$19 to $37, two hours
A local guide, about a mile, set start times. You can ask why the houses look the way they do, and someone keeps you on the route.
$0, 60 to 90 minutes
The streets are public and the houses are private, so everyone sees them from the sidewalk anyway. A good map does most of the work.
$4.99 to $11.99
Start whenever you like, stop for coffee, and hear the stories house by house. GPS apps play as you walk.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1: open again, on a booked tour only
The city closed the cemetery to visitors in 2019. It reopened on October 1, 2026, for guided tours only: the City of New Orleans lists it as closed to the public except for guided tours, and sends visitors to one provider, Save Our Cemeteries, a department of the Preservation Resource Center. Tours take 1.5 hours and cost $30 for adults, $15 for ages 6 to 12, free under 6. WVUE reported six tours a day, 16 people or fewer. Families of people buried there can visit by appointment with the city.
The neighborhood walks below, guided or not, stop at the gates on Washington Avenue, and several of their pages still say the cemetery is closed. If the tombs matter to you, book the cemetery tour separately and walk the rest.
Garden District walking tours compared
| Tour | Type | Price (Nov 7, 2026) | Length | Starts | Inside the cemetery? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic New Orleans Tours | Guided | $29 adults; $20 seniors 62+, students, military; 12 and under free | 2 h; 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. | Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania St | No, from the gates |
| Two Chicks Walking Tours | Guided | $37 | 2 h, about 1 mile; 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. (no 2 p.m. in July and August) | PJ's Coffee, 2140 Magazine St at Jackson Ave | No, from the gates |
| Tours by Foot (freetoursbyfoot.com) | Guided, small group | $19 to $29 range for its neighborhood tours; exact price at booking | 2 h, about 1 mile | Prytania St at Washington Ave; ends at Commander's Palace | No, from the entrance |
| Save Our Cemeteries (Preservation Resource Center) | Guided, cemetery only | $30 adults, $15 ages 6 to 12 | 1.5 h | 1400 Washington Ave | Yes, the only way in |
| Free self-guided walk (Tours by Foot) | Map and notes | Free | 60 to 90 min, 19 stops | The Rink, Prytania St at Washington Ave | No |
| VoiceMap: The Secrets of the Historical Garden District | GPS audio app, narrated by a licensed local guide | $11.99; group copies 15% to 50% off | About 60 min, 1.3 mi, 30 locations, offline | Outside the Rink | No; ends outside it |
| Tours by Foot audio | Audio files, PDF and a Google map by email | $6.99 | Your pace | Anywhere on the route | No |
| Tours Bayou | Audio download with maps and photos | $5.95 walking; $6.95 driving version | Your pace | Anywhere on the route | No |
| Stories (ours) | Audio in any phone browser or the free iPhone app; synthetic voice | $4.99 for a group on up to 4 phones; stop 1 free | About 54 min, 1.3 mi, 8 stops | Cemetery gates, Washington Ave; ends at Buckner Mansion | No; stop 1 was recorded while it was closed |
Guided prices are per person; audio prices are one purchase. Two Chicks' price is from its booking calendar. Tours by Foot doesn't print this walk's price on the tour page; the range is from its New Orleans page.
Walk it yourself: a loop of the best-known houses
This loop follows Tours by Foot's free route, trimmed to ten stops. Every house is a private home: look from the sidewalk, and don't block gates or driveways. Allow 60 to 90 minutes.
- The Rink. 2727 Prytania StBuilt in 1884 as a roller rink; now the Garden District Book Shop and a café, and the meeting point for several tours.
- Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. 1400 Washington AveA city-owned cemetery from 1833 that fills a whole block. Look through the gates, or book the guided tour to go in.
- Colonel Short's Villa. 1448 Fourth StAn 1859 house by architect Henry Howard, famous for its cast-iron cornstalk fence.
- Briggs-Staub House. 2605 Prytania StBuilt in 1854, the neighborhood's rare Gothic Revival house.
- Women's Opera Guild House. 2504 Prytania StAn 1859 house by William Freret, mixing Greek Revival, Italianate ironwork and a later Queen Anne wing. It opens for visits on a schedule.
- Toby's Corner. 2340 Prytania StFrom 1838, the oldest surviving house in the Garden District, raised above the ground for floods and air.
- Buckner Mansion. 1410 Jackson AveBuilt in 1856 for a cotton merchant; Miss Robichaux's Academy in American Horror Story: Coven.
- Brevard-Rice House. 1239 First StAn 1857 Greek Revival house behind a Rosegate iron fence; Anne Rice's home for many years.
- Payne-Strachan House. 1134 First StWhere Jefferson Davis died on December 6, 1889. Look up at the sky-blue porch ceiling.
