Highlights

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Itinerary

Day 1 – New Orleans, LA

Arrive today in New Orleans, LA and check into your French Quarter hotel for a three night stay.  Dinner is on your own this evening.

Day 2 – Anne Rice’s New Orleans Full Day Tour – Free Time in French Quarter – Dinner at Court of Two Sisters – New Orleans Vampire Tour

Today features a full day guided tour of Anne Rice’s New Orleans.  Anne Rice was one of New Orleans’ most well-known authors, having written supernatural and gothic novels inspired by her hometown. Rice became famous with her book Interview with The Vampire.

Today’s tour starts in the Garden District, a lavish neighborhood built in the 1800s to rival the beauty and splendor of the French Quarter. Hear the fascinating history and learn of the architecture and plant life that made the Garden District of New Orleans a favorite backdrop for movies and television. See the homes of New Orleans’ rich and famous, including the former home of Anne Rice which became the setting for 6 different novels.

This tour will also include the homes of Hollywood stars along with all your favorite movies and television show locations. Get the actual insider’s stories behind the film locations including locations for the newest AMC Shows based on Anne Rice books – Interview With The Vampire and Mayfair Witches.

Next, visit Lafayette Cemetery, the home to the fictional tomb of the Mayfair witches. The cast-iron Karstendiek tomb is known as “Lestat’s tomb” because Rice was inspired by its intricate design. Rice also staged a jazz funeral at the cemetery to introduce her book Memnoch the Devil.

This afternoon, you will have free time for lunch on own and a chance to explore the French Quarter’s many restaurants, shops, boutiques and entertainment venues.  Following lunch on own, the tour picks up in the French Quarter with sights from the book and filming locations.

Sights you will see this afternoon include:  Madame John’s Legacy, Jackson Square and Hotel Monteleone.  Madame John’s Legacy is a historic home and museum featured in the film “Interview With The Vampire”.

In the book, The Tale Of The Body Thief, Lestat visits Café Du Monde on Decatur and meets the protagonist of the novel in Jackson Square. Various locations of the French Quarter are mentioned in the Mayfair Witches novels by Anne Rice, The Witching Hour and Lasher, including Café Du Monde, Court of Two Sisters and Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street.

Dinner is included this evening at the Court of Two Sisters, often mentioned in Anne Rice novels.  The Court of Two Sisters is more than a restaurant – it’s a legend. Enjoy delicious Creole and Cajun cuisine. Listen to authentic jazz. Pass through the Charm Gates. Make a wish in the Devil’s Wishing Well. And hear the story of Emma and Bertha, the two sisters who ran a notion’s shop here once upon a time in the French Quarter.

End the day with a New Orleans Vampire Tour.  This is your chance to get to know this incredible city’s mystique-laden history in a captivating, entertaining way. As one of the most haunted locations in the country, New Orleans offers a unique opportunity to experience the paranormal. Enter the world of the undead as the licensed guides take you on an unforgettable journey into the darkest ends of the French Quarter. Strolling with your guide on the New Orleans Vampire Tour, you’ll hear storytelling about vampires, haunted places and more. Experience the legends of famous New Orleans vampires, real and fictional. Visit locations associated with these creatures of the night, including a visit to a former Vampire Tavern! Are there vampires still lurking in the French Quarter? You decide! (B,D)

Day 3 – Oak Alley Plantation – Cajun Cooking Demo & Lunch – Destrehan Plantation – Dinner Cruise

This morning, tour the Historic Oak Alley Plantation near New Orleans. The Oak Alley Plantation, built in 1837, is a historic antebellum plantation located on the Mississippi River.  The design is Greek Revival with freestanding colonnade of 28 Doric columns. Enjoy a guided Tour of the Big House and self-guided walking tour of the grounds.

Bring your camera, you will want to get your picture taken along the Oak Alley.   It is named after its distinguishing feature, an alley or canopied path created by a double row of live oaks about 800 feet long, that was planted in the early 18th century, long before the present house was built. The alley runs between the house and the Mississippi River.  It is a view you have seen in several movies including the 1995 film “Interview With The Vampire.”

Next, enjoy lunch and a Cajun Cooking Experience at Spuddy’s Cajun Foods in Vacherie, Louisiana. Your group will dine on gumbo and jambalaya while Spuddy educates them on the history of the region and how to “Cook like a Cajun.” Members of your group will take home recipes and cooking tips, so they can try their hand at Cajun cooking too.  While cooking your meal, you’ll enjoy listening to stories and tales about the history of Louisiana’s River Parishes and foot-tapping Cajun and Zydeco music.

The afternoon also features a tour of the Destrehan Plantation, a majestic antebellum home that overlooks the banks of the Mississippi River.  Established in 1787 and listed on the National register of Historic Places, Destrehan Plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley.

Costumed interpreters will intrigue you with the legacy of the Destrehan family, historic events that occurred at this site, and the unique architectural features of the plantation. Here, visitors can gaze upon an original document signed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.  The Plantation also offers daily demonstrations based on life on the plantation.

The Destrehan Plantation is also featured in the 1995 film “Interview With The Vampire” where interior shooting was done.  The Destrehan Plantation was the site of an actual slave uprising — the German Coast Uprising of 1811 — which Anne Rice makes a nod to, supposing that the plantation masters might have been creatures of the night.

Returning to New Orleans, take some time to freshen up at the hotel before an evening dinner cruise. Dinner this evening includes Dixieland Jazz as you cruise the Mississippi on the Steamboat Natchez. Boarding in the French Quarter Quarter, you head downriver past the historic Riverfront while The Dukes of Dixieland performing for those happy, brassy tunes for which this city is so well known. (B,L,D)

Day 4 – Café Du Monde – Depart for Home

This morning, make a stop at Café Du Monde for a beignet before departing for home. Rice’s characters often spent time dining at Café du Monde. (B)

Tour Map