The 9 Best Cemetery Tours in New Orleans

ByCrystal

A visit to New Orleans isn’t complete without a cemetery tour. New Orleans cemeteries are full of history, and the above-ground tombs, monuments and mausoleums are stunning and should not be missed.

Whether you are interested in New Orleans’s history or are a taphophile (a tombstone tourist), everyone should visit at least one New Orleans cemetery to appreciate the city’s history.

I listed the best cemetery tours in New Orleans to help you decide which graveyard to visit, no matter what you are interested in. Whether you want to learn about voodoo history, take a paranormal tour or visit a cemetery, in addition to touring the rest of New Orleans, there is a tour for everyone.

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The 9 Best Cemetery Tours in New Orleans

1. Cemetery and Ghost BYOB Bus Tour in New Orleans

Do you want to explore a cemetery in New Orleans with a side of the paranormal? Then, you should take the New Orleans: Night Cemetery and Ghost BYOB Bus Tour. 

After dark, the cemetery and ghost tour take you to several New Orleans cemeteries. Some include the Masonic Temple Cemetery #2 and the Charity Hospital Cemetery at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial.

As night falls and darkness hits New Orleans, the tour takes you by bus to some of New Orleans’s oldest cemeteries. This tour is a combined cemetery and ghost tour and focuses on the haunted history of each cemetery. 

If you are into the paranormal, you’re in luck, as you will be provided with ghost-hunting equipment. You can use this equipment as you hear about the ghosts that lurk between the above-ground tombstones.

This tour makes a pit stop at the Morning Call Café, where you can get some tasty beignets before heading to the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. If you love ghosts and cemeteries, the Night Cemetery and Ghost Tour is one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans. I cannot recommend it enough.

Book here: New Orleans: Night Cemetery and Ghost BYOB Bus Tour

2. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Official Walking Tour

Explore the City of the Dead on one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans with the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Walking Tour. This is New Orleans’s oldest cemetery and is home to some of New Orleans’s most prominent figures throughout history.

The tour guide walks you through the tombstones, giving you an in-depth tour of several graves and explaining why the cemetery was built aboveground. 

The St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is not open to the public, so the only way to access it is by taking a tour. If you want to visit the tomb of Marie Laveau or the future grave of Nicolas Cage, you will have to take a tour.

Book here: St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Official Walking Tour

3. New Orleans City Tour: Katrina, Garden District, French Quarter & Cemetery

Head over to explore St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 with the New Orleans City Tour: Katrina, Garden District, French Quarter & Cemetery. 

This tour is more than just a visit to the cemetery; it stops at the Garden District, the French Quarter, and the canal bank, which was affected by Hurricane Katrina, in addition to a visit to a cemetery.  

You will hop aboard an air-conditioned coach to tour, complete with an informative and professional tour guide who regales you with the history and stories about all the sites you visit. If this is your first time in New Orleans, the New Orleans City Tour: Katrina, Garden District, French Quarter & Cemetery is perfect for you.

The tour runs for 3 hours, but the guides are enthusiastic and hilarious so that you will be entertained and educated about the history of New Orleans the entire time. 

Book here: New Orleans City Tour: Katrina, Garden District, French Quarter & Cemetery.

4. ​​New Orleans: Cemetery Bus Tour At Dark

The ​​New Orleans: Cemetery Bus Tour At Dark takes you to several cemeteries in New Orleans. The tour is spooky and is also one of the best ghost tours in New Orleans. This tour allows you to explore the Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery, the Charity Hospital Cemetery and the Hurricane Katrina Memorial Cemetery with a professional guide.

The Cemetery Bus Tour is one of the spookier cemetery tours in New Orleans. You wander around the graveyards at night with EMF readers to try to contact any spirits who still linger within the cemeteries. Plus, if you are a fan of American Horror Story – the tour stops at the Buckner Mansion, which was featured in season 3.

So, what makes this one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans? First, it includes a trip to a voodoo museum, so you will get to tie all of the voodoo histories you learn in the cemetery to the museum.

Book here: New Orleans: Cemetery Bus Tour At Dark

5. Dead of Night Ghosts and Cemetery Bus Tour

Visit New Orleans’s most haunted locations on the Dead of Night Ghosts and Cemetery Bus Tour. Head to two cemeteries, including the St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, which was once a burial site for a leper colony. 

