St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

I love learning about old cemeteries and this one was a complete treat. Our guide.Mama Nita, was enthusiastic, informative, and a complete sweetheart. I really enjoyed learning from her. She answered all of our questions too with patience and insight. The cemetery is fascinating and definitely worth checking out.

The tour was good, but my guy was pretty fast at talking so it was difficult to take it all in. They say you can’t video record and they have to tech that can show if you are, but I find that to be most likely untrue. You are allowed to take pictures though. Buy tickets in advance. They actually do sell out pretty quickly and you can’t just walk into the cemetery tours only.

Loved it! The tombs were interesting and beautiful. There was so much history and our tour guide Zelda was amazing! She was full of knowledge and SO funny!! The experience was great. My boyfriend really enjoyed it also. 10/10 recommend.

Important Information Before Visiting St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Restricted Access First things first: this cemetery is not open to the general public like most others are—I learned that the hard way. Due to preservation efforts and past vandalism, access to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is restricted. You can only enter if you are: 1. A family member with a burial plot (must present a “family pass” at the gate), or 2. Part of a guided tour conducted by a licensed company. Some of the smaller west and north gates display public operating hours (typically 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), but don’t trust the signage—they stay locked. The only active entrance is on Basin Street, directly across from the gas station. To enter, you’ll need to meet one of the two criteria above. ⸻ The Cemetery St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, established in 1789, is the oldest and most renowned cemetery in New Orleans. It’s the final resting place of notable figures such as self-proclaimed Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, civil rights pioneer Homer Plessy, and many local musicians. The cemetery is iconic, best known for its above-ground tombs and layered, eclectic history. There are plenty of books and documentaries that explore its full historical depth better than I can here. But for me, one of the most striking things was the contrast in how the tombs are maintained. Some are beautifully restored or freshly painted, while others are cracked, crumbling, and slowly being reclaimed by nature. That difference often comes down to whether the tomb is enrolled in the Perpetual Care program—an optional maintenance plan managed by the Archdiocese. Families who pay into the program ensure regular upkeep. Those that aren’t covered are left to relatives (if any remain) or simply to time and decay. ⸻ Where to Purchase Tickets Tickets for guided tours can be purchased online or at the Basin St. Station Visitor Information Center, the yellow building at 501 Basin Street. Originally the Southern Railway Freight Office built in 1904, the building now serves as a visitor hub and features: • A ticket booth for cemetery tours • A small museum on New Orleans history • Restrooms and a gift shop • Event spaces and offices This is the departure point for all official tours and is conveniently located just outside the French Quarter. ⸻ A Note About the Surroundings Although it’s only a block from the French Quarter, the area around St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 feels markedly grittier. The entrance sits across from a gas station, a police station, an overpass, and a busy road. The atmosphere is more neglected than charming. I didn’t feel particularly unsafe during the day—especially with other tourists around—but it’s a stark contrast to the romantic, bustling vibe of the Quarter, and probably best avoided after dark. ⸻ Tour Details Guided tours typically last 45 minutes to an hour and offer insights into the cemetery’s history, architecture, and notable tombs. Be warned: my guide included a few claims I knew weren’t accurate, so take the folklore and voodoo tales with a grain of salt. Some tours lean heavier on spooky stories than verified facts, depending on the company and guide. ⸻ Overall: a unique, iconic, and thought-provoking place to visit—just go in prepared.

I visited in April 2007. There was no entry fee back then. I think $25 is kind of steep for this attraction. I would recommend visiting some of the other cemeteries in the area anyway. If you take the Canal St street car to the end of the line, you will be within walking distance of the most beautiful cemeteries in the area, especially Metarie Cemetery also known as Lake Lawn.

Wonderful historical tour of oldest cemetery in New Orleans that’s closed to the public. Alan with Cemetery Tours New Orleans guided us and was outstanding in his knowledge as well as entertaining. You need bottled water with the heat and sun, but if you’re a history nut like me, it’s excellent.

