1 Week Louisiana Itinerary (Road Trip)
May 12, 2023 by Laura
Read all about our 7 days spent in Louisiana! We ate lots of delicious cajun food, visited the capitol, Baton Rouge, attended the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans, saw gators on a airboat swamp tour, visited a plantation, and learned so much at museums. Louisiana was our second state for our 50 States by 50 bucket list challenge!
Louisiana Vacation
I am so happy to say we are two states down in our 50 States by 50 challenge. If you want to read more about our journey to all 50 states and how we are doing it, check out my 50 States Bucket List Post.
After our first trip to Indiana, we actually drew Wyoming out of the hat next for our second state. However, since there can still be quite a bit of snow in Wyoming in the spring, we decided to push Wyoming to our third state. We plan to spend the majority of our time in Wyoming in the great outdoors, and I don't want the potential to get stuck inside the whole time due to a winter store. So we redrew and got Louisiana!
I instantly knew Louisiana was going to be a great state to visit mostly because of all the great cajun food that comes from there. There's jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, boudin, fresh seafood, beignets.. the list of delicious food goes on and on. There's also swamps, gators, and a great all-around vibe!
If you are looking for blogs that go into more detail over certain parts of our Louisiana trip check out our other travel blogs!: French Quarter Festival, Food in Louisiana, Sam Houston Jones State Park, Our Day in Baton Rouge, Our Weekend in New Orleans, and Our 7-Day Louisiana Trip Budget.
☼ 9:30 AM
Since we live in Texas we decided to turn this Louisiana trip into a road trip! Our destination for the day was Scott, LA- about a six hour drive. Besides driving through the dreaded Houston traffic, this road trip was a breeze.
I loved looking at the tall pine trees and swamps alongside the road. Did you know that the rice fields in Louisiana have two purposes- to grow rice and for crawfish farming! The rice fields were filled with crawfish traps. Also along the Louisiana highway, you will go over big bridges that provide some scenic views of the water.
Gator Chateau
☼ 3:00 PM
This little roadside stop is so much fun. Gator Chateau is a rescue, educate, and release program. They have young alligators some of which you can actually hold! They also have a few bigger gators and snapping turtles.
While donations are much appreciated, this stop is completely free making it a must stop while traveling down Interstate-10.
Gator Chateau
100 Rue de l'Acadie
Jennings, LA 70546
Fezzo's
☼ 5:00 PM
Fezzo's is a seafood, steakhouse, and oyster bar. They have three locations in Louisiana and serve up some amazing cajun food.
For appetizer, we ordered the charbroiled oyster sampler. These oysters were incredible with the Monterey Jack ones being my favorite. Brian ordered the Fezzo's Cajun Trio served with gumbo, bisque, and red beans & rice. I ordered the Crawfish Half & Half which comes with grilled crawfish and crawfish etouffee.
I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the best crawfish I have ever eaten.
Fezzo's
720 I-10 South Frontage Road
Scott, LA 70583
Hotel
We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Scott which was right off of Interstate-10. It was also located right next door to Fezzo's. This was the perfect stopping point in-between Austin, TX and Baton Rouge, LA.
Comfort Inn & Suites
1636 Saint Mary Street
Scott, LA 70583
Atchafalaya Basin Landing
☼ 9:00 AM
After our hotel breakfast, we were ready to get the day started with an airboat swamp tour! This was one of my favorite things we did while visiting Louisiana, and I would say that it is important to take a swamp tour to get the full Louisiana experience.
The Atchafalaya Basin Landing is just about thirty minutes past Lafayette (near Breaux Bridge) making it the perfect stop on our Lafayette to Baton Rouge drive. You can either choose to take an airboat tour or a traditional swamp boat tour. I highly recommend the airboat!
On the boat ride during the tour, we saw all parts of the swamp. Our tour guide talked a bit about Louisiana and Cajun history, the cypress trees, Spanish moss, and, of course, gators. It was a bit chilly the morning we went out on the airboat so not too many gators were out and about. We did, however, see baby alligators which are absolutely adorable. We also saw a female gator that came right up to our boat!
Despite only seeing one adult alligator, we still had a blast on this tour. I can't wait to do it again!
Atchafalaya Basin Landing
1377 Henderson Levee Road
Henderson, LA 70517
Bergeron's Boudin & Cajun Meats
☼ 12:00 PM
On our way into Baton Rouge, we stopped to get some lunch. This lunch was definitely not healthy, but boy was it delicious.
