South · United States
Louisiana
Jazz, Mardi Gras, bayou country and the food capital of the South.
Discover Louisiana
From New Orleans's French Quarter to Cajun Country's swamps and dance halls, Louisiana is the most distinctive state in America — Creole and Cajun cooking, world-class music, antebellum plantations, festivals year-round and the wild Atchafalaya basin. Easy driving distances pair the city with the bayou.
Watch
Louisiana in motion
Recommended Drives
Suggested itineraries
10 days
The Classic Louisiana Loop
Route: A circular drive taking in Louisiana's iconic landscapes, gateway towns, and signature stays.
Our most-requested itinerary for first-time visitors to Louisiana — a balance of headline sights and quiet, off-grid retreats.
7 days
Louisiana Hidden Corners
Route: Lesser-known back roads, working ranches, and locally-owned inns across Louisiana.
Designed with our regional partners for travellers who have already seen the postcards and want the unfiltered version.
19 days · Chicago to New Orleans
Get Your Vibe On I-65
Route: Chicago → Indianapolis → Louisville → Nashville → Florence/Muscle Shoals → Huntsville → Birmingham → Montgomery → Orange Beach/Gulf Shores → Mobile → New Orleans
End-to-end on Interstate 65 from the Great Lakes to the Gulf — Chicago's skyline, Indy's Motor Speedway, Louisville bourbon, Nashville's Music City, the legendary Muscle Shoals studios, Huntsville's Space & Rocket Center, Birmingham's Civil Rights heritage, Montgomery's history, the white-sand Alabama Gulf Coast, historic Mobile and a New Orleans finale.
- •Chicago — Millennium Park, the Bean, Navy Pier & Magnificent Mile
- •Indianapolis — Motor Speedway, Eiteljorg Museum & the Cultural Trail
- •Louisville — Kentucky Derby Museum, Bourbon Trail, Muhammad Ali's home & Louisville Slugger Museum
- •Nashville — Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry & Printer's Alley
- •Florence/Muscle Shoals — Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, W.C. Handy's birthplace & Frank Lloyd Wright's Rosenbaum House
- •Huntsville — U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Botanical Garden, Burritt on the Mountain & The Orion amphitheater
- •Birmingham — Civil Rights District, Vulcan statue, Barber motorcycle museum & James Beard kitchens
- •Montgomery — Civil Rights Memorial Center, Rosa Parks Museum, Hank Williams Museum & State Capitol
- •Orange Beach & Gulf Shores — Gulf State Park, sugar-white beaches, Fort Morgan & The Wharf
- •Mobile — birthplace of Mardi Gras, USS Alabama Battleship, Bellingrath Gardens & Dauphin Island
- •New Orleans — French Quarter, Creole cuisine, jazz & riverboats on the Mississippi
13 days · Atlanta to Orlando
Rhythms of the South
Route: Atlanta → Nashville → Memphis → Vicksburg → Natchez → Baton Rouge → New Orleans → Pensacola → Tallahassee → St. Augustine → Orlando
A Deep South music and history self-drive from the cradle of country and blues to the white-sand Gulf coast and Florida's theme-park capital — Jack Daniel's, the Grand Ole Opry, Beale Street, Graceland, Vicksburg's Civil War battlefields, the French Quarter and the oldest city in America.
- •Atlanta — Fairlie-Poplar, the African American Panoramic Experience, Grant Park & the Atlanta History Center
- •Chattanooga & Lynchburg — the Choo Choo train and the Jack Daniel's Distillery en route to Nashville
- •Nashville — Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame & the Tennessee State Museum
- •Memphis — Beale Street blues bars, Graceland, Sun Studio, the Memphis Belle & Mud Island
- •Vicksburg — Vicksburg National Military Park, 1,300+ Civil War monuments & the national cemetery
- •Natchez & Baton Rouge — antebellum mansions and the heart of the old South
- •New Orleans — French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Creole cuisine & a Mississippi steamboat cruise
- •Pensacola — Seville Historic District & the white-sand beaches of Santa Rosa Island
- •Tallahassee — antebellum architecture, the Capitol & the Emerald Coast en route
- •St. Augustine — the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the USA
- •Orlando — Disney, Universal & a Downtown Orlando finale before flying home
8 days · escorted · New Orleans to Atlanta
Guided Tour: Rhythms of the South
Route: New Orleans → Baton Rouge → Natchez → Memphis → Nashville → Chattanooga → Atlanta
An ATI-escorted small-group tour through the Deep South with a professional Tour Director — jazz and beignets in New Orleans, an antebellum mansion in Natchez along the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, Beale Street in Memphis, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the Chattanooga Choo Choo en route to Atlanta.
