Where to Go: the 15 Best New Orleans Boat Tours

1.New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Jazz Cruise with Dinner Option

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 7,533 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $58Our pick

Review of New Orleans Steamboat Natchez jazz cruise, with live Dixieland music, Mississippi views, buffet dinner details, timing, and practical tips.

“The Dinner cruise was great, however we got charged extra 157.95 parking fee when we returned to our vehicle. We were in New Orleans early, we purchased a 5 hr parking ticket at the kiosk, before the cruise we purchased 2 more hours of parking to assure it covered when we would return at 9pm. We also asked at the attendent at the cruize ticket window if the added 2 hr ticket would be added to our original 5 hr ticket to equal a total of 7 hrs parking and we were told yes we were just fine with parking coverage. When we returned to our car, it was locked…”

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2.New Orleans Swamp and Bayou Boat Tour with Transportation

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5,399 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $70Top rated

Review the New Orleans Honey Island Swamp tour, with boat wildlife viewing, Cajun culture, transport, seasonal tips, value, and practical advice.

“Xander was excellent! Definitely seems like it’s best to go when it’s a bit warmer (it’s ~40° here this week) but we saw a bit gator and a bunch of adorable raccoons!”

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3.New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Jazz Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 5,334 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $43

Review the Steamboat Natchez jazz cruise in New Orleans, with Mississippi views, live music, optional lunch, costs, tips, and honest drawbacks.

“Great trip overall and good history lesson about the city of New Orleans . Would recommend the boat trip to anyone.”

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4.New Orleans Airboat Ride

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 4,891 reviews · 2 to 4 hours (approx.) · from $59

Review of New Orleans’ airboat ride near Jean Lafitte, with wildlife tips, boat choices, transport details, pricing, and practical advice.

“Worth every minute of the drive to get there and every dollar we paid. Very informative. He answered any questions we had he filled us in so well that there were hardly any questions”

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5.Evening Steamboat Jazz Cruise + Optional Dinner

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 4,548 reviews · 2 hours · from $58

Review of New Orleans’ evening steamboat jazz cruise, with Mississippi River views, live music, optional Creole buffet, and practical tips.

“The boat was very clean and spacious, good selection of hot food onboard as well as a bar. The band playing were exceptionally talented and really did the tour justice. Not much to see on the Mississippi as it was dark but a nice experience all the same”

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6.Daytime Steamboat Jazz Cruise + Optional Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 4,164 reviews · 2 hours · from $43

Review of New Orleans’ daytime jazz river cruise, with live music, Creole lunch options, river views, practical tips, and honest value advice.

“We totally enjoyed Kendall, who was our driver and tour guide. He was knowledgeable and well versed in New Orleans History, especially the cemetery tour. It was so pleasant to see a tour guide who really cared about New Orleans and it's history. We learned a lot, especially that Kendall is a great asset to your company. He was personable, caring and very kind hearted. It was such a great tour, we wished it could go on longer. Kendall was not only our tour guide, but he took us back to our hotel and saved us the cost of a taxi. Kudo's to Kendall!”

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7.Swamp Boat Ride and Oak Alley Plantation Tour from New Orleans

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3,303 reviews · 7 hours 45 minutes (approx.) · from $131

Explore Oak Alley or Destrehan Plantation and Manchac Swamp on a full-day New Orleans tour with history, wildlife, and local guides.

“House was nice swap tour only saw one gator in the water but still saw pigs and raccoons. Bus driver and tour guide were great.”

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8.New Orleans Self-Transport Swamp and Bayou Boat Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2,824 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $37

Review of Cajun Encounters’ Honey Island Swamp boat tour near New Orleans, with wildlife, Cajun culture, pricing, tips, and practical details.

“Dustin was phenomenal! You can tell he genuinely loved his job and he made the tour very exciting. I would definitely come back and would love to have him as a guide again.”

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9.High Speed 16 Passenger Airboat Ride

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 2,380 reviews · 100 minutes - 4 hours · from $65

Review of New Orleans’ high-speed 16-passenger airboat tour, with alligators, Cajun wetland stories, practical tips, pricing, and honest drawbacks.

“We hold baby alligator, and saw a bunch of adult alligators, and other wild animals. Overall, a good activity to have.”

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10.New Orleans Manchac Bayou Swamp Cruise W/ Optional Pick-Up

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 1,587 reviews · 1h 30m · from $35Best value

See Louisiana alligators, raccoons, wild hogs, and cypress swamps on a 90-minute Manchac Bayou boat tour from New Orleans.

“Danny was the greatest tour guide we could have asked for! We saw a ton of alligators, hawks, raccoons, birds and turtles. This was such an amazing experience and worth every single penny and more.”

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11.Creole Queen History Cruise with Optional Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 1,112 reviews · 2h 30m · from $47

Cruise the Mississippi to Chalmette Battlefield aboard the Creole Queen, with local history, New Orleans views, and an optional buffet lunch.

“Totally fabulous experience. Commentary given by the tour guide, Charles, was the best I have ever had. Food was delicious and a real authentic experience of New Orleans cuisine. Drinks were reasonable, with no queuing. Battlefield tour guide was knowledgeable. This experience is highly recommended. Perfect few hours.”

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12.Evening Jazz Boat Cruise with Optional Dinner

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 1,024 reviews · 2 hours · from $60

Review of New Orleans’ Creole Queen jazz cruise, with Mississippi River views, live music, optional Creole dinner, cocktails, and practical tips.

“we done the jazz boat cruise. the food was not great and not worth the money”

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13.High Speed 9 Passenger Airboat Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 818 reviews · 100 minutes - 4 hours · from $89

Ride a 35-mph airboat through Louisiana swamps, spot alligators and birds, and learn Cajun wetland life on a small-group tour from New Orleans.

“The Guide was an excellent and seasoned and he taught us a thing or two about respecting the alligators and enjoying the swamp”

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14.Guided Swamp Cruise by Tour Boat

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 570 reviews · 100 minutes - 4 hours · from $35

Cruise Louisiana’s Barataria Swamps from New Orleans for alligators, birds, Cajun stories, and calm nature at a fair price.

“This was AWESOME! If I come back to New Orleans I would honestly do this again and would definitely book with Louisiana Tour Company. To start, transportation was easy and convenient. Barbara my driver was very sweet and even informative too, almost like an extra tour. She was running a bit late so I called the company and they gave me an exact ETA in seconds. My swamp guide was amazing too. Very informative and funny and really allowed us to feel up close and personal with the gators and wildlife. The wildlife around here clearly loves the workers and come speed swimming when they hear the boats pass so…”

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15.Sunday Steamboat Jazz Cruise + Optional Brunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 470 reviews · 2 hours · from $43

Review of New Orleans Sunday Steamboat Jazz Cruise: Mississippi views, live jazz, Creole brunch, costs, timing, and practical tips.

“enjoy it tremendously. brunch was amazing. staff was extremely friendly”

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