We ordered the crawfish pies, regular boudin balls, boudin egg rolls, and pepper jack boudin balls. Everything was amazing, but I would walk miles to eat those boudin balls again. SO GOOD.
Outside of all the fried foods, Bergeron's also has full menu which all sounded delicious as well.
Bergeron's Boudin & Cajun Meats
760 LA-415
Port Allen, LA 70767
Louisiana State Capitol
☼ 1:00 PM
Seeing the capitol is one of our checklist items for successfully visiting a state. Louisiana's state capitol is truly one of a kind!
This building is the tallest capitol in the United States. It is 450 feet tall and has 34 floors. The grounds around the building are beautiful. You will see magnolia trees (the state flower), the grave and tombstone of Huey P. Long, a statue of George Washington, a replica of the Liberty Bell, and a ceremonial American Indian mound constructed around 1000 AD.
Louisiana State Capitol
900 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Capitol Park Museum
☼ 2:00 PM
Another checklist item of ours for visiting a state is going to the state museum. This is a great way to learn all about the uniqueness of the state and its history.
In this Louisiana state museum, you will learn all about the role of the Mississippi River in Louisiana's history, the sugar and cotton plantations and the stories of the slaves who ran them, Louisiana's wildlife, the life of Louis Armstrong, the life and assassination of senator Huey Long, and the Louisiana Purchase.
This museum is filled with lots of Louisiana information, and we left feeling much more knowledgeable about Louisiana!
Capitol Park Museum
660 North Fourth Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Mississippi River Park
☼ 4:00 PM
I had never seen the Mississippi River before so walking over to the this park was a must. There is a sidewalk that runs right along the shoreline. There is also plenty of places to sit and just enjoy being outside.
Mississippi River Park
299 River Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
Cecelia Creole Bistro
☼ 6:30 PM
We then had dinner reservations at the cutest little bistro in downtown Baton Rouge. This restaurant had such a fun vibe.
For appetizer, we ordered the Sweet & Spicy Alligator. For our entrees, we ordered the Cajun Grouper (blackened grouper over corn maque choux topped with crawfish) and the Redfish Cecelia (blackened redfish over corn grits & braised collard greens topped with crawfish etouffee).
All the food came out cooked perfectly and so delicious. This restaurant would be perfect for a date night!
Cecelia Creole Bistro
421 North Third Street, Suite B
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
Hotel
The Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Baton Rouge is a great location where you can walk to many Baton Rouge attractions and downtown restaurants.
Courtyard by Marriott
260 Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
→ You can read about our time spent in Baton Rouge in more detail on my Baton Rouge Itinerary Blog!
The Vintage
☼ 8:30 AM
For breakfast, we stopped at this cute restaurant in downtown Baton Rouge that was walking distance from our hotel. This restaurant has coffee, teas, beignets, and a full menu.
We ordered a cup of earl grey tea, a coffee, traditional beignets, breakfast biscuit, and a beignet with sawmill gravy. This was a great place to have a slow morning and enjoy some tasty bites.
The Vintage
333 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Old Governor's Mansion
☼ 9:30 AM
After breakfast, we walked over to the Old Governor's Mansion for our next stop. This big house was built in 1963 and has been the official residence of 9 Louisiana governors.
The home is so beautiful and definitely worth a walk-through when visiting Baton Rouge especially if you love historic homes.
Old Governor's Mansion
502 North Boulevard
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Louisiana's Old State Capitol
☼ 10:00 AM
Louisiana's Old State Capitol building was the state house until 1932 when the new Louisiana state capitol was built.
This building looks exactly like a castle! I wish we would have had enough time to walk through it, but it was still so much fun to see the outside.
Louisiana's Old State Capitol
100 North Boulevard
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
USS Kidd Veterans Museum
☼ 11:00 AM
The USS Kidd museum was amazing. After walking through the museum that contains veteran and naval military history and artifacts, you actually get to self-tour the ship!
The ship was named after Medal of Honor recipient Isaac C. Kidd Sr. You get to see pretty much the entire ship and all the rooms inside. And you get to climb up and down all the ladders! This was such a cool experience and a must-stop for history buffs. I highly recommend checking it out!
USS Kidd Veterans Museum
305 South River Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Poor Boy Lloyd's
☼ 12:30 PM
Lunch time! We walked over to Poor Boy Lloyd's to get some po' boys, of course!