- •New Orleans — French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Mississippi paddlewheel & jazz
- •Baton Rouge — a brief tour of Louisiana's capital
- •Natchez Trace Parkway & Natchez — antebellum mansion visit & Mississippi River history
- •Memphis — Beale Street blues, Sun Records, Cotton Row & Graceland (optional)
- •Nashville — Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, Music Row & honky-tonks
- •Chattanooga — the famous Choo Choo & redeveloped riverfront
- •Atlanta — Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola & the CNN Center
15 days · Nashville to New Orleans
Nashville to New Orleans
Route: Nashville → Florence/Muscle Shoals → Huntsville → Birmingham → Montgomery → Orange Beach/Gulf Shores → Mobile → New Orleans
A DriveAmerica-curated fly-drive from Music City to the Big Easy — Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, the 'Hit Recording Capital of the World' in Muscle Shoals, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Birmingham's barbecue and civil rights heritage, historic Montgomery on the Alabama River, white-sand beaches in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, the Mardi Gras birthplace of Mobile and a French Quarter finale in New Orleans. Offered by our DriveAmerica partner ATI.
- •Day 1 — Nashville arrival: Ryman Auditorium and Nelson's Green Brier Distillery
- •Day 2 — Nashville: Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry and Printer's Alley
- •Day 3 — Florence/Muscle Shoals: Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Alabama Music Hall of Fame and W.C. Handy's birthplace
- •Day 4 — Huntsville: U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville Botanical Garden and Burritt on the Mountain
- •Day 5 — Huntsville: North Alabama All-In-One attractions, Tiger Preserve and Jesse Owens Museum
- •Day 6 — Birmingham: CityWalk, Uptown, Five Points South and Avondale entertainment districts
- •Day 7 — Birmingham: Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, Birmingham Zoo, U.S. Civil Rights sites and Vulcan
- •Day 8 — Montgomery: Dexter Avenue, Hank Williams sites and the Alabama State Capitol
- •Day 9 — Montgomery: Civil Rights Memorial Center, Freedom Rides Museum, Rosa Parks Museum and Hank Williams Museum
- •Day 10 — Orange Beach/Gulf Shores: Gulf State Park, sugar-white beaches and Gulf of Mexico waters
- •Day 11 — Orange Beach/Gulf Shores: Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, The Wharf Ferris Wheel and Fort Morgan
- •Day 12 — Mobile: Bienville Square, GulfQuest Maritime Museum and the History Museum of Mobile
- •Day 13 — Mobile: Bellingrath Gardens, USS Alabama Battleship, Dauphin Island and Bayou La Batre
- •Day 14 — New Orleans: French Quarter, Creole cuisine, riverboats and jazz
- •Day 15 — New Orleans departure: return car at MSY
Top Places To Visit
The unmissable Louisiana
Louisiana's capital city
Begin your journey amid the cultural heart of Louisiana.
A signature national or state park
Untouched landscapes that define the Louisiana experience.
A coastal or scenic byway
An unhurried drive past viewpoints, diners, and small towns.
An iconic small town
Local craftsmanship, regional cuisine, and Louisiana hospitality.
Simple Things To Do
Fun things to do in Louisiana
A quick-hit list of ideas for first-time visitors to Louisiana, inspired by Explore Louisiana.
Lose a day in the French Quarter
Wrought-iron balconies, Jackson Square, Café du Monde beignets and Preservation Hall jazz — the most European square mile in America.
Take a swamp or bayou tour
Glide through cypress-lined waterways in the Atchafalaya Basin near Henderson or Jean Lafitte National Historical Park outside New Orleans — alligators, herons and Spanish moss.
Experience Mardi Gras (or its festivals)
From New Orleans's headline parades to family-friendly krewes in Lafayette, Lake Charles and Metairie — Louisiana does Carnival like nowhere else on earth.
Eat your way through Cajun & Creole country
Gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, po'boys and beignets — try Dooky Chase's and Brennan's in New Orleans, or follow the andouille, boudin and crawfish trails through Cajun Country.
Hear live music every night
Frenchmen Street and Preservation Hall in New Orleans, the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette and Festivals Acadiens et Créoles for the best of Cajun and zydeco.
Tour the River Road plantations
Drive between Baton Rouge and New Orleans for Oak Alley, Laura and Whitney — antebellum architecture and unflinching plantation history along the Mississippi.
Spend a day in Baton Rouge
Louisiana's capital — the art-deco State Capitol (the tallest in the USA), the USS Kiwi battleship and the Capitol Park Museum tracing the state's civil-rights legacy.
Drive the scenic byways
The Wetlands Cultural Trail from Thibodaux to Chauvin and the Toledo Bend Forest Scenic Byway through hardwood pines — quiet roads, fishing villages and small-town Louisiana.
Discover Shreveport-Bossier in the north
Riverboat casinos, the American Rose Center Gardens, the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum and Orlandeaux's Café — the country's oldest continuously Black-owned restaurant.
Visit Poverty Point UNESCO site
3,400-year-old earthworks in the northeast — one of the most significant pre-Columbian sites in North America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pair it with a city break
New Orleans City Break
Jazz, beignets and the French Quarter — three nights in the most European city in America.
Continue Exploring The South