the three houses and the lunch, and add a separate half-day if Oak Alley is what you came for.

From $259 per person

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Small-Group Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

★ 4.7475 reviews6 hours

Drive-past onlyNone at the plantationMax 14

Drive-past only at Oak Alley: this small-group day admires the avenue from the road and does not go in. What it does do properly is Whitney and Laura, ninety minutes at each with both admissions included, plus a photo stop at Evergreen's oak-lined esplanade. A fourteen-seat van and a driver-guide narrating the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline make it one of the better-rated River Road days available. Book it for the two houses you go inside, not for the one you pass.

From $159 per person

Check Availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Plan your visit

Which Kind of Day Do You Want?

Four shapes of trip. Pick the shape first and the rest of the decision gets easy.

Half a dayPlantation and a boat Two plantationsUnder your own steam

Back in New Orleans by early afternoon

Four to five and a half hours door to door, one admission, no boat. Two of these give you three hours on the grounds rather than the usual two, which is what the exhibits actually need.

Oak Alley Plantation guided tours, half-day

Add the wetlands

Seven to eight and a half hours, with an airboat, a covered swamp boat or a pontoon attached. Some head north to the Manchac Swamp and some south to the Barataria Preserve. Check the craft before the fare: airboats carry a 48-inch minimum and rule out pregnancy, back and heart conditions.

Compare the Oak Alley and swamp tour options

A second house changes the first

An hour and a half at each, both admissions included. Whitney is a museum of slavery; Laura is a Creole family history. Either one changes how the Oak Alley house tour reads.

See the Oak Alley and Laura Plantation tour pairings

Drive, and stay as long as you like

A gate ticket from $30, free parking, and no coach waiting for you. It makes sense for three or more travelling together, and for anyone who wants the avenue at opening.

The self-drive day, costed

What happens on the day

How an Oak Alley Plantation Tour Runs

The same five stages whichever trip you book. What changes is how long stage four lasts.

Collected in New Orleans

Most trips pick you up from your hotel; two leave from a fixed point in the French Quarter. Be outside at the start of your window.

Seventy-five minutes of River Road

Out on the interstate, then along the top of the levee past four other surviving plantation houses, narrated the whole way.

The guided house tour

Thirty-five minutes through two floors with a guide in period dress. No photography inside; the upper balcony is the exception.

The alley and the exhibits

Self-guided from here. The slavery exhibit alone is billed at an hour, so how much you see depends on the trip you booked.

Back before the evening

Half-days return by early afternoon, combinations by about six. Nothing includes a meal, so the restaurant on site is your stop.

See the top Oak Alley Plantation tours

About the plantation

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

We bring together every guided trip from New Orleans to one of the most recognisable places in the American South: a Greek Revival house of 1837 fronted by twenty-eight live oaks that were already a century old when it was built. It is a National Historic Landmark, a working exhibit on the people enslaved here, and a quarter-mile avenue that photographs like nowhere else in Louisiana. Here is what the site holds, how to reach it, and what a ticket covers.

History

Sugar land called Bon Séjour from 1830, exchanged in 1836 to Jacques Télesphore Roman. The house was raised between 1837 and 1839 by people Roman enslaved, under an overseer named George Swainy. It was sold at auction in 1866, restored by the Stewart family from 1925, and designated a National Historic Landmark on 2 December 1974.

The Big House and exhibits

One guided building and five self-guided exhibits. The house tour runs thirty-five minutes through two floors. Slavery at Oak Alley sits in reconstructed quarters and is billed at an hour on its own. The Sugarcane Theatre, The People of Oak Alley, a working forge and two family burial sites fill the rest of the grounds.

Planning your visit

Open daily from 8:30 a.m., but the times that decide your day are earlier: ticket sales stop at 4 p.m. and the last guided house tour leaves at 4:30. Allow two hours at minimum and three if the exhibits matter. Most of the visit is outdoors and the lawn in front of the house has no shade.

Live oak branches closing over the path at Oak Alley Plantation

Reconstructed slave quarters under the oaks at Oak Alley Plantation

A cast-iron sugar kettle on the lawn at Oak Alley Plantation

On the grounds

The Six Things You Will See

Only the first of them is behind the guided part of the ticket.