We ordered a shrimp po' boy and a crawfish po' boy. Both were excellent!
Poor Boy Lloyd's also has a lot of other delicious food on the menu making it the perfect lunch spot.
Poor Boy Lloyd's
201 Florida Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
→ You can read about our time spent in Baton Rouge in more detail on my Baton Rouge Itinerary Blog!
Laura Plantation
☼ 3:00 PM
After lunch, we got back into the car and drove to Vacherie, LA. It was about an hour drive to get there. The Oak Alley Plantation, Whitney Plantation, and Laura Plantation are all located very close to one another.
The Laura Plantation is one of Louisiana's Creole Plantation houses. It was here that the Duparc family lived and ran their sugarcane plantation in the 1800s.
During the guided tour, we learned the rich history and heard in-depth stories of both the family and slaves that lived there. We walked around the grounds, the colorful creole plantation house, and the slave cabins.
It was an eye opening experience to hear and witness this part of our nation's history. This tour provides a full view of plantation life and slavery. You will learn a lot during a Laura Plantation visit!
Laura Plantation
2247 LA-18
Vacherie, LA 70090
Creole House Restaurant & Oyster Bar
☼ 6:30 PM
Next up, it was time for dinner in the vibrant city of New Orleans. New Orleans was about an hour drive from Laura Plantation.
Brian has been talking about the oysters he ate at Creole House for years now, and he finally was able to show me what all the fuss was about!
The chargrilled oysters are buttery, cheesy, and absolutely incredible. I now understand why he talked about them so much. Also, I found a pearl in one of my oysters so that was a fun surprise!
Brian ordered the seafood platter, and I ordered the muffaletta. You can't go wrong with either!
Creole House Restaurant & Oyster Bar
509 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Hotel
The Best Western Plus was in a great location for us. We were able to walk to the French Quarter and many restaurants. It was so nice not having to get out the car during busy festival traffic!
Best Western Plus St. Christopher Hotel
114 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
French Quarter Festival
☼ 9:00 AM
It's festival day! The French Quarter Festival is an annual festival held in the French Quarters of New Orleans every April. There's numerous stages scattered around the French Quarter representing local musicians and various types of genres. New Orleans knows how to do music festivals!
The French Quarter Festival also has so much good food provided by local restaurants. If you are visiting New Orleans in April, it is definitely worth checking out.
This festival is a pretty big deal and attracts thousands of people to the French Quarter. There are so many fun things at this festival. You'll find local art, good music, and delicious food around every corner you turn.
The festival is also a great time to explore the French Quarter. We walked around on Bourbon Street, went into local shops, visited Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo, had a Pimm's cup at Napoleon House, and admired St. Louis Cathedral. I just love New Orleans' unique culture!
→ You can read about our time spent at the French Quarter Festival in more detail on my French Quarter Festival Blog!
The National WWII Museum
☼ 9:00 AM
We woke up the next morning and took a very short drive over to The National World War II Museum which was such an incredible experience. This is one of the best museums I've ever been to, and is packed full of war history and artifacts. Really, you could probably spend up to two days at the museum! Plan for AT LEAST 4-5 hours when visiting.
Make sure to grab a dog tag at the beginning so you can follow along with an actual veteran's life during war. I also highly recommend watching the Beyond all Boundaries movie narrated by Tom Hanks while you are visiting. This is a must-do when in New Orleans.
The National WWII Museum
945 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Katie's
☼ 2:00 PM
For lunch, we stopped at Katie's, a restaurant with Creole-Italian fare. We ordered more chargrilled oysters (YUM), a roast beef & gravy po-boy, and a remmy po-boy with fried green tomatoes and shrimp remoulade.
There's a reason why Katie's was featured on The Food Network.. it is delicious!
Katie's
3701 Iberville Street
New Orleans, LA 70119
New Orleans City Park
☼ 3:00 PM
New Orleans City Park is gorgeous and is the perfect place to spend a chill afternoon outside. Plus, there's coffee and beignets!
Cafe du Monde is located inside of the city park. This popular place is famous for their coffee with chicory and beignets piled high with powdered sugar. You don't want to miss it. This is one of the best places to get beignets!
Since it was spring when we visited, the park was green and blooming. The huge trees covered in Spanish moss are amazing. Be sure to also check out the sculpture garden. There's so many unique and fun sculptures scattered about making the stroll through the park so fun and interesting.
