Some of Louisiana’s most authentic and enjoyable experiences await travelers who make the trek “down the bayou.”
That’s what 10 tour operator and travel planner readers of The Group Travel Leader discovered during a five-day familiarization tour that showcased the bayou destinations of southeastern Louisiana. Hosted by the Louisiana Office of Tourism, this tour gave participants an opportunity to explore the unique ecology and warm Cajun culture that can’t be found anywhere else.
During the trip, the group traveled up and down several of the state’s waterfront parishes, beginning and ending in the New Orleans area, and spent two nights each in Houma and Thibodaux. Along the way, they immersed themselves in history, came face-to-face with Louisiana wildlife and enjoyed abundant fresh seafood.
Follow along on this itinerary to start planning a Louisiana trip for your groups.
Day 1
• Arrival in New Orleans
• Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum
• Bayou Terrebonne Distillers
• Boiled on the Bayou Dinner Experience
• Overnight in Houma
Travel planners from around the United States flew and drove to the New Orleans area and gathered at Destrehan Plantation to begin their trip down the bayou. After a quick lunch at the plantation cafe, they boarded a motorcoach and made the trip to Bayou Terrebonne, where they enjoyed a tour and a cultural arts experience at the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum. Next, they stopped in for a drink and a tour at Bayou Terrebonne Distillers before checking in at Homewood Suites by Hilton Houma, which would be home for the next two nights. They capped things off with a delightful evening of fresh seafood, live music and dancing at the Houma Visitor Center.
Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum
At Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum, visitors learn about the flora and fauna that make Louisiana’s bayous unique. The museum features displays and interactive exhibits that highlight the area’s ecology, as well as galleries detailing Cajun and Creole culture. In addition to touring the museum, the group enjoyed a cultural workshop with a representative of the United Houma Nation, who told stories of the Native group’s history and led the group through a heritage art project using colored garfish scales.
Bayou Terrebonne Distillers
Founded by two cousins to honor their grandmother — Houma’s first Mardi Gras queen and a secret moonshiner during Prohibition — Bayou Terrebonne Distillers operates in a former shrimp-packing facility alongside the bayou. The group met the founders, toured the distillery and enjoyed tastings of its rum, corn whiskey and bourbon products, then relaxed with their choice of signature cocktails from the on-site bar.
Boiled on the Bayou Dinner Experience
Hosted at the Houma Visitor Center, Boiled on the Bayou is an immersive dining and music experience available to tour groups traveling through the area. This seafood boil features all the traditional foods, including fresh shrimp and crawfish, as well as sides, desserts and beverages. Houma tourism hosts demonstrated how to peel and eat the crawfish. After they finished eating, the group enjoyed live zydeco music and dancing.
Day 2
• Greenwood Gator Farm
• Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum
• Lunch at Atchafalaya at Idlewild
• Arts on the Bayou Experience
• Dinner at Cajun Critters
• Overnight in Houma
The second day of the tour began at Greenwood Gator Farm, where the group learned all about the history and science of gator farming and got to visit with dozens of alligators, large and small. Next, they traveled to the town of Patterson to visit the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum, a distinctive dual museum that details the area’s history in both air racing and the timber industry. They stopped for lunch at Atchafalaya at Idlewild, a restaurant situated on the Idlewild golf course, before returning to the Houma Visitor Center for a photo with its signature white shrimping boots. Next, they enjoyed a guided painting experience at a Houma cafe with Arts on the Bayou then had dinner at Cajun Critters before returning to their hotel for the night.
Greenwood Gator Farm
At Greenwood Gator Farm, visitors learn all about alligators and the important role they play in Louisiana. The visit begins with an educational tour, during which guides explain the detailed process of alligator farming. Next, visitors have a chance to hold and take pictures with baby gators. The experience ends in an outdoor exhibit area, where guests can see dozens of adult alligators, as well as other bayou wildlife.
Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum
In Patterson, the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum pays tribute to two of Southern Louisiana’s most distinctive industries: competitive aviation and cypress lumber. In one wing of the museum, visitors see numerous historic racing aircraft and enjoy an interactive film highlighting Louisiana entrepreneurs during the 1930s. The other wing of the museum details the cypress industry and features dozens of historic saws, machines and other artifacts related to area sawmill businesses.
Arts on the Bayou
Local artists from the Terrebonne Fine Arts Guild have come together to create Arts on the Bayou, interactive workshops that allow groups to create their own pieces of bayou-inspired art to take home. The local artists met the FAM group at Downtown Jeaux, a Houma coffeehouse, and led them through a painting workshop, where each participant created their own painting of the area’s signature white shrimping boots. The experience also featured lattes and beignets.