The alley of live oaksTwenty-eight live oaks in two rows, a quarter of a mile from the River Road to the front steps, planted long before the house they now frame.
The Big HouseA Greek Revival house of 1837–39 wrapped in twenty-eight Doric columns, one for every tree, toured on foot with a guide in period dress.
Slavery at Oak AlleyA self-guided exhibit on the men, women and children enslaved here and on what happened to them after emancipation. Allow an hour.
The Sugarcane TheatreA three-dimensional map of the Roman family holdings, and how cane was cut, ground and boiled on this stretch of the river.
The People of Oak AlleyThe plantation from the 1866 auction to 1924, told through the families who lived and worked on it after the Romans had gone.
The blacksmith shopA working forge on the grounds, and the outbuildings, sugar kettles and family tombs scattered between it and the levee.

Side by side

Which Oak Alley Plantation Tour Is Right for You?

Sorted with the featured three first, then by rating and review volume. The column that decides most bookings is the fourth one, not the sixth.

Tour	Rating	Duration	At the plantation	Best for	From
Swamp Boat Ride and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.8 (3,508)	7 hours 45 minutes	2 hours	Anyone who wants the plantation and the wetlands without an age or health restriction	From $131	Book
Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Transportation from New Orleans	★ 4.3 (1,820)	5 hours 30 minutes	2 hours	Wheelchair users, and anyone staying near Jackson Square who wants the lowest fare	From $89	Book
New Orleans: Oak Alley Plantation & Airboat Swamp Combo Tour	★ 4.8 (1,032)	8 hours 30 minutes	2 hours 15 minutes	Couples and older children who want both halves of the day done properly	From $160	Book
Full Day Plantation and Swamp Tour in New Orleans	★ 5.0 (88)	7 to 8 hours	3 hours	Small groups who want the full site and the wetlands in one day	From $137	Book
Private New Orleans Double Plantation Tour: Oak Alley and Laura	★ 5.0 (10)	5 to 6 hours	1 hour 30 minutes	Families and small private parties who want the day on their own terms	From $585	Book
Oak Alley Plantation Tour with Pickup from New Orleans	★ 4.8 (88)	4 to 5 hours	3 hours	Anyone who wants the exhibits finished, not just the house	From $86	Book
Oak Alley Or St. Joseph Plantation Plus Swamp Tour Combination	★ 4.8 (24)	7 hours 30 minutes	2 hours	Visitors who want the choice of two River Road houses	From $125	Book
Oak Alley Plantation and Large Airboat Swamp Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.7 (745)	8 hours	2 hours	Adventure-minded couples who want speed on the water	From $160	Book
New Orleans: Bayou Swamp Tour and Oak Alley Plantation Tour	★ 4.6 (1,200)	7 hours 30 minutes	2 hours	Wildlife-first travellers happy to fix the date well ahead	From $125	Book
Oak Alley Plantation and Small Airboat Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.6 (191)	8 hours	2 hours	Small parties who want the boat to feel personal rather than shared	From $185	Book
Oak Alley and Whitney Plantation Tour with Transportation	★ 4.6 (107)	8 hours	1 hour 30 minutes	Readers who came for the history of slavery, not the architecture	From $111	Book
Small Airboat and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.6 (25)	7 hours	2 hours	Travellers for whom the swamp is the main event	From $178	Book
From New Orleans: Oak Alley Plantation Tour	★ 4.5 (524)	5 hours 30 minutes	2 hours	First-time visitors who want the lowest fare with hotel pick-up included	From $75	Book
Oak Alley Plantation and Swamp Boat Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.4 (405)	8 hours	2 hours	Families and mixed-mobility groups who still want a boat	From $130	Book
Oak Alley or Laura Plantation with Transportation From downtown	★ 4.4 (398)	4 hours	2 hours	Anyone with half a day who wants to choose their house	From $79	Book
Oak Alley Plantation Half-Day Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.3 (180)	5 hours 30 minutes	2 hours	Travellers with one free morning who want the afternoon back	From $75	Book
New Orleans Small-Group 3 Plantation Tour with Gourmet Lunch	★ 4.8 (141)	8 hours	None	Food-minded travellers doing the wider River Road rather than Oak Alley	From $259	Book
Small-Group Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans	★ 4.7 (475)	6 hours	None	History-first travellers who want Whitney and Laura done properly	From $159	Book

Prices and ratings are the operators’ own figures and are indicative. Oak Alley Plantation ticket prices at the gate are separate and are covered on the admissions page.

