Beyond NOLA: Five Best Day Trips From New Orleans

There comes a point in every New Orleans trip when you realise you’ve been living on po’boys and powdered sugar for three straight days and your feet are exhausted from all the live jazz.   Proper first world problems, right?

It’s at this moment you should consider escaping the city. Not because New Orleans has lost its magic – lawd, no - but because Louisiana beyond it is probably the most misunderstood and simultaneously fascinating states in all of America. It’s a wild, swampy, oak-lined wonderland with some of the best food on the planet and a history that is messy, dark and intriguing in equal measure.

Whether you get your kicks from ziplining over bayous, exploring the complex history associated with the state’s plantations or have a quest to learn how to cook the perfect gumbo, you’re in luck with my guide to the best day trips from New Orleans.  Plot spoiler – you ideally need a car for this (public transport here is more suggestion than system…a couple of these places can be accessed via tour or private shuttle). Once you’ve got the wheels, you can explore a side of the state most visitors miss.  Leave early (most city center rentals open up at 8am) – the gators don’t wait, and neither does Louisiana’s heat.

I use Booking for car rental, which gives a reliable range of vehicles and dealerships. Generally speaking, it's much cheaper to hire a rental from downtown than the airport but check closing times and out-of-hours returns policies.

Heads-up: some of the links on this blog are affiliate links, which means I might earn a small commission if you decide to buy something - at no extra cost to you.  I only recommend brands and products I use and have had excellent experiences of. Thank you to Visit River Parishes and Lafayette Travel who supported this trip.

1. Zip NOLA

Opening hours: 9am - 6pm daily (advance booking smart)

Cost: From $89 per person

Distance: 28 miles (approx. 30 minutes) from New Orleans

Website: zipnola.com

If dangling from a cable over a Louisiana swamp sounds like a bad idea, that’s because it probably is but it’s also one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have near New Orleans.

Zip NOLA takes you high above the Maurepas Swamp, where ancient cypress trees rise like cathedral pillars and the humid air hums with dragonflies.  You’ll zip along five lines, including one over a lagoon where the occasional resident alligators glide beneath - they try to move them on where possible...if that’s any comfort.

The worst part is the clamber up to the first platform even though you’re safe in the knowledge of being strapped in!  Once there, you can see back to the Crescent City before you begin your descent!  The guides are superb: part safety instructor, part stand-up comedian...they’ll demonstrate assorted poses for those who fancy taking things to the next level (bonus points for anyone who attempts the spiderman).

It's fast, fun and a welcome change of pace from the city – plus you’re potentially at the top of the food chain, geographically at least.

If you’re car-less, you can combine a swamp tour with ziplining at Zip NOLA with Viator – they’ll even pick arrange transport from your New Orleans hotel.  If you have a car, easy to combine both in a single day – allow at least 1½ hrs for each activity.

2. Cajun Pride Swamp Tours

Opening hours: 9am–5pm daily (tours at set times)

Cost: From $35 adults

Distance: 28 miles (approx. 30 minutes) from New Orleans

Website: cajunprideswamptours.com

Some people go to art galleries to find local culture; others prefer watching an alligator eat a marshmallow.

If you’re in the latter camp, Cajun Pride Swamp Tours is your cultural moment. Led by guides who could – or more accurately, really should - each have their own TV show, this boat trip through the Manchac Swamp blends wildlife, folklore, and an unhealthy number of wisecracks, at least one of which will be at your expense.

You’ll spot herons, turtles, and more gators than you’d ever admit to your insurance company, while hearing stories about voodoo queens, pirate hideouts, and local legends – keep an ear out for any bells tinkling from the graves that dot the landscape (the accompanying stories are sufficiently dark…)

The swamp is surprisingly beautiful, managing to be simultaneously peaceful and menacing at the same time, the latter never more so when you see how fast the average gator can swim and the warning that dangling your fingers over the boat isn’t the best idea you’ll ever have – they can only see outlines of shapes and will mistake them for sausages…

3. Oak Alley Plantation

Opening hours: 9am–5pm daily

Cost: $28 adults, including house entry

Distance: 50 miles (approx. 1 hour) from New Orleans

Website: oakalleyplantation.org

If you’ve ever looked at a postcard of Louisiana and thought, “Surely that can’t be real,” you were probably looking at Oak Alley. This ranks consistently high in the list of best day trips from New Orleans with good reason.

The plantation’s 300-year-old oak trees form a grand, shaded corridor that fulfils all your ‘Gone With The Wind’ fantasies.   Walk down the main driveway and look back, it’s one of the most remarkable views in the South.

