Louisiana’s capital city region is full of big flavors and colorful characters.
That’s what seven tour operator and travel planner readers of The Group Travel Leader discovered during a five-day familiarization tour hosted by the Louisiana Office of Tourism. The hub-and-spoke tour, which was based in Baton Rouge and featured excursions into nearby towns and parishes, showcased Cajun culture, wonderful wildlife, fascinating local history and some of the best food in the capital city and beyond.
Follow along on this itinerary to begin planning a Louisiana adventure for your group.
Day 1
• Arrival in Baton Rouge
• Downtown Baton Rouge Tour with Red Stick Adventures
• Capitol Park Museum
• Louisiana State Capitol
• Old Governor’s Mansion
• Old State Capitol
• Free Time at Perkins Rowe
• Dinner at Rouj Creole Restaurant
Travel planners began their trips by driving or flying to Baton Rouge (or New Orleans, which is just over an hour away) before meeting at the Element Baton Rouge South, which would serve as the home-base hotel throughout the entire tour. After a box lunch, they set out on a guided tour of downtown Baton Rouge with Red Stick Adventures. The tour showcased numerous museums and historic sites around the State Capitol. After a brief rest at the hotel, the group enjoyed some free time and live music at Perkins Rowe, a Baton Rouge shopping and entertainment district, before a delicious diner at Rouj Creole restaurant.
Capitol Park Museum
Situated across the street from Louisiana’s State Capitol, the Capitol Park Museum offers visitors a wonderful overview of the state’s history, culture and character. Visitors learn about Louisiana luminaries such as Huey P. Long and Louis Armstrong and see exhibits showcasing music, Mardis Gras and the state’s long love affair with the mighty Mississippi River.
Louisiana State Capitol
The tallest state capitol building in the nation, the 34-story Louisiana State Capitol is a historic site and architectural landmark. Visitors can tour both legislative chambers, which feature decoration and artwork that highlight Louisiana culture, and learn about the assassination of former governor Huey P. Long, which took place in the Capitol’s hallway. An observation deck on the 27th floor offers a 360-degree view of Baton Rouge.
Old Governor’s Mansion
Built in 1930 by then-governor Huey P. Long, the Old Governor’s Mansion has been described as “Louisiana’s White House.” The Georgian-inspired mansion is now a historic house museum. Visitors see architectural highlights, including French crystal chandeliers and American marble, and learn more about Long and his family’s time in the home and in state government.
Old State Capitol
First used as a seat of government in 1850, Louisiana’s Old State Capitol is a historic landmark in the shape of a Gothic-style castle. On arrival, the FAM group was treated to a musical performance by a Huey P. Long reenactor. Then they toured the building, where they marveled at the colorful stained glass atrium ceiling and soaked up the history in chambers where monumental decisions, such as Louisiana’s 1861 secession from the union, were undertaken by lawmakers.
Day 2
• Depart for Livingston Parish
• Hungarian Settlement Museum
• Depart for Tangipahoa Parish
• Downtown Ponchatoula
• Lunch at Middendorf’s
• Global Wildlife Center
• Return to Baton Rouge
• Dinner at Solera Tapas and Bar
• King Cake Decorating Class at Eloise Market and Cakery
On the second day of the tour, the group headed east from Baton Rouge to Livingston Parish, where they learned about the area’s Hungarian community, and then to Tangipahoa Parish, the strawberry capital of Louisiana. After some time visiting downtown Ponchatoula, they had a lunch of fried seafood at Middendorf’s, a legendary waterfront restaurant, then experienced a safari exploration at the Global Wildlife Center. After a return to Baton Rouge and a brief rest, they enjoyed a Spanish dinner at Solera Tapas and Bar, then capped the day off with an interactive king cake decorating class.