“We chose the Oak Alley option and had a lovely drive out along the River Road. A timed entry to the Big House, and about two and a half hours on site — more than we expected.”

Sarah T, United Kingdom · August 2026

“A good tour that could have used another hour to take the history in properly. The driver was excellent, very informative, and a lovely lady.”

Michael, United Kingdom · June 2026

“The tour is built around the history of the property rather than slavery. If I came back I would do Whitney Plantation instead.”

Teaira G, United States · August 2026

From travellers

Oak Alley Plantation Tours Reviews

What travellers report after a day on the River Road, in their own words — the criticism kept in alongside the praise.

★★★★★

Oak Alley Plantation was beautiful and the history stayed with us. A favourite was the restaurant and the gift shop — the red beans and rice brought back memories of my grandfather.

Christina M, United States · Solo traveller · July 2026

★★★★☆

A good tour that could have used another hour to take the history in properly. The driver was excellent, very informative, and a lovely lady.

Michael, United Kingdom · Couple · June 2026

★★★★★

Hassle-free from pick-up to drop-off. The driver pointed out landmarks across the 75-minute drive, and the guide at the plantation was excellent and very well informed.

Douglas Craig, United Kingdom · Couple · May 2026

★★★★★

A must-see if you are anywhere near New Orleans. Oak Alley Plantation is in remarkable condition and the alley itself is simply beautiful.

Adrien, France · Couple · May 2026

★★★★★

A whole day out for under $150. The commentary on the coach and the guides at Oak Alley Plantation were the best part of it, and the swamp run was excellent.

Vivian L, United States · Family · August 2026

★★★★★

We chose the Oak Alley option and had a lovely drive out along the River Road. A timed entry to the Big House, and about two and a half hours on site — more than we expected.

Sarah T, United Kingdom · Couple · August 2026

★★★★☆

Would have given five stars, but our guide talked without pause for the whole drive in both directions.

dennis e, United States · Couple · August 2026

★★★★★

Oak Alley Plantation is beautiful, with 200-year-old oaks along the entrance. A lot of history mixed with sadness and grandeur. The Big House tour is guided and everything else you take on your own.

Laura R, United States · Couple · August 2026

★★★★☆

I appreciated the contrast the site draws between the life of an enslaved house worker and the planter family, but I wanted more detail than the format allows.

Chelle C, United States · Solo traveller · August 2026

★★★★★

A wonderful adventure. Oak Alley Plantation is beautiful and the bus driver was good company — I would recommend this one.

Ladonna C, United States · Couple · August 2026

★★★★★

A very professional tour and we loved the whole experience. The driver knew the area well. Well worth it.

MICHELLE W, United States · Couple · August 2026

★★★★★

The history behind Oak Alley Plantation and the thrill of the airboat are both worth the money. Expert guides and friendly bus drivers.

Bailey, United Kingdom · Couple · August 2026

Read all reviews

Before you book

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to visit Oak Alley Plantation?

A gate ticket that includes the Big House exhibit starts at $30 an adult, and a grounds ticket without it starts at $27. Every guided trip listed here already contains that admission, from $75 including the drive from New Orleans.

Do the tours include the entrance ticket?

Yes — every trip that stops at the plantation includes admission in its price. Two listings drive past the gates without going in, and both say so plainly on their card.

How long do you need at Oak Alley?

The Oak Alley Foundation suggests about two hours, which is what most guided trips allow. Two of them give you three. If the exhibits matter as much as the house, take one of the longer ones: the slavery exhibit alone is billed at an hour.

How far is Oak Alley Plantation from New Orleans?

About 60 miles up the Great River Road, and about 75 minutes by coach. The drive is part of the day rather than a chore — it runs the levee past four other surviving plantation houses.

Can you get to Oak Alley by public transport?

No. There is no bus or train to Vacherie, and the Foundation warns that rideshare is not reliably available for the trip back. That is why almost every visitor arrives either in a rental car or on a tour that includes the transfer.

What time does Oak Alley open and close?

The site opens daily at 8:30 a.m.. Ticket sales stop at 4 p.m., the last guided Big House tour leaves at 4:30 p.m., and the grounds close at 4:45 p.m.. The 4 p.m. cut-off is the one that catches people out.

Is the Big House tour guided?

