Whitney Plantation Tour: Explore 18th-Century History

Step back in time and explore the 18th-century Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. Discover museum exhibits, memorial artwork, and restored buildings on this self-guided tour. Download the Whitney Plantation app for an immersive audio experience.

Duration: 5 hours, 25 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Lake Pontchartrain - Start the tour at the designated meeting point in New Orleans and journey to the historic Whitney Plantation, one of the antebellum estates located along the Mississippi River.
    You’ll cross the Bonnet Carre Spillway, a flood outlet for the river, and see a panoramic view of Lake Pontchartrain on your way to the plantation. Pass…
What's Included
  • Round-trip transport from central New Orleans
  • 2 hours to spend touring Whitney Plantation
  • 90-minute pontoon swamp tour (if option chosen)
  • Audio Tour Via Whitney Plantation App
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks (available for purchase)
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Explore the Whitney Plantation near New Orleans and journey back in time at this unique 18th-century plantation museum, the only one of its kind in Louisiana. This 5-hour tour, including travel time from New Orleans, offers a chance to view museum exhibits, memorial art, and restored structures. Gain insight into a significant chapter of American…

Location
Gray Line New Orleans
Toulouse Street
Departs from the Gray Line Lighthouse Ticket Office at Toulouse St. and the Mississippi River, just one block from Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Please arrive 15 minutes before boarding.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(1336 Ratings)
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Zawadi_b
Jan 4, 2026
Moving and educational, must see! - Kim was a great tour guide and Dwayne was an excellent driver! The swamp tour was awesome and the Whitney Plantation tour was moving, sobering and very educational. We learned a lot about the local history and and encourage everyone to go to the Whitney Plantation to hear the stories from the slave perspective and support a plantation that gives back to the community that built it and worked on it.
Review provided by Viator
Mbencivenni
Jan 3, 2026
Excellent tour - Highly recommend this tour. Just as described: the bus will take you to a historical plantation about an hour off New Orleans where you can learn about slave life, culture, and rebellions. During the bus ride you can watch a video about the history of the plantation and its eventual transformation into an historical site. At arrival to the plantation you are provided with a self-guided audio tour that explains each main point of interest. You have two hours to explore the plantation on your own. In addition to the mansion and slave quarters there are some moving memorials and sculptures throughout the property. There is also a small gift shop on the site that sells snacks and drinks, but there is no restaurant or coffee shop, so plan accordingly. The bus left and picked us up on time, and on the return trip our driver entertained us with addional information and cool stories about New Orleans. Great tour overall!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jonathan_c
Jan 3, 2026
Excellent driver followed... - Excellent driver followed by audio tour of plantation run by a not for profit. Full of social historical and personal information exhibits and art and a well stocked shop
Review provided by Viator
Tiffany_e
Jan 3, 2026
Whitney Plantation Voices from the Grave! - The plantation gives the perspective of slavers from the enslaved people of African descent. The voices and stories are real and sobering! A must see if you are a human being.
Review provided by Viator
Allenalexa
Jan 1, 2026
Very worthwhile and important plantation tour. - Very comfortable bus trip out to the plantation with a kind and knowledgeable driver. Focus of tour is history of slavery. A must for everyone. History is hard but necessary.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Antony_l
Dec 30, 2025
Well run tour and moving experience - Our driver, Nicholas, was so friendly and gave insightful narration during the ~1 hour drive band and forth to the plantation. The plantation, itself, was well set-up with a self-guided tour (portable audio devices) that walked us thorugh the site and gave us the powerful and moving history behind the site.
Review provided by Viator
Allison_h
Dec 30, 2025
Trip Highlight! - Whitney Plantation was really well done—everyone should see it. And the swamp boat ride was tons of fun; our guide Ethan was a blast! Definitely the highlight of our trip. Some reviews have mentioned the lack of food at Whitney—this is true, but on our tour, the bus also stopped at Oak Alley to pick up others and we were given time to eat at the cafe there/pick up food before heading out to the swamp tour. My only complaint about the day—people late getting back to the bus! I wish our guide had just left them honestly. It cut into our time places. But that’s not the fault of our tour—that’s inconsiderate passengers. Don’t be that guy.
Review provided by Viator
N3792ckpauls
Dec 31, 2025
Whitney plantation with transport - Grayline Tours NOLA - Excellent for those wanting a visit and information aligned with the dreadful slavery era, and our bus driver Elton gave fantastic commentary from pickup to drop off and best proffessional coach driver ever.. If your more after a visit and photos of the beautiful rows of oaks or Cyprus’s down a plantation road to the mansion (i.e 12 years a slave, Django) , Oak Alley, Evergreen or Laura Plantations look amazing from the road. #graylinetours NOLA
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Olga_r
Dec 30, 2025
Must see but not well organized - It’s a must-see tour. However, not well organized. Advertised with the return time at 3:25, while the actual return was at 2pm. The guide on the bus was speaking into the microphone that we could hardly hear.
Review provided by Viator
798efrati
Jan 4, 2026
Don't take this tour, it's not even a tour!! - We weren't able to explore the entire museum because it was a self guide tour, and we paid a lot of money for it! They should have disclosed that! You call it a tour but it basically paying 57 dollars for each person just for the transportation (it's 28 dollars admission). We were two people, it's 114 dollars, we could rent a car with this money, we got ZERO added value.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $89
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).