Zelda was a great tour guide! The whole experience was really good EXCEPT… you use your phone to book your tour, paying with your phone, seeing “mobile voucher” as one of the features, redeeming the e-voucher and getting a QR code… on your phone. So why when I get to the location and wait patiently for the tour to start, walk to the cemetery and am asked for a paper ticket and have to walk back, get the paper ticket and wait for the next tour. Nowhere in the building or on the online tour description does is say you can’t use the mobile voucher for entry? Hello, eighties technology!

Oldest cemetery in NOLA. You MUST take a tour to get in, it is closed to the general public. But it is worth it, the guides are great. The information and history and stories they have are worth the price. Of course, you get to see Marie Laveau's grave, and Nic Cage's weird pyramid. Plus, you meet at the Basin Street Station, which is cool to see. Be warned, though, parking is $40 flat if you drive. And that is STEEP.

What a beautiful historic cemetery. The tour guide was very thorough in his storytelling and the tour took a little over an hour. There was more than enough time to take pictures. I wish more of the tombs were included in the tour, as some of the ones we walked past looked like they had a story to tell.

This is one of the most beautiful above ground cemeteries that I have seen. My family and I did not know how much walking some of us would be able to do because we sustained leg injuries just before we left on our trip. This cemetery, you can only enter if you are part of the tours that are available. We just happen to pass by during the time that one of the tours was letting in and one was coming out. We didn't go real far out on the grounds, but we could definitely see a lot even just from the gate. These mausoleums and Crips and things are just so beautiful. You can tell a lot of damage has been done to these structures because of weather and rude people. The grounds are very well kept. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what the cost of a tour is, but I hear it is worth it. A lot of people who are leaving the tour kept saying how great it was and how great their tour guide was. I'm sure it was. It looks amazing. I would love to go back and get a real opportunity to check it out. I did get some pictures while I was there and I am so glad that I did. While a lot of people think that there's something very strange about having interest in a cemetery, I was very interested in learning more about the history and the structures the people who are buried there, etc.

What a cool cemetery and burial concept. I've never seen anything like it. I did some research and found that you can only go into the cemetery on the tour and immediately booked it. They show you where Marie Laveau is laid to rest as well. I loved the history. It was about an hour long. I highly recommend!

Took an afternoon tour while visiting New Orleans. Definitely book well in advance as it seems to be pretty popular and can sell out. Our tour guide was a sweet older gentleman whose name escapes me but provided a lot of insight and stories during the tour. I expected a more creepy factor, but was happy to see it was more of a history lesson than a ghost hunting/haunting-type tour. Learned about the burial process, the famous folks who are buried here and who are not buried yet but have a plot there already. It wasn't as long as I expected it to be, but it was really informative and a fun way to spend a little chunk of the afternoon in NOLA.

My favorite part about this tour was learning about the above ground burials in New Orleans and why they do this. It's something I've heard about of course, and knew was a part of the culture here, but didn't know exactly how or why it was done. Our guide was really good at setting the tone and explaining exactly how - and why this is done in New Orleans (water table of course) - and how you must wait exactly 1 year and 1 day to re-open a tomb after someone has been buried there. So much so, that if you have another death in the family, you'll need to rent a spot or find another place to bury the dead until that 1 year and 1 day is up. This means at any given time there are a ton of people buried in temporary tombs waiting to be moved around.... Fascinating! The cemetery requires a tour and you must pay to enter. Which is fine with me, keeps the crowds down and makes sure the tour is more enjoyable. I booked a few days in advance and we had no issues finding the Basin St. visitor center and checking in for our tour. Our guide, Richie, was excellent and we saw all the main attractions including the Voodoo Queen's grave, Nicholas Cage future burial spot, and other notable gravesites throughout. Our tour was around an hour and our group was great - really enjoyed it and highly recommend!

If you are ever in NOLA this tour is a must. The $20 entrance fee is definitely worth it. It use to be free but they now charge to prevent vandalism. Our tour guide, Will, was amazing. Will had everyone's attention the entire 45 minutes. He gave very detailed history about the cemetery, the people buried there, and how it's maintained, or not.

Make sure to check tour openings online before you pop in. We stopped by on a Saturday and didn't realize you needed a guided tour in order to go inside, that day everything was sold out so we scheduled a time for the day after. The history of the tombs were interesting but I do feel like our tour guide wasn't that excited to be there. I wish there was more opportunity for photo ops rather than feeling like we just had to keep moving to the next spot.

