New Orleans Attraction Tours and Prices
Several of the biggest names in New Orleans cannot be visited on a whim. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 admits only guided groups, Preservation Hall sells tickets online in advance, and Whitney Plantation keeps a timed schedule. Knowing the rules and price of each saves a wasted trip.
The National WWII Museum
The museum covers a six-acre campus in the Warehouse District, with the Boeing Center’s suspended B-17 and B-24 bombers and the 4D film Beyond All Boundaries. Adult general admission starts from about $37. Theaters and bundled packages cost extra and prices shift by date, so look at the options on the museum’s ticket page before you commit. Give it at least half a day.
Steamboat Natchez
The Natchez is a working sternwheeler that boards at the Toulouse Street Wharf and operates daily. Daytime sightseeing cruises, Sunday brunch and evening dinner jazz cruises are separate sailings, and the evening band is the Dukes of Dixieland. Daytime adult fares start around $43, with children about half that, and brunch and dinner cost more. See current Natchez cruise options on GetYourGuide , or check the sailing calendar at steamboatnatchez.com .
Cemetery visits
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the resting place of Marie Laveau, has admitted only licensed guided groups since March 2015. Tours leave the Basin Street Station visitor centre at 501 Basin Street about every 15 minutes from 9:00 to 15:45 and last about 45 minutes. Adult prices run from roughly $25 to $33 depending on the seller. The New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries site explains the rules.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District reopened on 1 October 2026 for guided visits only. The Preservation Resource Center and Save Our Cemeteries run them in groups of 16 or fewer, with about six morning sessions a day lasting 75 to 90 minutes. Book through prcno.org . These are history tours, not ghost tours.
Museums and studios
Mardi Gras World is a working float workshop on the riverfront, open daily 9:00 to 17:30 with adult admission about $22. The Cabildo, where the 1803 Louisiana Purchase papers were signed, and the Presbytère, home to the Mardi Gras and hurricane exhibitions, are about $11 for adults each. The Sazerac House teaches the story of the Sazerac cocktail and Peychaud’s Bitters, with tastings.
Whitney Plantation and swamps
Whitney Plantation, about an hour west in Wallace, is a museum of slavery built around the lives of the enslaved. It is closed on Tuesdays, so plan around that, and see whitneyplantation.org for hours and tickets.
For swamp tours, the Jean Lafitte pontoon boats run about $29 to $35 if you drive to the dock and about $56 to $65 with hotel pickup. Airboat and small-group formats cost more.
Matching tour to budget
Free: Jackson Square performers and a Royal Street stroll. Under $15: streetcar rides at $1.25 and the Cabildo or Presbytère. Around $25 to $45: a cemetery tour, Mardi Gras World, the WWII Museum or a daytime steamboat cruise. Swamp tours with pickup and dinner cruises sit higher. For a loop through the Quarter on foot, see walking tours in New Orleans .
Book Preservation Hall and any cemetery slot first, since they sell out, and leave the museums for the gaps.