New Orleans Cemetery Walking Tour Guide: Self-Guided + Operator Picks
Quick answer: If you only have time for one cemetery in New Orleans, do St. Louis No. 1 with a licensed guide (it is the only way you can legally enter, runs about 20 to 30 dollars, and is where Marie Laveau is buried). If you want a free self-guided walk, head to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District or Metairie Cemetery uptown. Skip the cemetery tours that pile 25 people behind one guide with a microphone. Go with French Quarter Phantoms, Save Our Cemeteries, or Haunted History Tours if you want a guide who actually knows the families buried there.
Why cemetery walking tours are a New Orleans thing
New Orleans buries above ground because the water table is so high that early coffins literally floated out of the dirt during heavy rain. What started as a public health fix turned into 200 years of marble, wrought iron, and family vaults that look like a small city. Walking through one of these cemeteries is the closest you get to time travel in this town, and a good guide turns it from a photo op into the real story of who built New Orleans.
The 5 cemeteries that actually matter
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
Address: 425 Basin Street, just outside the French Quarter
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to noon
Cost: Free to enter on paper, but you must be with a licensed guide or a registered descendant. Tours run 20 to 30 dollars.
This is the oldest cemetery in the city (1789) and the one most people picture when they think of New Orleans cemeteries. Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, is buried here in the Glapion family tomb, and yes, people still leave offerings even though the Archdiocese repainted the tomb after years of XXX marks scratched into the plaster. Homer Plessy of Plessy v. Ferguson is here. So is Bernard de Marigny, who basically invented the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood and lost a fortune playing dice. Nicolas Cage built himself a nine-foot-tall white pyramid tomb here in 2010, which you cannot miss.
The Archdiocese closed it to the general public in 2015 because of vandalism. You go with a guide or you do not go. That is the rule.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
Address: 1416 Washington Avenue, Garden District
Hours: Reopened in 2024 after a long restoration. Currently open Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. to noon. Closed Sundays.
Cost: Free, self-guided is fine.
This is the easy answer if you want to walk a cemetery without paying or booking anything. It is across the street from Commander’s Palace, surrounded by the Garden District mansions, and the wall vaults along the perimeter are some of the prettiest brickwork in the city. Anne Rice set scenes from her vampire novels here. The cemetery was closed for years for safety repairs, so a lot of older blogs say it is shut, but it is back open. Go in the morning before it gets hot.
Metairie Cemetery
Address: 5100 Pontchartrain Boulevard
Hours: Daily 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Cost: Free. They give out a free driving and walking map at the front office.
If St. Louis No. 1 is the small old French one, Metairie is the opposite. It was built on the old Metairie Race Course (you can still see the oval), and the monuments are absurd in scale. There is a 60-foot granite column for Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, the Moriarty monument that locals call Mrs. Moriarty’s revenge because she built it taller than anything in town, and Mel Ott, Louis Prima, and three Louisiana governors are buried here. Pick up the map at the office and just wander. Plan on at least 90 minutes if you want to see the main monuments.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
Address: 300 N. Claiborne Avenue
Hours: Same restricted access as No. 1, guide required.
Cost: Bundled into most St. Louis No. 1 tours, or about 25 dollars on its own.
Two blocks from No. 1, opened in 1823 because the original was full. Way fewer tourists, and honestly some of the prettiest ironwork in the city. This is where a lot of free people of color and early jazz figures are buried, including Dominique You (Jean Lafitte’s pirate captain) and trumpet player Ernie K-Doe. If you have a guide running both, do both. If you can only do one, No. 1 has the bigger names but No. 2 has the better atmosphere.
Holt Cemetery
Address: 635 City Park Avenue, behind Delgado Community College
Hours: Daily, daylight only.
Cost: Free.
Holt is the one nobody tells you about and the one I send people to when they have already seen the Quarter cemeteries. It is a below-ground potter’s field where folk-art tradition runs deep. Families decorate graves themselves with hand-painted signs, mardi gras beads, photos in plastic sleeves, hand-poured concrete borders. Buddy Bolden, the cornet player credited with inventing jazz, is buried here in an unmarked grave. It feels nothing like the marble city of Metairie. Go respectful, do not photograph fresh graves, and you will see a side of New Orleans culture most visitors never touch.
Self-guided vs guided: when each makes sense
Go self-guided at Lafayette No. 1, Metairie, or Holt. They are free, the layouts are walkable, and you do not need somebody narrating to enjoy the architecture. Bring water and use the Save Our Cemeteries website or a printed map.
Go guided at St. Louis No. 1 and No. 2 because you literally have no other legal option, and because the family stories at these two cemeteries are where the value is. Walking past 700 tombs without context is not interesting. Walking past the Glapion tomb while somebody explains how Marie Laveau ran a hairdressing business that doubled as the city’s most efficient information network, that is the tour.
The operators I actually recommend
Save Our Cemeteries. Nonprofit, ticket revenue funds tomb restoration. Their guides are the most knowledgeable in the city because most of them have been doing preservation work for years. About 25 dollars for St. Louis No. 1. Book direct on saveourcemeteries.org so the money stays in the cemeteries.