While there was a bit of a mixup with our tickets and tour time, the staff at the counter was able to help us get it all sorted out. Unfortunately, we ended up missing about a quarter of the tour, but our tour guide was able to answer questions and fill us in on what we missed. A cemetery tour in New Orleans is an absolute must-do! This cemetery was full of so much history, from prominent figures in Black history to musicians and even a voodoo priestess. The tour was everything I had hoped for and more! It was fun to listen to stories about some of the historical figures who made this cemetery their final resting place. Besides the tour, make sure to walk around the old train station turned museum that acts as the meeting place for the cemetery tours. There's a bunch of old train displays from a bygone era. Don't forget to visit the souvenir shop for a voodoo doll!

Maybe slow down on the tours felt very rushed. I'll take your money and run you through many complained not even time to take a picture as your always being rushed. Many on the tour complained! That is wasn't worth the tour. Can't go and explore takes fun out of it.

Beautiful tour. Would I have liked to be able to tour around and look around after absolutely. But that's no longer allowed. The last time that I was here was pre-covid and you could just go in and walk around and that no longer is allowed. Tours do sell out especially if you have a large group, so I would suggest if you know you're going to be wanting to walk around in the number one. You should get on a tour right away so you have a spot. I believe that the tours go every 15-20 minutes so there will be other people in the cemetery, but you don't really run into them at all. Our tour guy was Alan and he was a no-nonsense type of guy but had good information and was funny. I like the explanations of the graves and learning things that the last time I was here I overlooked and didn't even think about because I didn't know. I would say that the tour was pretty good and you should go on it if you want to learn about the cemetery and cemetery practices. Also, it has some famous monuments so if that is your thing and on your bucket list I would suggest getting your ticket and going. But if you just want to look at cemeteries there are a few in the area that you do not have to pay to enter. It's up to you and what you're looking for.

Tour guide was amazing, he seemed like he really knew his history and was very respectful of the dead. It was a hot day and there is not much shade so definitely bring some water, sunscreen, and maybe even an umbrella? Looks like it is in a sketchy part of town but I promise it gets better when you reach the tour center. Cool little tour center with things to look at.

Richie was an amazing tour guide! Patient with the group, engaging, told great stories and the history. It was a very fun and educational activity to do while in NOLA. Perfect amount of time too. Definitely would recommend.

Richie was so knowledgeable and nice! We very much enjoyed our tour, and learned a lot of interesting information. The tents with misters were a lovely touch in the heat as well.

This is one (if not the oldest?) Cemeteries in New Orleans. Since there has been a recent string of vandalism the cemetery is always closed to the public, unless you buy a tour ticket. As many as 70,000+ people reside in this 1 square block cemetery including famous people like Marie Laveau, Homer Plessy and (eventually) Nicolas Cage. The tour cost $25 and lasts about 45 minutes. They start every 15 or 30 minutes. Our guide was knowledgeable and answered questions along the way. He pointed out lots of famous graves and explained a lot of history in a short period of time. The plots themselves are very interesting to look at and would definitely add this to the must- do list when your are touring Nola!

Wonderful walking tour that's a fascinating and fun 45 minutes of local New Orleans history. Zelda is FANTASTIC and we thoroughly enjoyed her engaging warmth and humor! Thank You

Fascinating tour. Our tour guide, Richie, was super knowledgeable, kind, and funny! Great way to get a little more New Orleans history.

Bought tickets well in advance. Due to rain it was cancelled. We called first thing that morning and rescheduled for the next day at 10:15am. When we arrived we were told that we had not rescheduled and that all tours were full. Two women were working the counter. One seemed nice and mouthed quietly that the other "F'ed up". They were not helpful at all. We had to leave town without doing the one thing we most wanted you to do in Mew Orleans.

We loved the tour.. it was very interesting and make sure you get tickets .. you cannot enter the Cemetary alone . You must go with a tour guide... this is due to vandalism in the past.

