Destrehan plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the lower Mississippi Valley. It was established in 1787 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. You are invited to travel from the French and Spanish colonial periods through the antebellum grandeur of the sugar barons, to the ravages of the Civil War and the rebirth of reconstruction. You’ll be immersed in the rich history of Louisiana, back when French was the language and the white gold of sugar drove the economy. Set against the fabric of history, family stories of those free and enslaved will intrigue every visitor to this site.
Many notable people and events are contained in the plantation’s history. The plantation was home to Marie Celeste Robin de Logny and her husband Jean Noel Destrehan, who were the most successful sugar producers in Saint Charles Parish and one of the driving forces in Louisiana statehood. The plantation exhibits an original document responsible for creating Louisiana’s civil law of government, signed by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison, appointing Jean Noel to the New Orleans Territorial Council. One of the three trials took place following the 1811 slave revolt that occurred at Destrehan Plantation. This was one of the largest slave revolts in US history, led by Charles Deslondes. During the Civil War, the Union Army seized the plantation and established the Rost Home Colony, where newly freed slaves learned trades, enabling them to transition into a life of freedom.
This antebellum home with its lush green grounds and moss-draped live oaks is located on the historic River Road and watches over the banks of the Mississippi River just moments away from New Orleans. This site received a Travel and Tourism Louey Award in 2010, naming it the 2010 Louisiana Attraction of the Year.
Pickup begins at 8:15 AM, with a short 30-minute ride to Destrehan Plantation. The driver goes between hotels for pick-up service, and we ask that you allow up to 30 minutes for the curbside pickup at your hotel. During the Destrehan Plantation tour, you will be viewing the oldest standing plantation in the Mississippi Valley that is surrounded by majestic, 300-year-old oak trees. The house has been beautifully restored and the Destrehan Plantation house tour is approximately 1 hour, given by professional tour guides that will enlighten and entertain you on this trip through history. A Slave Quarter Museum is part of your tour of the plantation grounds, and you’ll have 20 minutes after the tour to walk around the grounds and take some pictures. We depart at 11:15 AM for the grand finale in Cajun country – a swamp tour.
At about 12:10 PM, the airboat tour leaves the dock and returns about 1:50 PM. You will enjoy a fully narrated swamp tour by one of our local captains in the comfort of an airboat. As you learn about what it is like to live in the Louisiana swamps, you will enjoy close encounters with swamp life. Around 2:45 PM, depending on traffic, you will return to your hotel.
Destrehan Plantation & small airboat tour round-trip transportation: $175
Destrehan Plantation & large airboat tour with round-trip transportation: $152
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