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A Louisiana crawfish boil of red crawfish, corn, potatoes and lemons spread on paper

FF11 · New Orleans · 6 days · moderate pace

Cajun food tour with New Orleans: gumbo, crawfish and boudin

Six days of Creole kitchens in New Orleans and Cajun cooking on the bayou

See dates and pricesDay by day

From $2,890 per person, shared double room

  • Hold your seat with a $300 deposit, by card or bank transfer
  • Balance due 60 days before departure
  • One free change of date or tour up to 45 days before
  • Next date Nov 11, 2026: guaranteed

Questions? [email protected], Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30 Eastern. Booking terms

A Louisiana crawfish boil

Key facts

Length
6 days, 5 nights
Starts in
New Orleans
Ends in
Lafayette
Group size
12 guests at most
Minimum age
18; drinks 21 and over
Pace
Moderate, 3 of 5
Tastings
24 tastings, plus 5 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners
Tour code
FF11

Overview

What to expect on this Cajun food tour

Three nights in New Orleans for gumbo, po’boys and a hands-on Creole class, then west into Cajun Country for boudin at breakfast, a crawfish boil on a farm pond and a morning among the pepper fields of Avery Island.

Louisiana has two great cooking traditions, and most visitors only taste one. Creole food grew up in New Orleans kitchens, with butter, tomatoes and a French accent. Cajun food came from the prairies and bayous west of the Atchafalaya, built on rice, pork, smoke and whatever the water gave. This tour gives each one equal time, and lets you taste the difference rather than read about it.

The first half is in the city: a walk through the French Quarter, a market lunch, an evening on Frenchmen Street and a hands-on class where you make a dark roux, a pot of gumbo and pralines to take home. The second half is in Lafayette and Breaux Bridge, where breakfast is boudin and cracklins from a meat market and the crawfish come from ponds that were rice fields a few months earlier.

Remy Thibodeaux, who grew up in Breaux Bridge, hosts every departure. Departures run from November to May, through the heart of crawfish season, and again in October.

More on the destination: New Orleans and Cajun Country food tours. Tour categories: Cooking Classes, Cider, Sake & Spirits, Farms & Producers.

Read first: Cajun vs Creole food: the difference in gumbo, jambalaya, étouffée and boudin

Fried boudin balls with crackers in a paper boat in Cajun Country, Louisiana
Boudin balls, Cajun Country

What you will taste

24 tastings on this Cajun food tour

Tasting portions at the markets, producers, cellars and kitchens on the route, on top of the meals listed. Dishes follow the season, so one or two can change from date to date.

Drinks
A Sazerac in the Quarter and Louisiana beer with the crawfish. Alcohol is poured only for guests 21 and over, the legal drinking age in the USA, with ID; every pour has a non-alcoholic option.
Diets
Gumbo and the boil can be made without shellfish, and vegetarian plates are planned with each kitchen. Kitchens here handle shellfish all day, so trace contact is possible. Severe allergies: ask Lena before you book.
  1. 01Chicken and andouille gumboNew Orleans
  2. 02Muffuletta from a corner groceryNew Orleans
  3. 03Beignets and chicory café au laitFrench Quarter
  4. 04Pralines from the copper potRoyal Street
  5. 05Boudin and cracklins at three meat marketsBreaux Bridge
  6. 06Smothered pork chops with rice and gravyLafayette
  7. 07Boiled crawfish with corn and potatoesCrawfish farm
  8. 08Pepper sauces at the Tabasco factoryAvery Island

Itinerary

Cajun food tour itinerary: 6 days, day by day

Day 1 is the arrival day: meet your host at the hotel in the late afternoon. The order of the days can shift with the weather, the harvest or a kitchen that closes early; the places stay the same.

  1. Day1

    Arrive in New Orleans

    Transfer from the airport to the hotel in the French Quarter, about thirty minutes. In the evening Remy walks the group to a Creole restaurant on a side street for the welcome dinner: turtle soup or gumbo, shrimp rémoulade and bread pudding with whiskey sauce.

  2. Day2

    French Quarter and the French Market

    Red beans and rice with cornbread and iced tea in a brick French Quarter courtyard

    A morning walk with stops for café au lait and beignets, a muffuletta from a corner grocery, pralines still warm from the pan and a raw oyster or two at a bar on Bienville Street. Free afternoon. In the evening, optional music on Frenchmen Street.

  3. Day3

    A Creole cooking class

    Hands-on class in a cooking school near the river: a dark roux, chicken and andouille gumbo, a pot of jambalaya and a tray of pralines. Lunch is what you cook. In the late afternoon the St. Charles streetcar to Uptown and dinner on Magazine Street.

  4. Day4

    West to Breaux Bridge and Lafayette

    Cajun cottages and cypress trees beside the bayou at Vermilionville in Lafayette, Louisiana

    Two and a half hours west on I-10, crossing the Atchafalaya Basin on its long bridge. Lunch is a plate lunch of smothered pork chops and rice and gravy. In the afternoon, a boudin crawl through three meat markets. Dinner at a dance hall with Cajun music.

  5. Day5

    Crawfish and Avery Island

    The stepped brick front of the Tabasco factory on Avery Island in Louisiana

    Morning at a crawfish farm, where the farmer pulls traps from a flooded rice field and the group boils the catch with corn and potatoes. In the afternoon a drive to Avery Island for the Tabasco factory, the pepper greenhouses and the Jungle Gardens. Farewell dinner in Lafayette.