1st guided tour here. We've walked No. 2 several times, but since the pandemic No. 1 has been hit and miss since 2020. Everything in No. 1 is very structured and managed. So pay the $$, sign up for a tour, and enjoy walking around a historic, supposedly haunted cemetery. Our tour guide was really good. Focused a lot on the history. As a social studies teacher, I had no idea that Homer Plessy was buried here. So now, as I'm discussing Plessy v Ferguson every year, I can say I've seen Plessy's final resting place. Of course, Marie Lavieu's tomb is the real draw here. New Orleans voodoo queen. You can tell they've spent countless hours maintaining the tomb that is constantly vandalized. The guide said people constantly come in overnight to pay homage to one of New Orleans' most famous residents. The tour is about 45 minutes long. I found some time to wander away from the tour a bit. They don't really like you to do that. If you like cemeteries and you like history and you like haunted cemeteries with lots of history, then you will enjoy St Louis cemetery No.2.

This is one of the best history tours you'll get in New Orleans. You learn a lot about the different styles of graves and tombs, why they look the way they do and how they're maintained. You even learn about some of the famous figures buried there - from civil rights leaders to celebrities to voodoo priestesses. Our guide Bill Dodenhoff did a great job explaining everything from start to finish with plenty of humor. It was a very hot day but he helped us finding shaded areas during the tour. Overall things were very organized and worth it, this is a must during a NOLA visit!

Richie was an incredible tour guide! He was very knowledgeable and a total sweetheart. We absolutely loved our experience. Would 10/10 recommend to others.

Going into a cemetery was at the top of my list when visiting New Orleans. It's just really interesting to see how cemeteries out here are constructed and laid out versus the ones we have in Los Angeles. Not to mention, that these tombs are much older too. If you are planning on doing this tour on a hot and humid day, I recommend bringing water and possibly a fan. Sometimes the tour guide will pass out a limited amount of paper fans. If you forgot water, the café inside the Basin St. Station sells water, this is the meeting point for the tour. We booked our tour through Trip Advisor's Viator website, which was smooth and straightforward. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and had a lot of great information regarding the St. Louis Cemetery. We saw Marie Laveau's resting place rather quickly in the tour, but the tour guide still kept us intrigued the entire time of the tour. We learned about the protestant section of the cemetery, the reason why certain statues are missing heads, about Nicolas Cage's involvement in New Orleans, and much more. I definitely recommend doing this tour.

This is what I emailed the facility: I first want to say the facilities (and everyone else we dealt with other than our guide, Buddy) was amazing. I never take the time to complain, or compliment sadly, but Buddy's actions were reprehensible. We were all dressed up as various Alice in Wonderland characters for fun. It was our yearly office trip for our "Dysfunctional Family", my coworkers and best friends, and my kiddo who I raised on my own for 10 years. In any event, we have traveled all over, always enjoyed, and never been disrespectful or disrespected. Our group was truly excited to see your amazing cemetery and hear it's story. That was not to be our experience. Your guide, Buddy, immediately started off on us. He made multiple comments at me directly (I was dressed as the Red Queen even though I'm a male, it was funny). I'm not gay, but that shouldn't matter. I am a lawyer, and versed in verbal sparring, so I politely, and intelligently jabbed back. He threatened to kick us out, for whatever reason I don't know. The impression, which is disgusting and unlawful, is that it was because he was upset I was dressed as a girl (we all felt that way as did other members of the tour). We stayed but he continued to jab at us, and my costume in particular, throughout. At the end, he engaged me and told me I was "lucky he didn't get me arrested". I was apoplectic and asked what for, and explained that I was a criminal lawyer and had broken no law. He said it didn't matter and that he would find a way. Continuing to make bigoted and homophobic comments. Members of my group are gay, as are many of my best friends. I felt bad because I could only imagine what they have gone through in the past. I'm not even gay but was repeatedly attacked by your employee just because we were having fun, with my daughter included. ...

We would have enjoyed it more if the guide didn't act like he hated his job. Casey was not really into going outside in the muggy air. I can't imagine him out there in August.

