Laura Plantation

This was AMAZING! We have visited a lot of plantations all over the U.S. and this is one of the most fascinating and well-done tours. It's not far from the Oak Alley Plantation (which I found to be disappointing), so I recommend touring here and driving by Oak Alley to see the oaks and then call that a day! They did a great job of highlighting the cultural significance of a Louisiana location.This tour is apparently one of the last ones before they are updating their tour to include more stories and perspectives of the enslaved people. I will have to come back for sure!

My tour guide was the best tour guide ever. It sucks i don't remember her name because i remembered everything she said while on my tour. Linda maybe Or Lydia. whatever the case, let me tell my story. Im from California but have a Creol, Hatian African and Indian heritage. I got the brochure from my hotel when checking in at the residence inn in the French quarter. Before going to a plantation I talked it over with my wife who's still in California. I gave her 3 Planration options and My wife said i should go to Lauras, though i thought i should go to Destrehan. Overall I still listened I listened to my my wife and made my way to Lauras for my 11:30 reservation on 06/05/2024 and after driving about 35 minutes i made a wrong turn into the sugar cane fields near the property and i got stuck in the bumper deep mud in the fields. Front wheel drive there was no way out. I called Lauras and A sweet receptionist answered and put everything in her life on hold and orchestrated a tractor to come and pull me out. she was so loving and nice. I have too much pride and motivation so I managed a way to get unstuck while in reverse spinning my rental car in multiple directions slipping and slide every which a way but i finally made it back to dry land after about 100 yards in sliding and called the sweet receptionist back and told her to cancel the tractor. By the way, i wasn't on Laura's property but i think the neighbors property. The part the sister sold off. But i made it out and missed my 11:30 reservation though i was in communication with the sweet receptionist who had softly told me, im so glad you made it out. Get here I scheduled you for a 12:00 o'clock tour. I am so happy that this all happened to me. Trying to get out of the bumper deep mud was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time. But i made it out, as i looked behind me while my wheels were spinning i just deeply felt connected to the slaves that had tilled these very fields i was driving away from and just knew that i had to make it out on my own. And i did. Fast forward back to Lauras. i Arrived at 11:45 AM mud with mud, sweat and dirt all over me and i met the sweet receptionist that i spoke with on the phone, she showed me to the restroom where i cleaned than i barely made it to my new timed tour. From the beginning to the end of my tour I was sucking all the knowledge in like a sponge , i was thrilled with the intelligence , knowledge, and understanding that our tour guide had on this property and just in general. I felt her connection with the property, with the past and with the truth. Our tour guide was very adept with the whole slave trade from the business aspect but also from the slaves aspect. She was the best ever. I use to be a tour guide and i was really good but she is a 1000 times better than me. My family is coming out to New Orleans soon, and i will be going back with them, if she is not available we wont do the tour. She was so connected to the tourist and her story and the knowledge. The tour was great. Shortly after i went to Destrehan plantation and it was scripted and for show and for donations. I promise i have no connections to Lauras plantations but this has been the great experiences i've had since i've been in Louisiana for the last 3 weeks. Thank you tour guide. I swear im going to remember your name. Again, i arrived for the 12:00 pm tour on 06/05/2024.

A great, informative tour. Our tour guide, Kristyn, was super informed and knowledgeable about the history of the plantation and family that started it. The tour was informative but conducted in a very upbeat manner. My wife, who is not originally from the US, was touched by presentations on slavery. In addition to the live tour, we found the museum to be of good education. I would highly recommend this tour.

We came to the Laura Plantation by chance and it ended up being the best tour we took. We arrived for the last tour of the day and to our surprise we were the only ones in our time slot so we got a private tour of the plantation and grounds. Cameron was our guide and he was super knowledgeable and personable and was able to answer all of our questions. The plantation itself and grounds were beautiful and we loved how the tour went into detail of not just the family (some juicy details there) but the slaves that lived there. As some tours like to gloss over that aspect we appreciated the honestly and transparency because unfortunately that is part of the history. The slave quarters were extremely eye opening and to think some of the descendants chose to live there until the 70s! If you find yourself wanting to learn about the history of the area I would recommend the Laura Plantation over all the others.

The history portion was good. Issue was our tour guide spoke way too fast and gave way too much info in one breath. I have lived in Baton Rouge area for 15 years so I was able to follow along but for everyone who was not from here, my parents included, it was way too fast with no break to really ingest it all. Never a time to interact or ask questions - was told ask at the end. I've been on several tours elsewhere and that's never been the case. With that said; the story of the family feud was different and interesting. My parents did like it for the most part but did say they wish she went a little slower so they could let the info simmer.

We toured Laura and Oak Alley on the same day and I agree with all the reviews: Laura was the better tour. Our tour guide, Kristyn, did an excellent job painting a picture of life during plantation days. I loved how she went into the history and family tree as well as describing the conditions that enslaved peoples endured. I highly, highly recommend Laura.

The tour guide was very passionate about the history of the plantation and articulated the information well. I learned a lot and recommend this tour to all. Especially since these things are not being taught in school anymore. They should emphasize the museum more as it is separate from the tour. As a black person, the more detailed lives of slaves and their descendants is much more interesting to me, integrates the background political status and how it affected the family. I like that it doesn't totally gloss over the horrible tradition of slavery.

Very interesting to learn about the history and stories of this old plantation. I appreciated the emphasis on creole culture here. The small museum talks more about the treatment of slaves and goes into more detail. I would recommend visiting the museum as well if you want to learn more than just the tour. Tour is a little cheaper if purchased online. Tour runs for a little over an hour.

Gorgeous and well kept grounds, however the tour itself was one of the least desirables I've experienced.From arriving at the ticket window until leaving, I noticed the staff wasn't the friendliest, and looked kind of "bothered" by us visitors. Odd-being a tourist attraction and Heritage site and all. My tour guide was an older lady, who wasn't engaging at all. She spoke so fast that I was lucky to catch every other sentence she regurgitated- from a very very stiff and well rehearsed script. No interactions whatsoever, as soon as I attempted to ask a question she would raise her finger and say "we will get there". Well...we never did, and my questions went unanswered, with the exception on one which I had to repeat 3 times (and to which she kept saying "I don't have an answer to that" ) Kind of rude in my opinion because she did have the answer..she just didn't feel like deviating from her script.She went on and on...and on about the Lady of the house and the feud amongst the family, barely focusing on the history of the Enslaved people who lived in the plantation. Personally I could care less about the rich family who owned "slaves" as she kept refering to them as. When I visit a Historic Plantation I prefer to know more about the daily lives of the Enslaved people and their history and background.I really did not feel comfortable in the entire duration of the tour. Hence I only saw 2 other visitors and another tour guide during my visit. They were LITERALLY empty. I now can see why. You will find no Southern Hospitality here.Go to Whitney Instead for a much more culturally richer experience.

The tour was phenomenal. Our guide, "Logan," did an amazing job. Not only was he extremely knowledgeable but personable, friendly and welcoming. The grounds are rich in history filled with moments in slavery time that impacted the lives of many. This tour is a must for any historian or anyone who wants to increase their knowledge on events highlighting American history.