Hungarian Settlement Museum
Most people know Louisiana as home to Cajun and Creole cultures, but fewer are aware of its Hungarian heritage. At the Hungarian Settlement Museum in Hammond, visitors learn about the community founded by Hungarian immigrants in the late 1800s that grew to become America’s largest Hungarian settlement by the 1930s. The museum features exhibits of traditional Hungarian dress, home goods, instruments and artwork, and the tour group also got to sample some Hungarian pastries at the nearby Livingston Visitor Center.
Downtown Ponchatoula
In Tangipahoa Parish, the town of Ponchatoula bills itself as the Strawberry Capital of Louisiana. After posing for a picture with the town’s giant strawberry statue, the group toured the downtown district, stopping in at quaint shops, sipping on strawberry daiquiris and posing for pictures with Ponchatoula’s Strawberry King and Queen, who are crowned each April during the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival.
Global Wildlife Center
At Folsom’s Global Wildlife Center, more than 2,000 giraffes, zebras, camels, bison, kangaroos and endangered exotic deer roam free on a 900-acre preserve. During a VIP tour, the FAM group set out with guides on open-air, World War II-era Pinzgauer vehicles to visit, photograph and hand-feed these magnificent creatures. Along the way, they got to see wild baby donkeys and giraffes that had recently been born at the center.
King Cake Decorating Class
King cake is a Mardi Gras tradition in Louisiana, and at Eloise Market and Cakery, a young entrepreneur runs a bakeshop and teaches visitors how to make and decorate these delicacies. Tour participants got to try their hands at rolling, filling and shaping their own king cakes, then decorating them with cream cheese frosting and signature purple, green and gold frosting. They also got to sample king cake hot from the oven, which offered a new way to experience an old favorite.
Day 3
• Red Stick Farmers Market
• Depart for Ascension Parish
• Jambalaya Demo at Cajun Village
• Houmas House Estate and Gardens
• Lunch at Dixie Café
• National Hansen’s Disease Museum
• Return to Baton Rouge
• Blue, Gray and Bayous Civil War Tour
• Champagne Reception at The Market at Circa 1857
• Dinner at TJ Ribs
The next day, the group began with a visit to Baton Rouge’s Red Stick Farmers Market then headed south from Baton Rouge to Ascension Parish, where they enjoyed an interactive jambalaya cooking class at Cajun Village. From there, they proceeded to Houmas House Estate and Gardens, one of the area’s most picturesque historic estates, where they enjoyed a tour of the grounds, the home and the on-site museum, as well as lunch in the estate’s Dixie Café. Next, they traveled to Carville to visit the fascinating National Hansen’s Disease Museum before returning to Baton Rouge. After a brief rest, they joined local historians for a Civil War tour downtown; stopped in for a Champagne reception and shopping at The Market at Circa 1857, a local antique mall; and ate dinner at TJ Ribs.
Red Stick Farmers Market
Each Saturday morning, the Red Stick Farmers Market takes place in downtown Baton Rouge. Shoppers can find microgreens, cheeses, gelato, coffee, seafood, plants and wine produced on Louisiana farms within 40 miles of the city. The FAM group enjoyed live music and got a preview of the new food hall that is soon to open at the market site.
Cajun Village
In the town of Sorrento, Cajun Village is a collection of authentic Acadian dwellings that have been restored and retrofitted for modern use. One of the buildings is home to Pirogue Adventures, where groups can learn to cook jambalaya and other traditional dishes over propane burners set up on the backs of overturned canoes. After the cooking experience, the tour group took a few minutes to explore the shops and café in the village.
Houmas House Estate and Gardens
In Darrow, Houmas House Estate and Gardens is a large estate showcasing the life of wealthy plantation owners on the banks of the Mississippi River in the 1800s. During a tour, visitors see the gorgeous gardens and landscaping and walk through the historic home, which dates back more than 250 years. The group’s experience also included lunch at the estate’s Dixie Café and time to explore the on-site Great River Road Museum.