The tour also stops at Bayou St John, which is the place where Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans, would perform voodoo rituals. If you are interested in voodoo history, I recommend going on one of the best voodoo tours in New Orleans to find out more.

This is a bus tour, but there is quite a bit of walking on this tour as you are taken through haunted sites and cemeteries overflowing with dark history. This tour is perfect for taphophiles (tombstone tourists) who love paranormal history.

Book here: Dead of Night Ghosts and Cemetery Bus Tour

6. Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery Walking Tour

Do you want to support New Orleans’ historic cemeteries? I highly recommend the Save Our Cemeteries Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery Walking Tour. 

What makes this tour one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans? First, it takes you to a cemetery that no other tour visits. The Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery is the resting place of over 9000 people. Similar to the future tomb of Nicholas Cage in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, this cemetery has the future tomb of author Anne Rice.

Another bonus is this walking tour is run by a non-profit company. They help preserve the beautiful cemeteries around New Orleans. 

The guides at Save Our Cemeteries are fun and know the history of New Orleans cemeteries. If you care about the future of the cemeteries in New Orleans, I highly recommend you support Save Our Cemeteries.

They also have two other tours if you can’t get enough New Orleans cemeteries. You can visit St. Roch Cemetery by taking their St. Roch Cemetery Tour. In addition, I recommend their St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 Walking Tour.

Book here: Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery Walking Tour

7. New Orleans: Secrets and Death Cemetery Experience

Witches Brew Tours takes you to three different cemeteries in New Orleans with their New Orleans: Secrets and Death Cemetery Experience. 

This tour shuttles the group from the French Quarter to Masonic Cemetery #1, St. Patrick Cemetery #2 and Charity Hospital.

You will walk through a maze of above-ground tombs, learning about New Orleans’s unique burial processes. Next, you will be taken to St. Patrick Cemetery #2 and learn the history of Irish immigrants in New Orleans. This tour also takes you to the Katrina Memorial at Charity Hospital Cemetery.

If you want to learn about the historic cemeteries in New Orleans, this is a must-do tour. The tour guides were fantastic, but Taylor was the absolute best! He was very informative and enthusiastic and really knew the history of the cemeteries and New Orleans.

What makes this one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans? You can bring your favourite drink onto the coach bus as you go from cemetery to cemetery.

Book here: New Orleans: Secrets and Death Cemetery Experience

8. New Orleans Lafayette Cemetery Tour 

If you want to explore New Orleans’s historic Garden District with an incredible tour guide, check out the New Orleans Garden District Walking Tour, Including Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.

This tour takes you through the historic crypts and above-ground tombs in New Orleans’s beautiful Lafayette Cemetery.  This is one of the best graveyard tours in New Orleans. You will learn about the cemetery’s history and everything about New Orleans’s burial traditions.

This tour also takes you through the Garden District. If you love architecture and cemeteries, you should check out this tour.

Learn about life and death in the city and its unique above-ground crypts and gravesites. 

Book here: New Orleans Garden District Walking Tour Including Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

9. New Orleans St. Louis #3 Cemetery Walking Tour: Angels, Architecture and Ghosts

Follow local historian and author Sally Asher around New Orleans St. Louis #3 Cemetery with the Angels, Architecture and Ghosts walking tour. This is one of the best cemetery tours in New Orleans for people who want to see and learn about the city’s unique tomb and burial practices.

This tour is also perfect if you can’t take New Orleans’s intense heat, as they offer morning tours. Tour guide Sally will take you through the cemetery. She will point out several notable figures from New Orleans while regaling you with tales of their lives and New Orleans’ history.

Visit St. Louis Cemetery #3 if you love graveyard architecture. The entire cemetery is filled with statues of angels, which make the cemetery look unreal and stunningly beautiful.  They also do a Metairie Cemetery Tour in New Orleans: Millionaires & Mausoleums. I loved this tour and recommend it to anyone who wants to visit more of New Orleans’s historic cemeteries.

Book here: New Orleans St. Louis #3 Cemetery Walking Tour: Angels, Architecture and Ghosts

Want more dark and spooky things to do in New Orleans?

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The Best Cemetery Tours in New Orleans
The Best Cemetery Tours in New Orleans

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