- Commander's Palace. 1403 Washington AveThe turquoise-and-white restaurant building from 1883, back across from the cemetery. It has a dress code.
Getting there and when to go
- Streetcar. Ride the St. Charles line from Canal Street at Carondelet and get off at Washington Avenue. A ride is $1.25; a 1-Day Jazzy Pass is $3; the RTA's Le Pass app takes payment. Historic New Orleans Tours asks you to board at least 30 minutes before your tour.
- Bus. The #11 Magazine Street bus is the other option, handy for Two Chicks' start on Magazine.
- Heat. Go in the morning in summer. Two Chicks drops its afternoon walk in July and August.
- Shoes. Oak roots lift the sidewalks. Wear flat, comfortable shoes and watch your step.
- Sun and rain. Bring water and a hat; Historic New Orleans Tours suggests an umbrella for either.
Guided or self-guided?
Take a guided walk if
- it's your first visit and you want the history behind the architecture
- you want to ask questions
- you'd like a set time and a group
Historic New Orleans Tours is $29 and free for kids 12 and under; Tours by Foot's neighborhood walks run $19 to $29; Two Chicks starts in a coffee shop with a restroom.
Go on your own if
- you're on a budget: the free map has 19 stops
- your schedule doesn't fit 10:30, 11 or 2
- you'd rather linger, or skip ahead
Add audio if you want the stories without reading: VoiceMap has the most stops; Stories and Tours Bayou are the cheapest.
Where Stories fits (we make it)
Stories' walk plays a short story at each of eight stops: Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 (from outside), Commander's Palace, the Briggs-Staub House, Colonel Short's Villa, the Brevard-Rice House, the Payne-Strachan House, Toby's Corner and Buckner Mansion. It is 1.3 miles and about 54 minutes.
Where it is the better pick
- Price for a group: $4.99 covers up to 4 phones, against $11.99 a copy for VoiceMap (less when you buy for a group), $6.99 for Tours by Foot's audio and $5.95 for Tours Bayou.
- Stop 1 plays free in a phone browser: no app, no account.
- Any time of day, and refunded within 7 days if it isn't for you.
Where others are better
- A guide answers questions; Stories can't.
- The free map has 19 stops and VoiceMap 30; Stories has 8.
- A synthetic voice; VoiceMap's walk is narrated by a licensed New Orleans guide.
- Stop 1 still describes the cemetery as closed; it was recorded before the October 2026 reopening.
- In the browser you keep the screen on and tap each stop. GPS auto-play and offline play need the iPhone app; on Android it plays in the browser.
Questions people ask
- Can you walk the Garden District on your own?
- Yes. The streets are public and free to walk, and the mansions are private homes that everyone, guided or not, sees from the sidewalk. A free self-guided route from Tours by Foot takes 60 to 90 minutes.
- Is there a free Garden District walking tour?
- The free option is self-guided: Tours by Foot publishes a free map with stop-by-stop notes. Its guided walk is a paid ticket; the company says its small-group neighborhood tours cost $19 to $29.
- Is Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 open?
- Since October 1, 2026, yes, but only on guided tours by Save Our Cemeteries, part of the Preservation Resource Center: 1.5 hours, $30 for adults, $15 for ages 6 to 12. Neighborhood walking tours stop at the gates on Washington Avenue.
- How long is a Garden District walking tour?
- Guided walks take about two hours and cover about a mile. On your own, allow 60 to 90 minutes; the app-based audio tours run about 54 to 60 minutes of walking and listening.
- How do I get to the Garden District from the French Quarter?
- Take the St. Charles streetcar from Canal Street at Carondelet and get off at Washington Avenue. A ride is $1.25, or $3 for a 1-Day Jazzy Pass, and you can pay in the RTA's Le Pass app.
- What is the best time to walk the Garden District?
- Morning, especially in summer. Two Chicks Walking Tours stops offering its 2 p.m. walk in July and August because of the heat.
- Can you go inside the Garden District mansions?
- Mostly no; they are private homes. The Women's Opera Guild House at 2504 Prytania Street opens for visits on a schedule, so check it before you go.
About this page
Published by Winding AI, Inc., the company that makes Stories. Half the search results for "garden district walking tour" are people in forums asking which tour to take, so we put the options, prices and the cemetery's new rules on one page.
How we checked: prices, times and meeting points come from each operator's own page or booking calendar; the cemetery's status from the City of New Orleans, the Preservation Resource Center and a WVUE report; streetcar fares from the RTA. All were read on November 7, 2026. Tour companies change times by season, so confirm before you go. We take no commissions from anyone listed and we don't invent ratings or reviews. Corrections: support@winding.ai.