Local's Guide to the French Quarter

The journey, in full

When you take a New Orleans history tour you should expect, first and foremost, a well-spoken expert as your guide. A good tour guide is a mix of historian, writer and actor. A guide could be so knowledgeable on one hand, and super boring on the other. Not good. A New Orleans history guide could be an excellent storyteller, but not convey much of the richness of our story. Finally, a tour guide could be a great person, entertaining and absolutely devoid of any information with any depth. Here we select guides that check all three boxes so that guests know they are getting a special and valuable experience. We offer a few different ‘flavors’ of history tours at Unique Nola. If you want a comprehensive look at the political and cultural origins of the Crescent City we have our New Orleans Locals history tour. Here we start from the original Native peoples here, the arrival of the French, then the Spanish. As we walk the very streets that earlier colonists, famous heroes and sketchy bad guys walked, we are transported to another time. On the history walk we not only break down the architecture of the city, we frame it in its cultural impact – where the styles come from, what the builders wanted to express. Beyond the architecture we talk about the rainbow of people that have contributed to the development of the city – our food, our music, our festivals – all the way to the candy colors of the houses. Of course we get into Voodoo and Mardi Gras and what the heck does lagniappe mean? What’s the difference between a Creole and a Cajun? And did the Virgin Mary actually help us win a Super Bowl? A New Orleans history walking tour will break down why we are “America’s most interesting city.”