12 Things to Do in Louisiana for Amazing Adventure

Louisiana?!?! A Louisiana Road Trip?

My initial response to this location was less than enthusiastic. Our yearly road trips tend to span multiple states. So traveling one state south didn’t sound spectacular. But we only had 5 days on this trip, compared to the 7-10 days we have had on our prior yearly road trips.

But still. You can travel far in 5 days. So why Louisiana? Him: “I want to ride an airboat in a swamp.”

Ok then. Time to plan a Louisiana Road Trip!

(if you are only looking for things to do in Louisiana, use the table of contents and skip down to “THINGS TO DO”)

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BUILD THE ITINERARY

#1 Cornerstone Activity

The first thing we always do is decide what ONE activity we can’t do without. What is the main goal of the road trip? For our Louisiana Road Trip, the cornerstone activity is an airboat ride in a swamp.

Once I searched this up, I found many (maaaaany) businesses that offer this service. Since this is the cornerstone activity, I wanted it to be perfect. So I spent a couple of hours searching, looking at websites, and reading reviews before deciding on which business to use.

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.”

Dalai Lama

Tip: Purchase tickets for the cornerstone activity before the trip.

#2 Cornerstone Accommodations

We drive a camper van and often find accommodations (campgrounds and boondocking) as we go. But, we always try to book one place close to the cornerstone activity for a night or 2 to ease the possibility of stress.

After using Roadtrippers to take a look at the surrounding camping options (and getting recommendations from friends), I settle on Fontainebleau State Park as our Louisiana Road Trip cornerstone accommodation (1 hour away from the cornerstone activity).

“It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times”

maya angelou

However, Fountainbleau was booked. After some more searching, I found Bayou Segnette State Park, just 2 minutes from our cornerstone activity, and 20 minutes from my other top activity picks.

Tip: Book 1-2 nights at the cornerstone accommodation before the trip.

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#3 Activities

I mapped out a full round trip route for our Louisiana Road Trip (from home to the airboat ride to Bayou Segnette State Park and back home) on Roadtrippers.

And then the fun part begins. Using search engines, Roadtripper searches, Pinterest, and recommendations from friends, family, and coworkers, start adding any and all potential activities to the Roadtrippers map. Roadtrippers will automatically create the best route to hit all the points.

Once everything is plotted, I begin looking through the path slowly, deciding how much time is needed versus how much time we have, and then delete stops as needed. Roadtrippers will tell you how long the drive is between each plotted stop.

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#4 Booking

Always, always book the cornerstone activity and accommodation. There is nothing worse than getting excited about ONE big thing, showing up, and not being able to do it.

For our trip, I checked the airboat rides to see the general availability- 9:45 am, 2 pm, and 4 pm. 2 days later when I was ready to book, the only slot available for the day we needed was 4 pm. So I quickly booked us a slot at that time!

And for the accommodations, trying to book 3 days ahead of time was not quite enough. Fontainebleau was completely booked. Bayou Segnette State Park had ONE campsite with hookups available for us on the 2 nights we needed accommodations in the area.

So that’s the plan. But how did it go??? —->

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TIP: Have a general idea of your route and some activity ideas, but leave room for ideas and stops that come up along the way!

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”

Lawrence Block

THINGS TO DO IN LOUISIANA

All about the stops we made in Louisiana…

Things to do in Louisiana: Shreveport

Shreveport is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It was a nice break in our driving, but not sure I would spend too much time exploring this city unless you enjoy gambling.

We visited Bass Pro Shop, Riverview Park, and ate at the Blind Tiger.

Riverview Park was a nice area to get out and stretch our legs, but there wasn’t a lot to do.

Things to do in Louisiana: Historic Natchitoches

Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory and is well known for the filming of Steel Magnolias, and being the “City of Lights.”

This stop was not on our original itinerary, but we ended up here because of the lack of pizzaz from Shreveport, and the nearby Alligator Park.

The landscaping along the river in Natchitoches is amazing! Walk or drive the streets to see thousands of tulips planted in pots, huge trees, and old architecture. We ate dinner near the river at Maglieaux’s on the Cane. On a Wednesday night, they were not crowded, had live music (that was fantastic!) and great drinks and food. Be sure to try their meat pies!

We briefly left Natchitoches to look for a spot to boondock for the night at the nearby Red River National Wildlife Refuge, but after taking a look, we quickly returned to Natchitoches to spend the night in the van.

On our way out the next morning, we made a quick stop down the street to see the Steel Magnolia house (now a bed and breakfast).

Things to do in Louisiana: Gator Country Alligator Park

My introduction to alligators came here. We visited Gator Country Alligator Park on a Thursday morning just as they opened at 10 am. We were the only ones there and had the entire park to ourselves. Per their website, Gator Country Louisiana has been around for 25 years and is the largest alligator park in the state.

You can pay $11 to walk around and see all of the animals, which is a fun way to go. BUT, if you pay $19 you get a more interactive experience with holding the animals and an included bag of feed for the land animals. For another $10 you can get a pack of hotdogs and a cane pole rental to feed the alligators.

If you make the trip to this park, I highly recommend going all out and getting the Adventure package for $19 and grabbing the $10 hotdogs and cane pole rental.

We had the most amazing time at this park. We had a knowledgeable guide who taught us about all the animals and let us handle a corn snake, a bearded dragon, and a baby alligator (thanks Nico!!)

Things to do in Louisiana: Oakland Plantation

While in the area, a family member texted that we should visit the nearby Oakland Plantation (founded in 1785). We knew we wanted to visit a plantation at some point during our road trip through Louisiana, but there were so many to choose from that we hadn’t narrowed it down.

The Oakland Plantation is a Cane Creole National Historic Park that was just 20 minutes from the Alligator Park that we just left, so we decided to stop.