Yes, and it is the only guided part of the visit. A guide in period dress takes you through the ground and upper floors; the exhibits, the quarters and the grounds are all self-guided and you take them at your own pace.

Can you take photographs inside the Big House?

Not inside. Photography is allowed on the upper balcony, and that is where the long view straight down the alley to the levee comes from — the picture most people come for is one you can take.

Is Oak Alley Plantation wheelchair accessible?

The grounds, the gift shop, the restrooms and the ramped basement level are. The Big House tour is stairs and is not, and the Foundation offers an iPad tour of the upper floor instead. One coach trip here carries a folding wheelchair with 48 hours’ notice to the operator.

Which Oak Alley tour is best if you want to understand slavery?

The pairings that add Whitney Plantation, which is a museum of slavery rather than a house museum. Travellers who take the Oak Alley-only trips regularly say the interpretation there leans towards the house and the family.

What is the difference between the swamp tours?

Airboats are fast and open, and carry a 48-inch height minimum plus restrictions on pregnancy, back and heart conditions. Covered swamp boats and pontoons are slower, shaded, and take everyone. Both run about 90 minutes to an hour and 40.

Can you cancel an Oak Alley Plantation tour?

Almost all of them refund in full up to 24 hours ahead. Two do not: one needs two days’ notice, and the private double-plantation day refunds nothing at all. Each card carries its own window, so read the one you are booking.

Is lunch included on the tours?

Not on any trip that stops at Oak Alley. There is a restaurant and a gift shop about a block from the house, and most itineraries leave free time that covers it. The one listing with a buffet lunch included is a three-plantation day that passes Oak Alley without stopping.

How early do the tours leave New Orleans?

Between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. depending on the trip. The half-days go earliest and are back for the afternoon; the swamp combinations start later and run to about five or six in the evening.

Do you need to book Oak Alley Plantation tickets in advance?

For a guided trip, yes — several sell out, and one operator reports an average booking made 23 days ahead. If you are driving yourself, the binding limit is that ticket sales stop at 4 p.m., not that the day sells out.

See all FAQs

Photographs

Oak Alley Plantation Gallery

The alley, the columns, the quarters and the kettles.

The quarter-mile avenue of live oaks at Oak Alley Plantation arching over a brick path, with the columned Big House at the far end

The double row of live oaks seen from the upper balcony of the Big House, the brick path running straight away between them towards the levee

The front of the Oak Alley Big House with its colonnade of twenty-eight columns, dormer windows and twin chimneys under a grey sky

A row of reconstructed wooden slave cabins under live oaks at Oak Alley Plantation, with an exhibit sign on the path in front

A large cast-iron sugar kettle standing on the grass at Oak Alley Plantation beneath the spreading limbs of a fern-covered live oak

Low spreading branches of the Oak Alley live oaks closing over the path, sunlight coming through the leaves

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Planning an Oak Alley Plantation Tour

Single questions answered properly. The longer planning pieces are in the guides.

Visitor guide

How to Visit Oak Alley Plantation: Hours, Prices and Getting There

The two gate tickets, the three times that decide your day, and whether the drive is worth doing yourself.

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On the grounds

Inside Oak Alley Plantation: The Big House, the Exhibits and the Grounds

Building by building, with the time each one takes — and why they add up to more than two hours.

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Background

13 Things Most Visitors Do Not Know About Oak Alley Plantation

Twenty-eight trees, twenty-eight columns, and a name that came from passing steamboats.

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Read all guides Planning guides

Where it is

Getting to Oak Alley Plantation

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Address

Oak Alley Plantation
3645 Highway 18 (Great River Road)
Vacherie, LA 70090, United States
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Opening hours

Daily, 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.. Ticket sales end at 4 p.m. and the last guided house tour leaves at 4:30 p.m.. Closed New Year’s Day, Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

From New Orleans

About 60 miles and roughly 75 minutes by road, with no bus and no train. Every way of covering it, including the four hotel pick-up patterns, is set out separately.

Booking

An Oak Alley Plantation reservation made through any trip listed here includes the gate ticket. Buying at the gate instead is the other route, and it is cheaper only if you are already driving.

Ready to Book an Oak Alley Plantation Tour?

Eighteen departures from New Orleans, every one with the admission and the guided house tour included. Compare them by hours on the grounds rather than by price.

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Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead on almost every trip.