Ghost Cities · The Research Desk
Haunted Louisiana: New Orleans, Graded Block by Block
We lead walking tours in Arizona. We research haunted history everywhere. Field notes and honest picks for Louisiana, from the same team that leads our tours in Flagstaff, Tucson and Prescott.
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The city we cover in Louisiana
New Orleans
New Orleans may be the most toured haunted city in America, which makes choosing well matter more here than anywhere else. Our New Orleans guide grades the French Quarter walks, vampire tours, cemetery visits and pub crawls by what recent guests actually say.
Why the French Quarter earned its reputation
The city was founded by the French in 1718, and three centuries of fires, epidemics, piracy and burials above the water table gave it more material than most countries. Marie Laveau, the nineteenth-century figure remembered as the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, still draws visitors to her reported resting place in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. The pirate Jean Lafitte is said to have operated from these streets, and the LaLaurie Mansion carries the Quarter's darkest documented history, a story of cruelty that needs no embellishment.
Ways to see it, from vampires to voodoo
The tour menu here is wider than anywhere else we cover: classic ghost walks through the Quarter, vampire tours built on the city's own legends, cemetery tours among the above-ground tombs, haunted pub crawls for the thirsty, and Garden District walks past antebellum mansions with reported residents of their own. History-first travelers can skip the theatrics entirely and still fill three nights.
Questions people ask
What is the most haunted city in Louisiana?
New Orleans, and it is often named the most haunted city in the whole country. Whether or not you buy the title, no American city has woven the supernatural into its daily culture more thoroughly, from voodoo history to vampire lore.
Is New Orleans worth visiting for ghost tours?
Yes, with one caveat: quality varies more here than anywhere, because volume invites shortcuts. Look for small groups and guides who name their sources, and read our New Orleans picks before you book.
When should you go?
Tours run nightly year-round. October and Halloween week are the obvious peak, spring is pleasant, and deep summer is hot enough that the late start times earn their keep. Book ahead for weekends in any season.
Weigh New Orleans against the rest of our haunted city guides, or meet the team behind them on our Arizona walks in Flagstaff, Tucson and Prescott.
The One State Where We Hold the Lantern
Coming to Arizona? Walk with us.
Everywhere else, we write the guide. In Flagstaff, Tucson and Prescott we lead the tour, nightly, in person, with five generations of Arizona roots behind every story.