New Orleans City Park
1 Palm Drive
New Orleans, LA 70124
→ You can read about our time spent in New Orleans in more detail on my New Orleans Itinerary Blog!
Hotel
We decided to take a different route than we came when heading back towards Texas. Houma was in a good spot in-between New Orleans and Lafayette.
Homewood Suites by Hilton
142 Citiplace Drive
Houma, LA 70360
Cypress Lake
☼ 11:00 AM
On our way to the state park, we made a last minute decision to stop at Cypress Lake. Cypress Lake is a swamp-like lake right in the middle of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus.
It's free to visit Cypress Lake so I think it is definitely worth a stop to see a few gators hanging out.
Cypress Lake at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Located near the Student Union Building which is at:
620 McKinley Street
Lafayette, LA 70503
The Best Stop Supermarket
☼ 12:00 PM
We had to get some grub on our way to the state park, and we both agreed we needed boudin one more time before this trip was over.
At The Best Stop, we got some smoked boudin, boudin balls, and fresh hot cracklins. I can't stress this enough.. this food was so good. Like 'I'm going to be thinking about this food for years' good.
Plus, The Best Stop has a ton of meats in their store so make sure you bring your ice chest!
The Best Stop Supermarket
615 LA-93
Scott, LA 70583
Sam Houston Jones State Park
☼ 2:00 PM
Another checklist item for visiting a state is to go to a state park! We decided on going to Sam Houston Jones State Park so that we would be a bit closer to Texas when it was time to drive home.
This state park had so much natural beauty and was an absolute blast. We spent hours just chilling at the swamp searching for wildlife which wasn't too difficult because there was wildlife everywhere we looked. We saw alligators, turtles, snakes, lizards, birds, and so many insects! We also took a hike on the Orange Trail which runs right along the river. We found so many flowers and mushrooms during our hike. So pretty!
We did an overnight stay at their Cabin Deluxe which was really nice. There was a screened-in porch with fireplace, a full house, and a pier on the river. If you are into nature then Sam Houston Jones State Park is worth checking out. We had the best time here!
Sam Houston Jones State Park
107 Sutherland Road
Lake Charles, LA 70611
→ You can read about Sam Houston Jones State Park in more detail on my Sam Houston Jones State Park Blog!
Red Tails Boil House
☼ 6:00 PM
For dinner while staying at the state park, we decided to go the easy route and order a crawfish boil to go. Red Tails has combination options so we got the crawfish, crab, and shrimp combo with mushrooms, sausage, and potatoes. Oh, and don't forget dipping sauce.
This crawfish was perfectly seasoned and tasted amazing!
Red Tails Boil House
2259 Sam Houston Jones Parkway
Moss Bluff, LA 70611
→ You can read about all the food we tried in Louisiana in more detail on my Food in Louisiana Blog!
After spending a slow morning at the swamp watching the gators and birds, we hit the road to get back home to Texas. This was such a good trip to Louisiana filled with fun, learning, and LOTS of good food. Can't wait to go back!
50 States by 50
Louisiana was our second state for our 50 states by 50 challenge. My husband, Brian, and I are planning to visit all the states in the United States by the time we turn 50 years old. To choose which state we travel to next, we will draw it randomly!
For each state, we will plan at least a 4 day trip that consists of visiting the state capitol and state museum, exploring a state park, and eating whatever food that state is most known for. I will be documenting all of our travels here on my blog and making vlogs as well which will be posted on YouTube. Read more about our 50 States by 50 Bucket List.
__________________________________
Thank you for reading about our Louisiana trip! We had a wonderful time, and can't wait to head to another state soon. If you have any questions or just want to share your Louisiana experiences, please leave a comment down below.
Category: Louisiana, State Itineraries
Keywords: new orleans road trip, louisiana best road trips, what to do in louisiana, best food in louisiana, louisiana trip ideas, louisiana road trip itinerary
Discover More:
☼ Food in Louisiana (gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, crawfish, alligator cheesecake, boudin, cracklins, beignets, & so much more)
☼ New Orleans Itinerary (National WWII Museum, city park, beignets, oysters, & Bourbon Street)
☼ 7 Day Louisiana Trip Budget (how much our 7-day, 6-night road trip to Louisiana cost for two of us)
Bon Voyage!
May 12, 2023 by Laura Ehlers
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