Visiting Oak Alley Plantation: Hours, Tickets & Tips
Everything you need to plan a visit to Oak Alley Plantation — opening hours, admission prices, the guided Big House tour, accessibility and how long to allow.
Opening hours
Oak Alley is open daily from 8:30am to 4:45pm, with the last admission sold at 4:00pm. The timed, guided Big House tours run from 9:00am to 4:30pm. The plantation is closed on New Year's Day, Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Arriving earlier in the day means cooler temperatures, softer light on the oaks and smaller crowds before the mid-day tour groups arrive.
Admission prices
If you buy at the gate, general admission is $27 per adult for the historic site, or $30 per adult including the guided Big House exhibit. Discounts are available for seniors, active military and AAA members, and children under 5 enter free. Tickets bought directly are non-refundable. On the guided Oak Alley Plantation tours featured on this site, admission is already included in the tour price, so you do not pay separately at the gate.
Tickets from New Orleans: if you are coming from the city, a guided day trip usually works out simpler than a self-drive plus separate ticket — transport, entry and timing are handled for you. See getting there for why a rideshare back is not a safe plan.
What's included and how the visit works
A visit has two parts. The guided Big House tour is a roughly 30-minute walk through the 1837 mansion with a costumed interpreter, on a timed slot. Everything else — the quarter-mile oak alley, the Slavery at Oak Alley exhibit and reconstructed cabins, the blacksmith shop, the Sugarcane Theater and the grounds — is self-guided and included with admission. Plan to see the self-guided exhibits either side of your house-tour time slot.
How long to allow
Oak Alley recommends a minimum of two hours on site. Two hours is enough to fit the house tour and walk the main exhibits, but if you want to linger over the grounds, have lunch on site or take your time with the slavery exhibit, three hours is more comfortable — and a couple of small-group tours are built around that longer window.
Accessibility
The grounds and most exhibits are accessible on firm but sometimes uneven paths. The second floor of the Big House is reached by stairs and cannot be modified, as it is a protected historic building; a video tour is offered for guests who cannot manage them. If you are visiting on a combined swamp or airboat tour, note that some of those boats are not wheelchair accessible — check the individual tour details before booking.
Food, facilities and staying over
There is a restaurant and a cafe on site serving Southern dishes and the well-known mint juleps, plus a large gift shop and clean restrooms. Parking is free. Oak Alley also has an on-site inn if you want to stay overnight and see the oak alley at dawn without the crowds. For more specific questions — strollers, pets, drones, photography and the like — see our FAQs.
Best time to visit
Spring and autumn bring the most comfortable weather; summer is hot and humid, and the grounds offer limited shade away from the oaks. Whatever the season, an earlier start is the single best decision you can make — better light for photographs, cooler air, and the oak alley closer to yourself before the day trips arrive.