New Orleans Travel Forum

How to choose among all the available tours??? My boyfriend will be staying downtown and will not have a car. What is/are good swamp tours that will pick-up from a hotel? The air boats sound fun - but do they get as close to the alligators as the slow boats? I want to be sure he gets to take pictures of them feeding marshmallows to them! All advice appreciated - THANKS!!

Kenyon

Just be sure to ask around to see if it's a good time of year to see gators. Last year we went down in November, and my friends spent a bunch of cash to go on a gator tour, and never even saw one gator! After the tour, the guide said it wasn't a good time of year to see gators!!! Too bad they didn't know this earlier, or they would have saved lots of $$$$!!!!

If you want to save a bit of time and money. You might just visit the Audobon Zoo in New Orleans, Supposedly, they have opened a new exhibit that displays alligators in their "natural" environment. I doubt you could feed the gators marshmallows there though. Gary

That's right! The gators do hibernate in winter, so the best time to take a swamp is in summer. However, we took a winter tour once and found it interesting enough. If one is interested in a joy ride, DO take airboat. If one is interested in the ecology of the swamp, DON'T take the airboat. Another consideration is whether or not the particular swamp is a first growth or second growth cyprus forest. Obviously, the first growth forest swamps are more likely to be thrilling regardless of the time of year. From New Orleans, tours do leave and return to town in minivans.