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 by jessicat1982
On the ghost tours, you'll hear tales of horror at the lalaurie mansion, the axe murderer who stalked his victims and then killed off the entire family and the woman who haunts the bar you'll stop at.
the picture here, is at that very same bar which used to be a house of ill repute. The story goes that there was a prostitute working there who fell in love with a soldier. They were to be married but he wanted to go on one final mission beforehand so they could later live in financial comfort. The young woman was apprehensive so she made him promise to come back to her.
when he finally was to arrive home, she put on her white dress and ran down to happily greet him, only to find that he had indeed returned, but he was dead in his coffin.
the young girl, distraught, locked herself in her room for weeks refusing to eat until finally one day overwhelmed with her sorrow, she hung herself from the tree by the stables. it's said that she haunts the courtyard.
take a look at the righthand side of the picture directly behind the plant, taken of that very tree. do you see what I see?
go on the vampire tour and hear tales of the Count St-Germaine's reputed brief stay in new orleans and learn about the filles de cassette or 'casket' girls of ursuline convent . what really lies on the third floor? And why does it remain off limits to anyone save high ranking members of the church?
make sure you pick up a coupon before you take the tour. it'll save you some money.
I took a cemetary and voodoo tour with another company, and the tour guide wasn't half as good as the ones with this company. the guides were well informed, entertaining and very funny. if you're going to be a tourist for a couple of days, why not make yourself obvious and take one of the tours. it beats spending the entire time drinking on bourbon st.:P Leave a Comment
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Since we weren't in New Orleans at the actual time of Mardi Gras, we felt the need to check out Mardi Gras World - I wanted to see the floats. I'm not ENTIRELY disappointed that we did, but I don't ever need to go back. We took the ferry over from Canal Street and, though they have a cramped-looking bus to take you from the ferry to the door of Mardi Gras World, we opted to walk. It was a fairly short, pleasant walk.
We entered the main building and paid - luckily we had a AAA discount, but I'm still not sure it's worth even $10. At the start of the tour, a movie is shown, touting the Mardi Gras parade, some of the famous people who have participated and Mardi Gras World's place in it (they make all the floats for the parade). I found the film interesting. Then everyone can try on various pieces of the costumes and take pictures - at least there is no additional charge for this!
The most interesting part of the tour for me was the room where you could actually see the workers painting and sculpting the floats. From there, we went into a room where there were assembled floats. The size of the floats IS impressive, no doubt about that! But overall, this part of the tour was too short. Unfortunatley, in addition, our tour guide was new, and couldn't answer many of the questions asked by the people on the tour.
All tours include some Mardi Gras "King Cake" and coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, and not needing the ultra-sweet piece of cake, I could have done without this as well.
I guess my biggest complaint is they took an interesting tour, and cheesed it up so that they could charge more for admission.
The ferry ride across the river to Algiers, where Mardi Gras World is located, is FREE. Hop on at the base of Canal Street and ride over and back across the Mississippi. The poor man's river cruise!
Unfortunately, there IS no alternative. If you're not in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and want to see the floats, this is your only chance. Maybe a glance through the website would be enough? http://www.mardigrasworld.com Leave a Comment
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These are expensive and overrated. They show nothing you couldn't see on your own with a good guide book and are run by theatre major drop outs who can't get real jobs. A waste of time and money. Spend the $30-$40 on drinks at a nice bar instead. Leave a Comment
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The Ghost and Vampire tour that leaves nightly at 8:00 PM from the steps in front of Jackson Square (near Cafe du Monde) is too touristy, full of sensationalism, but the stories are interesting. If you don't mind a campy tour, go for it. Otherwise, skip it. Leave a Comment
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Silly, unnecessary tours.
Hey, if they're your thing, whatever. But do you *really* want to be walking around the Quarter or Garden District with some guy in a vampire cape and top hat doing silly things like, 'repeat after me {insert phrase in bad French here}.'
Generally they are overpriced.
The only acception are the swamp tours, especially if you don't have a car, because they will pick you up at your hotel. Leave a Comment
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Well, it is very touristy but can be fun just the same and that is the paddle boat ride through the Bayou. I kind of liked it but not a lot to see out there. I just happen to like boats. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to get out of the city. Leave a Comment
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The over priced bus tours. Everything in town is within walking distance and this is the only way to see it all.
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DON'T GO on those daytime walking cemetery tours!!! and dont think they're supposed to be scary! they're nothing but a waste of time and money. unless you wanna waste $20 walking in the sun visiting vandalized graves and listening to a so-called 'voodoo princess' who lost her accent 15 minutes into her talk (we learned she's from chicago and an RN), then go for it!
at least you get to exercise and lose calories from all the margaritas you had the night before.
go on a cruise, bar crawl, plantation tour etc...anything! Leave a Comment
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I don't know if I would call this a tourist trap, but you can make up your mind. You will see horse and buggies lined up on Decatour St right past Jackson Square who offer French Quarter and Cemetery tours. They will take you through a few streets of the French Quarter and impart some local knowledge, but nothing too spectacular. The cemetery tour was not good. The guide took us to one cemetery and told us to look around. He only talked quickly about Marie Luvou's tomb. Nice guy (we said he looked like Brett Michaels of Poison), but I don't know if it was woth the $45-50.
I highly recommend a tour, especially of the cemeteries. Just choose what you really want to see. Stay away from the French Quarter tours. Buy a book about it, read it before you go and walk around the Quarter yourself. Make sure you go in a group to the cemeteries. I saw all the warning on some other member pages and completely agree. As soon as you walk in, you will get the feeling you are happy you are not alone (with live people that is!). Nowhere to go as most have high walls.
Talk with the conceirge about the best tours in the city. Some are expensive so check that out before you book one. A lot to do and see in New Orleans so figure out what it is you want to see. Leave a Comment
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I recommend that you go in and pick out the pamphlets that interest you and of course the coupons. However, be wary of the sales people who tries to coerce you into buying into one or more of the tour combinations and that you have to book it thru their centre. It turns out that the sales people are pushing tours that are not known to the owner of the tour centre. The tours are being provided by local people and they are charging an exorbitant cost for a tour. Example being $90.00 USD for a plantation tour and the sales person gets a cut of the profits from the deposit that you must pay. You are better off calling the tour operators directly and make your own arrangments and skip the middle man. Additionally, if you are doing a tour alone, there may be some hesitation. Hidden Trasures would not come to get me as it was not worth it for them. Instead of being truthful and admitting that it wasn't worth their efforts, they lied and told me that business was slow and they didn't have anyone else interested in the same tour as me. I just happened to call the company back 30 minutes later to request another tour hoping there may be other tourists. Only to learn that all tours including the one I was interested in was booked. I learned that the only reason they did not want to come and pick me up is because I was the only one from this particular hotel.
If you must go on a tour thru the company, be aware that the prices are inflated to pay the middle man. The owners of the tour centres are unaware of the extra tours that are being booked thru these centres and the sales people are making their own profits thru this venue.
Other than the tour to the cemetary due to its alleged dangers, there is no reason why you cannot do the tours yourself. Once you obtain a map and choose a means of tranpsortation either by transit or taxi cab, you can make your own way around on your own. I made my own way around the French Quarters, the Warehouse/Art area by walking. I can assure you that the walking is good for your metabolism while you experience the cajun, creole and other fattening cuisine. I manage to maintain my weight and ate to my tummy's content.
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