National Hansen’s Disease Museum
On the grounds of a Louisiana National Guard Base in Carville, the National Hansen’s Disease Museum tells the story of the men and women suffering from Hansen’s Disease (often referred to as leprosy) who were quarantined for decades at the site, as well as the medical experts who cared for them and ultimately found a cure for the rare condition.
Blue, Gray and Bayous Civil War Tour
Tracing the Battle of Baton Rouge, which raged through what is now the heart of downtown in 1862, the Blue, Gray and Bayous Civil War Tour tells the stories of the leaders and ordinary men who became heroes during a confrontation that would serve as a precursor to some of the most significant moments of the Civil War. The tour included a stop at a historic cemetery, where headstones still bear the scars of bullets and cannonballs that struck them during the fighting.
Day 4
• Depart for St. Francisville
• The Myrtles
• Afton Villa Gardens
• Depart for New Roads
• Lunch at Morel’s Restaurant
• Historic New Roads Walking Tour
• Return to Baton Rouge
• West Baton Rouge Museum
• Dinner Under the Stars at Louisiana Art and Science Museum
The final full day of the tour took the group north from Baton Rouge to the charming village of St. Francisville, where they toured the beautiful Myrtles Plantation and the fascinating Afton Villa Gardens, a botanical treasure on the site of a former estate. Next, they proceeded to the town of New Roads for a waterfront lunch at Morel’s Restaurant and a walking tour of the historic city center. They then made their way back to Baton Rouge, stopping at the West Baton Rouge Museum before enjoying a lovely “dinner under the stars” in the planetarium at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum.
The Myrtles
Centered around a plantation home constructed in 1796, The Myrtles is a privately owned estate that features a house museum, boutique accommodations, a restaurant, coffee shop and lounge. The group enjoyed a tour of the house, which features unique architectural details and historic artifacts, and learned about some of the stories of hauntings in the home.
Afton Villa Gardens
A short drive from The Myrtles, Afton Villa Gardens is an imaginative garden landscape built on the ruins of an antebellum mansion that burned to the ground in 1963. The FAM group walked among the flower beds and horticultural features built around the foundations and crumbled walls of the original home and enjoyed refreshments and a guided tour with the family that cares for the up-and-coming 20-acre site.
Historic New Roads
Laid out on the banks of False River, a long, narrow lake in a horseshoe shape, New Roads is a small town with historic charm. The local tourism staff escorted the FAM group on a tour through the town, with stops at historic St. Mary of False River, a gorgeous Catholic church; Poydras Park; and the Julien Poydras Museum and Arts Center, housed inside a historic school.
West Baton Rouge Museum
On the west bank of the Mississippi River in West Baton Rouge Parish, the West Baton Rouge Museum preserves the history of the sugarcane farming industry in southern Louisiana. The group visited the museum to learn about the sugarcane crop, see a preserved slave cabin and enjoy traditional Cajun music, along with beignets and café au lait, in a re-created juke joint.
Louisiana Art and Science Museum
In a historic railroad depot on Baton Rouge’s Mississippi riverbanks, the Louisiana Art and Science Museum is home to permanent collections and touring exhibitions from around the world. Highlights include a triceratops skull fossil and an ancient Egypt gallery with a re-created tomb and authentic mummy. The FAM group enjoyed a heavy hors d’oeuvres dinner under the stars of the museum’s planetarium, followed by a larger-than-life film experience highlighting America’s music heritage.
Day 5
• LSU Rural Life Museum
• Lunch at Piccadilly Cafeteria
• Depart for Home
On the last day of the tour, participants checked out of the Element Baton Rouge South then visited the Rural Life Museum at Louisiana State University, where they enjoyed historic exhibits and a lively spiritual music performance. From there, they stopped for one last Louisiana meal at Piccadilly, a cafeteria-style restaurant, before returning home to begin planning their groups’ return trips to Louisiana’s capital city region.
For more information, please contact:
Visit Baton Rouge
Marie Stagg
225-382-3573
Explore Louisiana
Matthew Cope
225-342-9282