The park is free to enter and explore and gives you a taste of history (the good and the bad). Park interpreters are on hand to take you on tours through the mansion, and under the mansion to the nanny’s quarters.

Fun fact: The 1959 movie “The Horse Soldiers” starring John Wayne was filmed here.

Things to do in Louisiana: Bayou Segnette State Park

Our second pick of places to stay, led by the unavailability of another park. We needed a place to camp, and Bayou Segnette State Park had ONE spot left when we booked.

First of all, the mosquitos were insane. We didn’t spend much time outdoors in the park, but it was a good place to hook up the van for the night and get some rest. The bathhouse was decent enough with warm water and good pressure.

Although I didn’t love the beauty of the park for hanging out, it served its purpose for us- a place to shower and sleep.

Things to do in Louisiana: Barataria Preserve

Part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve, the Barataria Preserve is tied for my number one favorite spot in Louisiana. The Preserve has 26,000 acres of wild Louisiana wetlands.

I came across this park on my Pinterest search for things to do in Louisiana. I read of a hike that I just HAD to do! Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to the date of the article. When we arrived at the hike, we were quickly cut off with part of the trail missing and noticed that the trail had been shut down. There was no way past the barrier since part of the path was missing, exposing only swamp water.

We returned to the visitor’s center and looked at the hiking maps again and decided to hike the trail from the other end (Bayou Coquille and Marsh Overlook Trails).

We ran into a local who told us there was an alligator at the end of the trail, in the marsh. On our way to the marsh, we saw one alligator trailside in the swamp, and then the one in the marsh was still there. I was so excited to finally see my first wild alligators!!

The local also told us of another trail that has been closed for 3 years but is still sometimes used by locals. So of course I had to try that one out too.

That trail led us down a no longer maintained wooden pathway trail that was in poor condition, overgrown and rotting, that followed alongside the marsh. For me, this was paradise! We spotted another 8 alligators, culminating with the biggest alligator (not in captivity) that I have ever seen at the end of the trail.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending you use unsafe trails, go beyond barriers, or expose yourself to danger. But it’s kind of my thing and I love it and experienced my favorite moments on this trail.

Things to do in Louisiana: Ultimate Swamp Adventures

Our cornerstone activity- an airboat ride! Tied for my #1 favorite activity on our trip, was an airboat tour at Ultimate Swamp Adventures (family-owned and operated).

This one was tricky because there seemed to be sooooo many options. This particular business was recommended by a friend. After some thorough research and reading reviews, this is the one we settled on.

You have the choice of booking on a pontoon ($32), a large airboat ($60), and a small airboat ($85). We decided to go all out since this was our cornerstone activity and booked the small airboat tours. They offer hotel pickup for an additional fee. We didn’t need that, so after tickets, fees and taxes, we spent $186 for 2 tickets on the small airboat.

And let me tell you… It was beyond worth it!!

Captain Cody was the most amazing guide. He caught a baby alligator that morning, and we got to hold it and release it back to its habitat on our tour. We saw many alligators along the way and stopped for the Captain to coax them to the boat side. And every now and then the captain would “get wild” with the ride for a little fun (going faster with lots of turns).

This stop on our road trip was amazing!

Things to do in Louisiana: The French Quarter

As suggested by everybody, we decided the historic French Quarter (founded in 1718) deserved a stop.

If you enjoy shopping and eating, this seems to be the place for you. I typically don’t base my vacations or activities on either one of those, but it was still interesting to walk the streets one evening (into the night) to see the beautiful buildings and get the French Quarter after-dark experience.

Things to do in Louisiana: Lake Pontchartrain

Not really a stop on our road trip, but crossing Lake Pontchartrain is something we wanted to do. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana is the world’s longest continuous bridge over water, measuring 23.87 miles long.

And because I love the George Strait song, Adalida.

“Adalida, I’d walk through a hurricane
To stand beside you, sweet Adalida
I’d swim the Pontchartrain.”

Things to do in Louisiana: Fontainebleau State Park

My 3rd favorite stop on our Louisiana Road Trip- Fontainebleau State Park, a 2,800 acre park located on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

Although we couldn’t book a campsite at this park, we still wanted to visit because the pictures looked gorgeous.

The park did not disappoint! We briefly stopped by the visitor’s center and walked around the sugar mill remains behind it before heading to the water. The trees along the way left me breathless with their sheer size, and beautiful moss hanging down.

The pier on the Pontchartrain gives a beautiful view, and the pretty white sand paired with trees’ exposed roots gives the whole place a paradise island vibe.

It was worth the $3/person day use fee to explore the park.

Things to do in Louisiana: Historic Natchez

On our way home, we wanted to travel in a different direction to see more sights. We came across Natchez, MS. It’s technically not Louisiana, but it’s just across the river and more than worth the stop! The city sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.

Natchez, settled in 1715, has an interesting history, beautiful views, and old architecture that is worth seeing.

In this town, we roamed the riverside boardwalk during a festival, watched a powwow, ate at a local cafe (Biscuits and Blues), and walked around the Catholic Cathedral, before getting back on the road.

Things to do in Louisiana: Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge

The Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a 5,300-acre refuge that we found along our road trip route home, that seemed like a good place to boondock.

We arrived after dark and immediately set up for bed. At first light, we decided to explore the hiking trails. We walked the pier and followed the boardwalk path through the swamp. The trails were well maintained and gave us a beautiful morning hike before we began our 6-hour drive home.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Road-tripping through Louisiana was everything I hoped it would be, and more! The swamp hikes and alligators were the show-stoppers for this wildlife-loving girl!

If you have any questions or need more guidance on these stops, send me an email! I love to share experiences and information to help others plan their adventures!

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Take a moment to visit…

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