New Orleans Cocktails, History, Voodoo & Paranormal Tour

Dark tales taste better with a drink nearby. This two-hour French Quarter walk mixes true crime, folklore, and local history with stops at bars and the use of a real EMF paranormal meter. I like the low $23 price and the chance to hear stories about pirates, criminals, voodoo legends, and notorious murders from guides who have led tours for more than a decade. The main catch is that drinks cost extra, and the route may focus more on stories told outside buildings than on going inside them.

I also like the tour’s broad reach. You may pass Jackson Square, the LaLaurie Mansion, the Sultan’s Palace, and other famous French Quarter sites while hearing about the people and crimes tied to them. But the experience depends heavily on your guide: Cody and Coty earned warm praise for lively storytelling, while one booking ended with the guide never arriving and another participant felt the route covered too few locations.

Key Points Before You Book

• $23 buys a two-hour guided walk: Drinks are not included, so budget separately for cocktails or other adult beverages.
• The meeting point is easy to miss: Meet on the sidewalk by the courtyard gate beside Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop at 941 Bourbon Street, not inside the bar.
• True crime leads the story: Expect tales about pirates, prostitutes, convicted felons, murders, and the darker side of New Orleans.
• The route includes famous French Quarter landmarks: Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, the Presbytère, St. Anthony’s Garden, the Ursuline Convent, and the LaLaurie Mansion are among the listed sights.
• Paranormal entertainment is part of the show: The guide uses an EMF meter, with a $250 charge for lost or damaged equipment.
• Guide quality matters: Cody and Coty received especially warm praise for friendly, energetic storytelling, but one scheduled tour reportedly had no guide appear.

A Boozy Walk Through New Orleans’ Dark Side

New Orleans is good at mixing pleasure and menace. A colorful building may hide a grim story, and a quiet courtyard may be linked to a murder, a legend, or a tale that has grown stranger with every telling.

This tour uses that contrast as its main appeal. You walk through the French Quarter while your guide connects the streets to New Orleans’ past and present crimes. The subjects include pirates, convicted felons, prostitutes, famous murders, Cajun superstitions, vampires, ghosts, and voodoo folklore.

The tone is meant to be entertaining rather than academic. You are not signing up for a formal lecture. You are joining a storyteller for a walk through some of the city’s most famous streets, with an adult drink available along the way if you choose to buy one.

That makes the experience a good fit for a first visit to the French Quarter. You get local orientation, landmark views, and stories that can help the architecture feel less like scenery and more like part of a long-running drama.

Still, keep your expectations in check. The description promises cocktails, but the price does not cover drinks. It also lists many locations, yet the walking pattern and exact stops can vary. One participant felt the tour visited only a small number of places and centered on a single murder story outside one house. If you want to enter several buildings, this may not be the right choice.

Meeting at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop

The tour begins outside Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar at 941 Bourbon Street. You meet on the sidewalk at the gate to the attached courtyard. Do not go inside expecting the bar staff to check you in. The bar is not affiliated with the tour, and its employees do not have tour information.

That small distinction matters in the French Quarter, where Bourbon Street can be noisy and crowded. Arrive a few minutes early, find the courtyard gate, and look for the guide before departure. Late arrivals cannot be checked in, and no refund is offered for missing the start.

The location puts you right in the middle of the French Quarter’s famous drinking district. That is useful for the tour’s mood, but it can also make the meeting point harder to spot. Give yourself enough time to identify the correct entrance instead of assuming the bar is the check-in point.

The walk lasts two hours and is conducted in English. A licensed guide leads the group, and the company says its storytellers have more than ten years of tour experience.

Jackson Square and the French Quarter’s Grand Stage

Jackson Square is one of the most important stops named for this experience. The square is framed by the St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Presbytère, giving you a quick look at New Orleans’ religious, civic, and cultural past.

The setting helps explain why the French Quarter matters beyond Bourbon Street nightlife. Here, grand public buildings sit close to narrow streets, courtyards, old homes, and bars. A guide can use that compact arrangement to connect the city’s development with its legends and crimes.

You may also see St. Anthony’s Garden and the Ursuline Convent along the route. These places add a quieter note to the walk. They are useful pauses between the more sensational stories, especially if you enjoy architecture and old city spaces as much as crime tales.

The strongest part of a guide-led visit is the context. You can walk past these sites alone, but you may not know which details matter or how local folklore has shaped the way people view them. A good storyteller gives the streets a human cast of pirates, gamblers, criminals, religious figures, and victims.

LaLaurie Mansion and the French Quarter’s Infamous Crimes

The LaLaurie Mansion is promoted as one of the most haunted houses in New Orleans. Its reputation comes from brutal stories associated with the LaLaurie family, and it has become one of the city’s best-known locations for dark tourism.

You should expect to hear about the house from outside. The tour information does not promise interior access, and the route is a walking tour rather than a visit to private buildings. That is an important distinction if you are picturing a house tour.

The Sultan’s Palace is another major crime location. The mansion is linked to the largest mass murder in New Orleans, a case that remains unsolved. This is the sort of stop that suits people who want real criminal history rather than only ghost stories.

The tour also includes a location connected with a tragic 2006 murder-suicide in the French Quarter. Another story concerns Zach and Addie, described as one of the city’s most infamous murder cases and a tale of heartbreak. These stories give the walk a more serious edge than a standard haunted history outing.

The subject matter is not light. You may hear about violence, death, and exploitation at the exact places where events occurred. That can make the walk powerful, but it may not suit children or anyone looking for a gentle introduction to New Orleans.

Voodoo, Ghosts, Vampires, and Cajun Folklore

The title promises voodoo and paranormal material, and the tour is also designed to cover Louisiana folklore, Cajun superstitions, ghosts, and vampires. These subjects are part of the city’s popular image, but they need careful handling.