The house itself, with its white columns and wide verandas, is a museum to both opulence and inequality. I’ve been here three times – in 2009, 2018 and 2025 – and tours here have become far more aware of the darker chapters of history. You’ll learn about the enslaved people who made that grandeur possible yes whose names were only recorded as part of the house’s property when ownership transferred.  The slave quarters also contain thoughtful histories of the communities that lived and contributed to the plantation for over a century.

It’s well worth spending a morning, strolling the grounds. The oaks seem to whisper, the river – the house sits literally by the Mississippi - drifts by lazily, and it’s a great place to ponder many of life’s bigger questions.  If you get here early enough, the breakfast beignets are also superb.

4. Spuddy’s Cajun Cooking Experience

Opening hours: Classes by reservation

Cost: $125 per person, $240 per couple

Distance: 50 miles (approx. 1 hour) from New Orleans

Website: cajuncookingexperience.com

Just down the road from Oak Alley in the small town of Vacherie, lies your key to unlocking the secrets of Cajun cooking.

Forget watching celebrity chefs on TV, Spuddy’s lets you stir, chop, and gossip your way through Cajun cuisine like a local. Hosted by the irrepressible Spuddy Faucheux in his converted smokehouse, this hands-on cooking class is a full-throttle acceleration into the ingredients, mixing and seasoning to make your own ‘soul in the bowl’ that will gain you instant popularity with hungry friends.

You’ll learn to make gumbo and jambalaya the right way - starting with a roux then building the flavours, one ingredient at a time. Between cooking lessons come stories of Louisiana life – the different variants of gumbo cooked by Louisian’s myriad communities, the underrated German contribution to cajun cuisine (hint – andouille, despite it’s name, is very much German in origin) and tales of growing up by the Mississippi whose sight and smell never leaves you.

What sets Spuddy’s apart isn’t just the food (though it’s excellent) but the warmth of the experience; by the end, you’re not just a student, you’re part of the family. And a family member whose cooking skills will be much in demand come holiday season.

5. Houmas House & The Great River Road Museum

Opening hours: 9am – 8pm daily

Cost: From $35 adults – depends on tour

Distance: 60 miles (approx. 1 hour 15 minutes) from New Orleans

Website: houmashouse.com

Visiting Houmas House feels like walking into the set of a period drama – complete with grumpy peacocks and opulent cocktails.

Known as the “Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road,” this antebellum estate balances its grandeur with a sense of storytelling that goes beyond the gilded columns.

The house is filled with a host of antiques, portraits, and chandeliers from the various generation of owners (you can judge whether they’re to your taste) while the adjoining museum dives deep – seriously deep -into the history of the Mississippi River’s commerce and culture going back to pre-independence.  You’ll invariably find that time has run away from you, it’s that interesting...and if the owner's golden labradors are in residence, you'll be even more distracted.

The food and drink options here are also outstanding – Dixie Café does a ‘greatest hits’ lunch which compares favourably to anything else you’ll eat on your Cajun roadtrip and the Turtle Bar lounge serves delectable seasonal cocktails in a converted garconnerie (quarters for the teenage heirs to the estate) complete with soaring ceilings and stained glass.   The house offers assorted tours – I’d recommend visiting both house and museum, leaving time to sip ad stroll around the gorgeous gardens.

Bonus Best Day Trip From New Orleans (although ideally longer!) : Lafayette

Opening hours: Varies by attraction

Cost: Vermilionville $10 adults; Cajun Food Tour from $59

Distance: 135 miles (approx. 2 hours 15 minutes) from New Orleans

Websites: vermilionville.org, cajunfoodtours.com

If New Orleans is the life of the party, Lafayette is the afterparty that turns out to be the highlight of your weekend.  It’s a long day trip (about 2¼ hrs each way) so really, you want to dedicate at least a weekend to the happiest place in America, as voted by the Wall St Journal.

This small city hums with Cajun music, spicy food, and an authenticity you can’t fake.  Start at Vermilionville, a living history village where locals in 19th-century garb demonstrate crafts, dance to zydeco, and make you wonder if time travel might actually exist.

Then join a Cajun Food Tour and spend an afternoon happily surrendering to étouffée, shrimp po’boys (seriously, they’re the best you’ll ever taste), and king cake until you understand why locals talk about food like it’s religion.

Lafayette prides itself on wearing its culture loud and proud.  If you’re in town on a weekend, look up which festival is on – they happen literally every weekend of the year.  I had very few expectations but this city rapidly became one of my favourite places in America…it won’t take much for it to work its magic on you too.