What a great visit! This is well worth the money, a fascinating look at this very different place. Richie was a great guide, his personal experiences with the cemetery really added to the experience. He also did a great job of weaving it into the story of New Orleans.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 via the Official Tour. My son who is visiting from another state was with me and I had been telling him about another cemetery tour I went on a few years ago. Also, I used the experience for a school assignment. I booked our reservation on the website which assured us we would not have to wait. I suggest doing that, because although there appeared to be plenty of available spaces, our tour was full and there were many walk-ins. The online process also provided instructions on when and where to meet for the tour. When we arrived, I was happily surprised to discover Basin Street Station. I never knew this place was here. While waiting for our tour to start, we were able to browse around at all of the neat stuff there. There were historical facts, art, etc. throughout the place. There was a small coffee shop and a gift store that had great offerings. There were also restroom facilities. Once our tour started, Jamie, our tour guide, gave our group an informative, colorful history of the cemetery and its history. He afforded us opportunities to ask questions and take pictures. He was knowledgeable and kept the group intrigued the entire time. I would definitely recommend this tour and there are so many interesting facts and surprises only to be found in New Orleans cemeteries.

We booked a tour for our first full day in town. We did the tour in 2014, but I wanted a refresh, and you can not visit this cemetery without a tour unless you have family laid to rest there. We missed our first tour, and they were so kind to help us reschedule for the next morning. We went on the tour, and Alan was our tour guide! He was great and taught me a lot despite having taken the tour years ago! Learning about the New Orleans burial is just so cool. It is such a neat process so different from what a lot of other cultures. They created a process that works for them because they can not bury their dead in the ground due to the sea level. Go! See! Learn! Added bonus the train station where you meet for the tour is really neat and a lot to see and read!

As a first timer in NOLA, I was very interested in learning some history. This is a great place to do it. $25 a person, about 45 minutes long, and our tour guide was super informative. You could tell he loved his job and was very enthusiastic and personable. Big shout out to Buddy. This cemetery is very cool! I definitely recommend it if you're looking to do some tours.

Mary was an amazing tour guide. very informative, cracked jokes, and answered everyone's questions!!!

Lovely tour of the cemetery by Denise...we are pretty sure she was a ghost herself, the way she imitated ghosts so well. Small cemetery, tour is short and sweet. Denise was very knowledgeable and seems to always be looking for new information. Visitor center was very cool, including an interactive type of light map of how NOLA was affected by Katrina.

Be sure to purchase a ticket online or at the Basin St Station by the cemetery as it's the only way you'll gain entry. We bought tix in person and chilled for 30 mins at the Station (there's a coffee stand that sells all kinds of beverages including alcohol) before our tour. Knowledgeable tour guide who happily fielded all questions. It was really hot and humid but thankfully there are a couple of tents with misters along the tour path. The guide stopped at interesting points and at 40-45 mins I think the tour was sufficient. But it would be nice to have 10 minutes to explore on one's own. $25 was reasonable when considering it goes toward the upkeep of orphaned tombs and cemetery maintenance.

I live in a suburb of New Orleans and have talked myself out of coming to this tour so many times. It's near the Quarter. It is such a hassle to go to this area. I will have to pay for parking. I will have to deal with people. I finally got myself to go, and I am so glad I did. Jamie was very professional and funny. Told many stories. Very informative, and not aimed at just the tourist. Gave some useful information that even I, who has lived here for 10 years, learned something. It was very nice. Wear comfortable shoes. Drink water, stay hydrated. I think it was well worth the $25 for the tour, the $10 for parking. This tour was one of the best I have come on. I recommend this to anyone who has recently moved to the area or anyone visiting from out of town. It will not disappoint anyone. This cemetery is not open to the public. You must be part of a tour group. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city.

We went on a tour with Viator. This is probably my 4th time in here and have learned new stuff each time. We had Denise, an older lady to liked to talk in a scary voice! She was cute and very informative. She seemed to be a professional storyteller! She loved to draw out each word while animating with her hands! Highly recommend this tour.

Despite the pouring down rain, we really enjoyed our tour. Unfortunately the rain prevented us from doing a full tour as we had to rush from one EZ Up to another for cover. However, our guide, Will, still made it a memorable tour. He was a wealth of information and very engaging. If you visit New Orleans, this cemetery tour is a must!

St. Louis cemetery is the oldest Catholic cemetery in New Orleans . Our tour guide Buddy was very informative and awesome I would recommend this tour.