The most useful version of this material separates belief, folklore, rumor, and documented crime. A strong guide can explain how stories have been passed down and how New Orleans became associated with voodoo and supernatural tales. You should listen for that balance instead of treating every legend as proven fact.

One important caveat: the amount of voodoo content may vary. A participant who expected more voodoo heard none at all and felt the guide spent more time on personal stories. That does not mean every departure follows the same pattern, but it is a fair warning. If voodoo is your main reason for booking, ask about the planned emphasis before paying.

The paranormal element comes from a real EMF meter, described as a ghost or paranormal detector. It adds a hands-on prop to the walk and gives the group something to watch for during spooky stops. Treat it as entertainment, not scientific proof. The operator also warns that lost or damaged paranormal equipment can lead to a $250 charge, so handle it carefully.

Bars, Cocktails, and What the $23 Price Really Covers

At $23 per person, this is an inexpensive way to spend two hours in the French Quarter with a guide. The price is especially fair if you want a mix of landmarks and stories and would otherwise pay for a separate walking tour.

The important phrase is drinks not included. The tour may take you to bars or allow time for an adult beverage, but you pay for anything you order. Your final cost depends on how many drinks you buy and what you choose.

That setup has two advantages. You can decide how much to spend, and you do not have to pay for drinks you do not want. It also means you can treat the tour as a history walk first and a bar outing second.

Do not arrive already heavily intoxicated. The operator may refuse service to anyone who is extremely drunk, disruptive, or disrespectful. That rule is reasonable on a walking tour with other people, old uneven streets, and shared equipment.

The phrase learning is intoxicating is part of the marketing, but the best experience comes from staying alert enough to hear the stories. One drink can add to the New Orleans mood. Several may make the route less enjoyable and increase your chance of stumbling on uneven pavement.

The Guides Make or Break the Experience

The strongest praise centers on the guides. Cody was called friendly and informative, while Coty was praised for keeping the tour dynamic and adding curious, useful information. Another participant described the guide as full of local history and knowledge, and one especially positive account praised a mix of bars, landmarks, and spooky locations.

Those comments point to the tour’s main strength: delivery. The locations are fixed, but the guide decides how much context, humor, folklore, and crime detail you receive. A lively storyteller can make a short stop outside a building memorable.

There is also a serious reliability concern. One scheduled participant reported that the guide never arrived and gave no call or message. That is a major failure, even though the overall score was 3.8 out of 5 from nine ratings.

You cannot control the guide assigned to your departure. You can control your expectations. Think of this as a story-led walking tour, not a guaranteed sequence of interior visits or a museum-style presentation. If you enjoy conversation and local characters, the format may work well. If you need a tightly structured route with every promised site visited in detail, choose carefully.

Walking Conditions and Practical Details

The tour takes place on old, uneven French Quarter streets. Wear shoes that are comfortable for two hours of walking, and watch your footing near curbs and historic paving. The operator is not responsible for injuries caused by those surfaces or for lost or stolen personal items.

Video and audio recording are not allowed. You can listen and take in the atmosphere, but you should not plan to record the guide’s stories for later.

The activity is non-refundable, and there are no refunds for late arrival or cancellation caused by weather. The provider may reschedule because of bad weather. It can also cancel after confirmation if too few people book, in which case you receive a full refund.

The operator reserves the right to refuse service to disruptive participants. That is worth remembering because the tour combines drinking, crowded streets, and serious crime stories. A respectful group will get more from the experience.

Who Will Enjoy This Tour Most

I would recommend it most to adults who like true crime, local legends, ghost stories, and casual walking tours. It also suits people who want an affordable introduction to the French Quarter before exploring the area on their own.

You are likely to enjoy it if you:

• Like stories about real crimes as much as ghost lore
• Want a guide who can connect landmarks with local history
• Enjoy stopping at bars but prefer to choose and pay for your own drinks
• Are happy hearing stories outside buildings rather than touring interiors
• Can handle grim subject matter and uneven streets
• See the EMF meter as a fun prop rather than hard evidence

I would hesitate if your main goal is a dedicated voodoo tour, a formal architectural tour, or a visit inside several historic sites. I would also think twice if you need a fully dependable schedule, given the reported no-show.

Should You Book the New Orleans Cocktails, History, Voodoo & Paranormal Tour?

Book it if you want a low-cost, adult-focused walk through the French Quarter with true crime at the center. The best guides, especially Cody and Coty, appear to bring warmth, humor, and strong local storytelling to the route.

Go in expecting a flexible story walk, not a pub crawl with included cocktails or a building-by-building tour. Bring extra money for drinks, arrive early at the courtyard gate beside Lafitte’s, wear sensible shoes, and ask ahead if voodoo is your top priority.

For $23, the value is good when the guide is engaging and the group enjoys the same mix of crime, folklore, landmarks, and paranormal fun. If you want several interior visits or a focused voodoo lesson, spend your money elsewhere.

FAQ

How long does the tour last?

The tour lasts two hours.

How much does the tour cost?

The listed price is $23 per person.

Are drinks included?

No. Drinks are not included in the tour price.

Where does the tour meet?

Meet on the sidewalk at the courtyard gate beside Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, located at 941 Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Do not check in inside the bar.

Is the tour offered in English?

Yes. The tour has a live guide and is offered in English.

Is the paranormal equipment included?

The guide uses a real EMF meter during the tour. The operator says a $250 fee may apply if the equipment is lost or damaged, and it must be returned to staff.

Can I cancel for a refund?

The activity is non-refundable. No refund is issued for late arrival or cancellation caused by weather, although the provider may reschedule for bad weather. If the operator cancels because too few people book, a full refund is issued.