French Quarter Phantoms. Best mid-size operator in town. Their cemetery and voodoo combo tour is around 28 dollars and runs daily. Smaller groups, guides who do not just recite a script, and they cap group sizes which matters in a place this small.
Haunted History Tours. Been around since the 90s, run a solid cemetery and voodoo tour. Watch the season, in summer they sometimes pile too many people into one group. Ask before booking how many tickets are sold for your slot.
Free Tours by Foot. Tip-based, so it is technically free but plan to tip 15 to 25 dollars a person. Good if you are budget conscious. Quality varies by guide, which is the tradeoff with any tipping model.
Tour operators I would skip without naming names: anybody selling cemetery tours from a folding table on Bourbon Street, anybody bundling a cemetery tour with a 90-minute pub crawl, and anybody who tells you they will get you into St. Louis No. 1 without going through the official guide system. They cannot.
What to wear and bring
Closed-toe shoes. The walking surfaces are uneven brick and broken oyster shell, and Metairie is huge so you will be on your feet for two hours. In summer (May through September), bring a full water bottle, a hat, and consider an umbrella for shade. There is no shade inside St. Louis No. 1. Mornings are best, the 9 a.m. tour slots are noticeably cooler than the 1 p.m. ones. Skip flip-flops and skip anything you would be sad to get cemetery dust on. Phones are fine, professional camera setups need a permit at some cemeteries so check ahead if you are shooting for commercial use.
FAQ
Can I visit St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on my own?
No. The Archdiocese of New Orleans closed it to general public access in March 2015. You can only enter with a licensed tour guide or as a registered family descendant. This is not a tourism upsell, it is the actual rule, and it is enforced at the gate.
How much does a cemetery tour cost in New Orleans?
Most guided cemetery tours run 20 to 30 dollars per adult. Save Our Cemeteries is around 25 dollars and that money funds tomb restoration. French Quarter Phantoms is around 28 dollars. Free Tours by Foot is tip-based, plan on 15 to 25 dollars a person if their guide was good.
Where is Marie Laveau buried?
Marie Laveau is buried in the Glapion family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, on Basin Street just outside the French Quarter. The tomb was repainted by the Archdiocese after years of vandalism, and leaving offerings inside the cemetery is officially discouraged.
Is Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 open in 2026?
Yes. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 reopened in 2024 after a long restoration project. Current hours are Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to noon, closed Sundays. It is free to enter and self-guided is allowed.
Which cemetery in New Orleans is free to visit?
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District, Metairie Cemetery on Pontchartrain Boulevard, and Holt Cemetery behind Delgado Community College are all free and allow self-guided visits during posted hours. The two St. Louis cemeteries require a paid tour.
How long does a cemetery walking tour take?
Plan for 60 to 90 minutes for a guided tour of St. Louis No. 1. If you are doing both St. Louis No. 1 and No. 2 together, budget two hours. Self-guided at Metairie can run 90 minutes to two hours because the property is enormous. Lafayette No. 1 is about 45 minutes if you take your time.
Are New Orleans cemetery tours kid-friendly?
Yes for kids around 8 and up. The history is more architecture and family stories than ghost stuff during daytime cemetery tours. If you want a darker spin, the after-dark haunted walking tours are a different product and I would hold off on those for younger kids.
What is the difference between a cemetery tour and a ghost tour?
Cemetery tours run during the day, focus on architecture, history, and the families buried there, and stay inside cemetery walls. Ghost tours run at night, walk you through French Quarter streets and storied buildings, and focus on hauntings and crime stories. Different products, different vibe. Most operators sell both.
What is the best time of year to do a cemetery tour in New Orleans?
October through April is ideal. The weather is reasonable and the light is better for photos. Summer tours are doable but you will sweat through your shirt by the second tomb. November and February are the sweet spot, mild weather and smaller crowds.
Can I take photos inside New Orleans cemeteries?
Personal photos with your phone or a small camera are fine at all five cemeteries. Tripods, professional video setups, drones, and any commercial shoot require advance permission and often a permit fee. If you are doing a wedding shoot or anything commercial at Metairie or one of the St. Louis cemeteries, contact the cemetery office at least two weeks ahead.
Plan the rest of your day
If you want a deeper dive on each of the cemeteries above, my self-guided cemetery journey guide walks through the history tomb by tomb. For after-dark, my 2026 haunted walking tour guide separates the operators worth booking from the tourist traps. And if you are sorting through cemetery, ghost, garden district, and history walks, the honest walking tours comparison ranks all of them side by side.
Once you are done with the cemeteries, get out of the city for a half day. The cypress swamps 30 minutes from the Quarter are the other half of what makes Louisiana feel like Louisiana. New Orleans Kayak Swamp Tours runs small-group paddles through Manchac and Honey Island where you will see alligators, herons, and the occasional wild boar from the water level, not from a crowded airboat. Book a morning swamp paddle and an afternoon cemetery tour and you have got the two sides of South Louisiana in one day.