The tour was very interesting and informative. Denise did a great job as our tour guide.

Hubby and I did a tour while visiting New Orleans. It was $25 for the guided tour which is the only way to get into the cemetery. Our tour guide was Rashaan, who was amazing. He was very knowledgeable answered questions and told wonderful stories about the memorials. Our tour did run over a few minutes which was fine. We learned things that we never knew and I would recommend this to anyone interested in the culture.

Not sure if an actual rating is warranted as we didn't actually tour the interior of the cemetery. We just strolled around the perimeter and that was sufficient for us. It was super hot that day anyways. You'll need to book a tour reservation in order to go inside. Before walking around we read a little bit online about some of the famous/historical people buried here. This provided some context. We only had two days in New Orleans and we covered a lot of ground. NOLA has such character and ambience. Be sure to add this famed burial location to your must-see list. It's an easy one to check off the list and not too far from the French Quarter.

Fascinating tour, wish we had about 20 more minutes but understand they have many wanting to visit and limited tours. Our tour guide, Denise, was great. A lil cheesy and dramatic which made the tour even more remarkable and something our kids will never forget: "It's all about the lore" but lore is said like loooooooooore in reference to Marie Laveau. Our kids will never forget that about the Queen of Voodoo, for which I'm grateful. Thank you Denise!

We went on a tour with Will and it was absolutely fabulous. The tour is $25 and worth it - a little under an hour of incredibly interesting history and facts about this piece of New Orleans.

Will was an excellent tour guide. Learned a lot. A little pricey but I get why they charge people to prevent vandalism. Tour groups are small, which makes it nice to hear what guide is saying. Highly recommend.

A historic cemetery in New Orleans, and one you should get out of the quarter to go see and explore. Due to vandals, you'll need to go on a tour which costs a few coin but it reasonably priced. Honestly, you needs a guide to actually see and understand the cemetery. Our guide was Charles and he was amazing; like the kind of friendly, funny, quirky dude who knows and loves history of the city, the cemetery, and a few bad puns. We were so happy he was our guide. He taught us about burial practices, voodoo, Nick Cage, Egyptian revival, flooding, and architecture. I'm not one to request a guide but really enjoyed having one here so I could understand and appreciate the landmark. Total must see for NOLA (and I've been over a dozen times and just now got here).

This cemetery has some very interesting history. Zelda, our tour guide, was super awesome, funny, and rich with history about New Orleans. It was a great tour, and I'd highly recommend.

The most beautiful cemetery in NOLA. The tour felt a bit rushed but the price was reasonable and our tour guide, Richie, was a NOLA native who had connections to many people buried in the cemetery and had a number of fascinating tales to tell about them. He was kind, charming and obviously passionate about the cemetery itself and the multicultural history of NOLA. Overall a great experience.

Beautiful cemetery with a very interesting history. After problems with vandalism, the cemetery was closed to the public and only accessible with a tour guide. It's the final testing place of "the queen of voodoo" and also the cemetery where Nicholas Cage had his tomb built (yes, that is super weird). If you are looking to visit one of the numerous cemeteries in NOLO, I highly recommend this one. I also suggest planning ahead as tickets do sell out for the tour.

We knew we wanted to tour a cemetery while in New Orleans and were thrilled to find a tour so close to our hotel. We walked over and checked in at the building next door. The cemetery is not open to the public so the only way to experience it by taking the tour. The proceeds benefit restoring the cemetery which is great. The tour guide was knowledgeable and we learned so much! I would recommended visiting especially if you are staying in the French Quarter and are looking for an attraction close by.

Great place to check out! I highly recommend it. So much history. Saw Nicholas Cage's final resting place. That was pretty cool. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable.

Buddy gave a wonderful tour and helped us understand the cemetery's history and cultural significance!

So many interesting things, it's creepy but cool! So much history! Our guide was great, he was very knowledgeable. It's about a 45 minutes tour, and you hardly have any time to explore yourself the cemetery for obvious reasons, the cemetery had been vandalized so many times. Highly recommend it. We were able to get tickets for same day for $25. It's walkable distance from bourbon (if you enjoy walking).