Nine trips bolt a boat onto the plantation. You get the same two hours at Oak Alley either way. What you add is two to three hours on the water — and a rule book that depends entirely on which craft you booked.
Two hours at Oak Alley and ninety minutes on a covered swamp boat. No height rule, no health restrictions.
You get one day and two attractions. The plantation half is unchanged from any other trip: the same guided house tour, the same exhibits, the same two hours. The boat half adds a wetland, and it is a different wetland depending on which trip you pick.
Three destinations appear across these nine. The Manchac Swamp is north of the city. The Barataria Preserve is south of it. Cajun Pride and Ragin Cajun run their own landings. Your trip goes to one of them and back, and the driving between the two halves is why these days run seven to eight and a half hours.
A plantation and a bayou are the two things people picture. Doing both in one day costs you an afternoon and saves you a second hire car.
You pay once. The Oak Alley gate ticket and the boat fare are already in the fare, which is why $131 for two attractions compares well with $89 for one.
Alligators are reliable from spring to autumn and hibernate in winter. Birds, turtles and the cypress stands are there all year.
A half-day leaves you back in the Quarter at two in the afternoon. If you would rather not be, this is what you do with those hours.
This is the real decision, and it is not about money. It is about which half of the day you want to keep.
| Swamp combination | Half-day, plantation only | |
|---|---|---|
| Door to door | 7 to 8h 30 | 4 to 5h 30 |
| At the plantation | 2 to 2h 15 | 2 to 3 hours |
| Back in New Orleans | 5:30–6:00 p.m. | 1:00–2:00 p.m. |
| Price band | $125–$185 | $75–$89 |
| Age or health limits | On airboats, yes | None |
| Best for | Wildlife as well as history | A first visit, or a short day |
Bands across every departure in each shape. The plantation half is identical.
Compare every Oak Alley Plantation tour
Note the third row of the plantation column. Two half-days give you three hours on the grounds; no combination gives you more than two and a quarter. If the exhibits are why you are going, the boat costs you the thing you came for. The half-days are here.
Three craft run across these nine trips and they are not interchangeable.
| Craft | Runs for | Height minimum | Also excludes | Shaded? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airboat | 100 minutes | 48 inches | Pregnancy, back problems, heart conditions | No |
| Covered swamp boat | 90 minutes | None | Nothing stated | Yes |
| Pontoon | 90 minutes | None | Nothing stated | Yes |
Restrictions are the operators’ own and are applied at the dock rather than at checkout.
Compare every Oak Alley Plantation tour
An airboat is fast, open and loud, and hearing protection is provided. A covered boat is slower and gets closer for longer. If anyone in your party is caught by an airboat rule, the covered version is a straight swap and usually cheaper.
You get return transport, a guide, the Oak Alley admission and the boat fare. On most of these you also get hotel collection, though two depart from a fixed point in the French Quarter instead.
You do not get lunch. Not one of these includes a meal, and several exclude food and drink explicitly — one operator recommends a hearty breakfast and a packed lunch, which is fair for a seven-and-a-half-hour day. You do not get gratuities covered. And you do not get a guarantee of an alligator.
Departures run from 8 a.m. to about 11 a.m., later than the half-days, because the boat operators run their own timetables. You are back between half past five and six, so the evening survives.
Book three weeks out for spring; less in winter. Almost all of these refund in full at 24 hours and the two that do not are worth knowing about — one needs a full two days and one refunds nothing. Between June and November that matters more than the fare, because the boat leg is what a storm cancels. The month-by-month page has the risk by season.
Anyone under 48 inches, pregnant, or with back or heart trouble, if you had your eye on an airboat. Take a covered boat instead, or skip the water.
Anyone with a hard end to the day — a cruise departure, an evening flight. Eight and a half hours leaves no margin, and a half-day has you back by two.
And anyone whose real interest is the plantation. If you want three hours on the grounds rather than two plus a boat, or if the history of slavery is why you are travelling, this is the wrong page. The pairings with Whitney Plantation are the right one.
Two hours fifteen at the plantation and a hundred minutes in the Barataria Basin, with hotel pick-up at both ends.
A covered swamp boat or pontoon. Airboats require children to be 48 inches tall so they can sit and wear a seat belt.
No. They are reliable from spring to autumn and hibernate in winter. Birds, turtles and wild pigs are the more consistent sightings.
It adds two to three hours and $40 to $95. If the wetlands are part of why you came to Louisiana, yes. If you want three hours at the plantation, no.
Ninety minutes on a covered boat or pontoon. An airboat runs about a hundred minutes, and it covers more water in that time.
Yes, on every trip here. The plantation admission and the boat fare are both inside the price you pay.
The plantation stays open; the boat leg is what gets cancelled, and that is the operator's call on the day. Take a booking that refunds at 24 hours.
Water, sun protection and something waterproof. Cheap rain ponchos are sold at the swamp landings.
Every trip that pairs Oak Alley with a boat, with the craft, the group cap and the refund window on each card.
The most reviewed departure here by a wide margin. Two hours at the plantation, ninety minutes on a covered boat. Book the 9 or 11 a.m. slot: the 1 p.m. goes to Destrehan instead, and it leaves the French Quarter rather than your hotel.
From $131 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
The longest time on the grounds of any combination, at two hours fifteen, plus a hundred-minute airboat run. Hotel pick-up at both ends. Airboat rules apply: 48 inches, and no pregnancy, back or heart conditions.
From $160 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
A sixteen-seat airboat in the Barataria Preserve after two hours at the plantation. Capped at sixteen travellers, so the coach is a van rather than a bus. The same airboat restrictions apply at the dock.
From $160 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
The accessible one. A covered swamp boat rather than an airboat, wheelchair and stroller accessible, and no height or health rule at all. Two hours at Oak Alley and an hour and forty on the water.
From $130 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
Manchac Swamp first, then Oak Alley on a fixed 3 p.m. tour slot. The refund window is the thing to note: two days, not 24 hours, so a late change of plan returns nothing.
From $125 per personFull refund only if you cancel 2 days ahead
Three hours at Oak Alley, which no other combination matches, then ninety minutes with Cajun Pride. Twelve travellers maximum and the highest rating on the sheet. Pick-up or meet the driver, your choice.
From $137 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
The smallest group of any trip here at nine, on a six or nine-seat airboat. That is as close to a private swamp run as this sheet offers, and it is why the fare sits at the top of the band.
From $185 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
Swamp first, then your choice of Oak Alley or St. Joseph. Two hours at whichever you pick. No food or drink is included at all on this one, and the operator recommends bringing a packed lunch.
From $125 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
Two hours at the plantation and two on a small airboat with Ragin Cajun, which is longer on the water than most. Parking fees are included; lunch is not. Airboat health restrictions apply.
From $178 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before
Everything else from New Orleans, including the trips that take a different shape entirely, sits on Oak Alley Plantation Tours.