Day 3
• E.D. White Historic Site
• Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center
• Lunch at Grady V’s
• Laurel Valley Plantation
• Coastal Center at Nicholls State University
• Cercle Francophone
• Dinner at Politz’s
• Overnight in Thibodaux
The third day of the tour brought the FAM group to Thibodaux, another bayou city with a long history and deep Cajun cultural heritage. They started with an exploration of the area’s history at the E.D. White Historic Site, followed by a lovely boat ride down the bayou to the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. After a guided walk through downtown Thibodaux, they enjoyed a delicious lunch at Grady V’s. In the afternoon, they visited Laurel Valley Plantation, a historic site detailing the area’s past with dozens of original structures. Next, they got a preview of the Coastal Center, a soon-to-open research and education facility at Nicholls State University, followed by a fun French lesson with Cercle Francophone. The day ended with a seafood dinner at Politz’s restaurant and overnight at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Thibodaux.
E.D. White Historic Site
Part of the state museum system, the plantation at E.D. White Historic Site was established in 1825 on the banks of the bayou. The group learned about sugarcane, which was the plantation’s key crop, and got to taste some biscuits and syrup cooked in the historic kitchen. They also heard stories of the home’s famous residents: Edward Douglas White served as governor of Louisiana, and his son later became chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center
From the bayou landing at E.D. White Historic Site, the group boarded a National Park Service boat for a ride down the bayou toward Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. A park service guide pointed out animal life and highlights along the way. Upon arriving, the group enjoyed a bayou fishing demonstration, then toured the exhibits at the cultural center to learn more about Acadian history and culture on Bayou Lafourche.
Laurel Valley Plantation
Billing itself as the largest surviving 19th- and 20th-century sugar plantation complex in the U.S., Laurel Valley Plantation is both a historic site and a working sugar farm. The farm was first founded by Acadian settlers and later became a major plantation. There are more than 40 historic structures on the property, many of which were cabins for enslaved workers. Some of the cabins are up to 170 years old. The plantation has been featured in dozens of movies, including “Ray” and “Sinners.”
Coastal Center at Nicholls State University
At Nicholls State University, the Coastal Center is a state-of-the-art research and education facility focused on preserving Louisiana’s coastal environment. The FAM group got a pre-opening preview of the center, which features educational exhibits about wetlands, climate and conservation, as well as research and laboratory areas. Highlights included an enormous map of the Louisiana coast and an exhibit showing the high-water marks of various hurricanes that affected the area.
Cercle Francophone
Originating in France, the Acadians who settled in Louisiana — and later became known as Cajuns — have developed a unique dialect of the French language, which is still spoken throughout the state. With Cercle Francophone, a French-Cajun community organization, groups can hear the history of this unique dialect and learn some words from people who grew up speaking it.
Day 4
• Departure for Cocodrie
• Lunch at Coco Marina
• Faith Family Shrimp Company
• Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Visitor Center
• Zam’s Swamp Tour
• Dinner at Spahr’s Seafood Restaurant
• Overnight in Thibodaux
After a leisurely morning, the group departed for their farthest excursion yet down the bayou. They drove through coastal wetlands to Cocodrie, where they enjoyed lunch at Coco Marina, then got an inside look at the area’s seafood industry at Faith Family Shrimp Company. After that, they stopped by the Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Visitor Center in Thibodaux, then took an engrossing swamp tour. They finished the day at Spahr’s Seafood Restaurant before returning to their hotel.
Faith Family Shrimp Company
At the end of the bayou, where its waters empty into the Gulf, Faith Family Shrimp Company is a working dock and shrimp processing plant owned by a local family. Workers at the site unload more than 5 million pounds of wild caught shrimp each year, and visitors get to learn all about the shrimping industry. They also see the process the family uses to create its distinctive dried shrimp, which is often compared to “shrimp jerky,” and sample some of the salty snacks.
Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Visitor Center
Newly constructed to replace a facility damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021, Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Visitor Center in Raceland is a great stop for groups to get an introduction to the ecology, history and culture of the Cajun bayou area. Interactive exhibits feature the wetlands, wildlife, cuisine and colorful local characters that make the area a prime destination for authentic bayou experiences.
Zam’s Swamp Tour
A family business in Lafourche, Zam’s Swamp Tour makes a memorable outing for groups. Tours are led by Zamariah Loupe, who grew up on Bayou Lafourche and shares his unique and entertaining perspective on area wildlife. During the cruise, visitors enjoy the beauty of the swamp and see lots of alligators and other wildlife. The experience also includes a visit to Zam’s backyard, where he introduces guests to pet alligators, snapping turtles and nutria.
Day 5
• Destrehan Plantation
• Spuddy’s Cajun Cooking Experience
• Depart for home
To begin the final day of the trip, the group returned to Destrehan Plantation for an official tour. This property, established in 1787, is the oldest plantation home in the lower Mississippi valley and was a major producer of indigo and sugarcane. They toured the lovely home with a costumed interpreter, admiring its period furnishings and learning about its enslaved population. The tour wrapped up in an event barn on the property, where the group enjoyed an entertaining and informative Cajun cooking experience with Maitland “Spuddy” Faucheux, who walked them step-by-step through the process of preparing delicious jambalaya and gumbo. From there, they said their goodbyes and departed to begin planning their groups’ return trips to Louisiana.
For more information on this itinerary or to plan your own trip to Louisiana, please contact:
Explore Louisiana
Matthew Cope
255-342-9282
