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A New Orleans 3-Day Itinerary That Gets You Outside

You have three days in New Orleans and you do not want all of them to happen inside a bar. Good. This itinerary keeps the French Quarter and the music, because of course it does, but it builds real outdoor time into every day, including a morning out on the swamp. Three days is enough…

Can You Bring Your Dog on a Swamp Tour?

Honestly? Bringing your dog on a kayak swamp tour is usually not a good idea, and we would rather tell you that straight than sell you something risky. A swamp full of alligators is not the place for a pet dog in a small boat. Service animals are a separate, legal category and handled differently,…

How to Photograph the Louisiana Swamp (Phone or Camera)

The Louisiana swamp is one of the easiest places to take a great photo and one of the easiest to take a mediocre one. The difference is mostly timing, angle, and not dropping your phone in the water. Phone or real camera, the same rules apply, and a kayak gives you an edge over every…

Outdoor and Nature Things to Do in New Orleans

New Orleans has a reputation for staying up late and indoors, but the city and the wetlands around it are full of outdoor things to do. If you want sun, water, and wildlife instead of another bar crawl, you have options ranging from a free walk in a 1,300-acre park to a guided kayak trip…

What to Expect on Your First New Orleans Swamp Tour

On your first New Orleans swamp tour, expect a 2-hour guided kayak paddle through cypress and Spanish moss, an easy beginner pace, and a real shot at seeing alligators, herons, and other wildlife up close. No experience needed, $65 per person, and a guide with you the whole time. That is the short version. Here…

Why Cypress Trees Grow in the Swamp (and What the Knees Are)

Cypress trees grow in the swamp because almost nothing else can. Bald cypress is one of the few large trees on earth that thrives with its roots sitting in standing water year-round. Where an oak or a pine would drown and rot, the cypress settles in and takes over. That is why the Louisiana swamp…

Is Summer Too Hot for a New Orleans Swamp Tour?

Summer is not too hot for a New Orleans swamp tour. It is the best time to take one. Alligators are most active in the heat, the swamp is at its greenest, and a morning paddle keeps you cool and ahead of the afternoon storms. The heat is real, but the workaround is simple, and…

Rainy Day in New Orleans? Here Is What to Do

You checked the forecast, you saw rain over your New Orleans trip, and now you are wondering if the whole day is shot. It is not. New Orleans rain has its own rhythm, and once you understand it, you can plan around it instead of letting it run your day. This guide covers what to…

How Long Is a New Orleans Swamp Tour?

A New Orleans swamp tour runs about 2 hours on the water. That is the actual paddling part. If you count the drive out of the city, the safety briefing, getting fitted into your kayak, and the ride back, block out roughly 4 to 5 hours door to door. So plan for half a day,…

The Famous Bayous of Louisiana (and What Makes Each One Special)

Louisiana has more bayous than most people could name, and honestly, more than the state itself has ever bothered to count exactly. They thread through the whole southern half of it: slow, dark, cypress-lined, some of them older than the state and a few older than the river that made them. Ask ten people to…

Kayaking Bayou St. John: New Orleans’ Paddle Inside the City

Most people who come to New Orleans think you have to drive out of town to get on the water. You don’t. There’s a bayou running right through the middle of the city, past front porches and live oaks and the edge of City Park, and on a good morning it’s some of the easiest,…

What Is a Bayou? Louisiana’s Slow Water, Explained

You’ve heard the word your whole life. Bayou. It’s in the songs, the movies, the accent. But if someone put you on the spot and asked what a bayou actually is, could you say? Most folks can’t. And that’s fair, because it’s a slippery little word for a slippery little thing: water that barely moves….