New Orleans Garden District Self Guided Walking Tour GPS APP

Key facts

What's included

Itinerary

1. Stop 1

   This tour takes you through the streets of the garden district stopping at historic homes, and sharing the story of their past. Here about Anne Rice and the Vampires diaries, famous football players, historic legends, legendary characters, the best restaurants and learn the history of New Orleans.

   55 minutes

2. Stop 2

   Begin at The Rink, an 1884 former roller-skating rink built for the World Cotton Centennial Exposition. Across the street, see Colonel Short’s Villa and its famous cast-iron cornstalk fence, created in 1859 for Short’s homesick Kentucky wife.

   5 minutes

3. Stop 3 Pass by

   This Garden District institution began as a saloon and has been serving the neighborhood since 1893. Under the Brennan family, its kitchen helped launch culinary legends Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse; the tour recommends the turtle soup and bread pudding soufflé. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis… Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

4. Stop 4 Pass by

   Movie fans can see the Garden District house used as the retirement home in the 2008 Brad Pitt film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. New Orleans provided the backdrop for much of the movie, and this house appears at both the beginning and end of Benjamin's extraordinary story.

5. Stop 5 Pass by

   This grand 1850s mansion eventually became home to the Women's Guild of the New Orleans Opera Association. Unlike many of the private mansions on the route, the house opens for tours on select days, giving visitors a rare opportunity to step inside a Garden District home.

6. Stop 6 Pass by

   See one of architect Henry Howard’s earliest major commissions—and a house with a surprising football connection. It later became the longtime home of Saints quarterback Archie Manning, where Peyton and Eli Manning spent much of their childhood.

7. Stop 7 Pass by

   See a Garden District mansion with connections to two very different entertainment icons. Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor lived here during his New Orleans years before actor John Goodman purchased the property in 2005. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

8. Stop 8 Pass by

   Legend claims these narrow homes were built by a father for his seven daughters—but count carefully and you'll discover there are actually eight. The real story reveals another side of Garden District architecture, including the African and Caribbean influences behind New Orleans' famous shotgun houses.

9. Stop 9 Pass by

   One of the tour's showstoppers, Buckner Mansion was built in 1856 and was the largest private residence constructed in New Orleans before the Civil War. More recently, millions have seen it as Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies in American Horror Story: Coven. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

10. Stop 10 Pass by

    Discover the former home of Interview with the Vampire author Anne Rice. Rice purchased the mansion in 1989, and its Gothic atmosphere became intertwined with her fictional New Orleans—including its use as the setting for The Witching Hour and her Mayfair Witches novels.

11. Stop 11 Pass by

    Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, came here gravely ill in 1889 and died inside the house on December 6. Local ghost lore adds another twist: Davis is said to still wander the house searching for his missing boots.

12. Stop 12 Pass by

    See one of New Orleans' most historic firehouses, built in 1851 and used for 140 years. It was the city's last fire station to trade its horse-drawn engine for a motorized truck and later became the New Orleans Fire Museum. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

13. Stop 13 Pass by

    Finish beside one of New Orleans' legendary above-ground cemeteries. Founded in 1833, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 contains roughly 7,000 people in around 1,100 family tombs, including yellow fever victims and Confederate General Harry T. Hays. Next door, Le Petit Bleu offers crêpes, coffee and casual dishes from the Brennan family. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

Meeting point & pickup

Meet at the starting point

Begin at The Rink, an 1884 former roller-skating rink built for the World Cotton Centennial Exposition. Across the street, see Colonel Short’s Villa and its famous cast-iron cornstalk fence, created in 1859 for Short’s homesick Kentucky wife. Greg V2 New Orleans' Garden Dis…

Cancellation & confirmation