- Temporarily Unavailable
- Every Day
- 2 Hours
Explore the final resting place of some of New Orleans’ most historic residents. Jazz funerals, voodoo, civil rights heroes, and more await you on this walk-through of the oldest existing cemetery in town!
Quick Details
Just 9 Spots in this Small Group Tour!
Join us for an up-close-and-personal look at voodoo in this enlightening experience!
Forget what you think you know about Voodoo. Grossly misrepresented in the movies, this French Quarter Voodoo Tour will help you discover the true history, culture, and beliefs of New Orleans voodoo and how it remains as an alternative religion in the city today.
Topics include:
- Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau
- Slavery in New Orleans
- Spells, Voodoo Dolls, and Potions
- Voodoo in Hollywood
- Zombies
- Summoning and Possession by Spirits
- Voodoo Rituals
- How New Orleans Voodoo is Unique
Space is extremely limited at just 9 guests per tour, so your questions will be welcomed! You’ll see more than a dozen real voodoo shrines and altars at several locations throughout this French Quarter voodoo tour, including those dedicated to Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is NOT a glossed-over, superficial, or highly theatrical approach to voodoo. The content of this tour is real – you will learn about a religion’s history, practitioners, and sacred practices, and those taking this tour should be both respectful of such and seeking knowledge. Voodoo is absolutely fascinating and therefore is very entertaining to learn about; there is no need for cheesy antics or fallacies to enhance this experience.
Tickets must purchased in advance. At least two people are needed to run this tour (may be booked separately). This walking tour is mostly outdoors and will be held rain or shine, so please wear comfortable shoes and bring proper gear for the weather.
Where Do We Meet?
We’ll meet at: the steps of the Jax Brewery right next to Kilwins located at 600 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA, 70130.
FAQ’s
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Not at all. This fascinating tour focuses on the history and present-day reality of this very misunderstood religion. We like to think it is at times funny, but it is always enlightening and educational!
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This tour covers approximately 1 mile, with periods of standing for up to 15 minutes; guests will be walking or standing throughout the entire two-hour tour.
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Yes! All of the information presented should be appropriate for children. That said, the tour is two hours long and quite information-dense, so young children may not enjoy the tour as much as older kids (you know your child’s attention span better than we do!).
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This tour will max out at 9 guests. We pride ourselves on small group sizes so you’ll never be a part of one of those massive tour groups!
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Our tours run rain or shine; please bring an umbrella or poncho in order to stay dry during the tour. If the weather is severe enough that it poses a danger, we will call you to explain our decision and discuss alternatives (this is why it’s very important to list a good cell phone number when booking online!). If we cancel a tour because of severe weather, all guests will be given a full refund.
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Great question! We could, but because there is so much to see and learn in the French Quarter relating to Voodoo (and so much to see in the cemetery!) and they are a bit of a hike from one another, we have created two separate tours, one for each topic. On this French Quarter Voodoo tour, you will get an in-depth experience regarding Voodoo and be taken to an authentic Voodoo shop, which happens to be in the opposite direction of the cemetery. If instead you wish to learn a smaller amount about Voodoo combined with other history and visit Marie Laveau’s tomb, then we suggest the St. Louis Cemetery #1 tour.
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There will not be a stop for food, so we suggest eating before the tour as needed.
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Like the rest of our culture, New Orleans Voodoo is unique because it combines many different versions of the religion, brought to New Orleans by people from different countries. For the sake of simplicity, it is largely a result of blending Haitian Voodoo and multiple African Voodoo traditions. The people who practice Voodoo here are also unique because many also practiced Catholicism, and therefore there are elements of the Catholic traditions integrated as well.
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Our guides have spent years studying the religion academically. While some are practitioners themselves, they have all attended multiple Voodoo rituals and ceremonies, and have first-hand knowledge of the faith and practices learned from Voodoo priests and priestesses.
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Because people of different backgrounds blended their beliefs into the religion, there was no common written language universally used by the practitioners. For this reason, much of the religion has been handed down orally and through the practice of rituals. It’s also important to note that, like the media, many sources online do not accurately portray the religion and definitely don’t provide a full picture of it.