  6. Day6

    Breakfast and depart

    Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Lafayette airport, or back to New Orleans airport, arriving around 1:30 pm.

Route map of the New Orleans and Cajun Country food tour: New Orleans and Breaux Bridge
The route in order; lines are not exact roads. Base map: Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The route

Route and hotels: New Orleans and Cajun Country

  1. 1New Orleans
  2. 2Breaux Bridge
  3. 3Lafayette
  4. 4Avery Island

Hotels on the route

New Orleans3 nights
Boutique hotel in a restored townhouse in the French Quarter, or similar
Lafayette2 nights
Downtown hotel near Jefferson Street, or similar

Hotels are listed by class and area; the names come with your confirmation and may be replaced by a hotel of the same standard.

What the price covers

What the Cajun food tour price includes

One price covers 5 hotel nights, 5 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners and the tastings listed, the tastings and classes in the itinerary, transport on the route and your host.

  • 24 tastings
  • 5 hotel nights
  • 10 items included
  • 5 not included

01

Included in the price

  • 5 nights in central hotels with breakfast daily
  • Welcome and farewell dinners and two more dinners with drinks
  • Four lunches, including the class and the crawfish boil
  • Hands-on Creole cooking class with recipes to take home
  • French Quarter food walk with all tastings
  • Boudin crawl through three Cajun meat markets
  • Crawfish farm visit and boil, in season (a shrimp and crab boil in October and November)
  • Tabasco factory tour and Jungle Gardens entry
  • Van with driver and airport transfers at group times
  • Remy Thibodeaux or another of our hosts throughout

02

Not included in the price

  • Flights to New Orleans and home from Lafayette or New Orleans
  • Travel insurance
  • The meals not listed and drinks outside the program
  • Music cover charges on Frenchmen Street
  • Tips for your host and driver

Tell Lena about allergies, diets or mobility needs before you book, and we will say honestly whether this tour suits you.

03

Getting there and rooms

Flights are not included, so you can use miles or fly from any airport. Arrive at New Orleans (MSY) by mid-afternoon on day 1 for the group transfer, and fly home from Lafayette (LFT) or New Orleans (MSY) after 3:30 pm on the last day.

Single room
+$690
Deposit
$300 per person
Balance
60 days before departure

Dates and prices

Cajun food tour dates and prices, 2026 to 2027

7 group departures, 12 seats each. Prices per person in a shared double room; the single room supplement is per person.

All deals
Departure dates, prices and seats for the New Orleans and Cajun Country tour
DatesLengthPriceSingle roomStatusBook
to 6 days$2,890$690GuaranteedAsk about this date
to 6 days$2,890$690GuaranteedAsk about this date
to 6 days$2,890 $2,790Early booking: save $100$690AvailableAsk about this date
to 6 days$2,940$690GuaranteedAsk about this date
to 6 days$2,990No single supplement$0GuaranteedAsk about this date
to 6 days$3,040 $2,940Early booking: save $100$690GuaranteedAsk about this date
to 6 days$2,990No single supplement$0AvailableAsk about this date
Private date, 6 or more guests6 daysPriced per groupAs bookedYour datesPlan with Grant

Guaranteed means the date runs: at least five guests have booked. Few seats means three or fewer seats are left. A deal price is shown next to the regular price.

Prices per person in US dollars: multi-day tours in a shared double room, flights not included; day tours paid when booked. Deposit $300 per person, balance 60 days before departure, one free change of date or tour up to 45 days before. Booking terms

Before you book

Before you book this Cajun food tour: honest notes

Pace and walking
Moderate. About three hours on foot in New Orleans on days 2 and 3; the Cajun Country days are mostly by van with short walks.
Your host
Remy Thibodeaux. Grew up in Breaux Bridge, where his family still makes boudin every Saturday. Cooked in New Orleans for twelve years and has hosted for us since 2018. All our hosts
What can change
The order of the days can shift with the weather, a harvest or a kitchen that closes early. A stop of the same kind and value replaces anything that falls through.
Weather
Tours run in all weather. If a storm closes a boat trip or a farm visit, we move it or replace it, and if a serious weather warning stops the tour before it starts, you choose a new date or a full refund.
Arrival and departure
Arrive at New Orleans (MSY), leave from Lafayette (LFT) or New Orleans (MSY). Transfers are included at the group times on the first and last day.
Drinks and age
Adults only, 18 and over. Alcohol is poured only for guests 21 and over, the legal drinking age in the USA, with ID; every pour has a non-alcoholic option.
Diets and allergies
Vegetarian, pescatarian and gluten-free versions with notice when you book. Tell us about severe allergies first; we will say honestly what we can and cannot promise.
Luggage
One suitcase and a day bag. Leave space for olive oil, coffee or a bottle of wine, and check your home customs rules before you pack cured meat or fresh cheese.

Questions about this tour

Cajun food tour FAQ

General questions on booking, flights, insurance and luggage are on the main FAQ page.

Ask Lena directly

Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day, Monday to Friday.

When is crawfish season?

Roughly January to June, at its best from March to May. On the November and October departures the boil on day 5 becomes a Gulf shrimp and crab boil, and the farmer still shows you the ponds.

I have a shellfish allergy. Can I join?

Yes, with care. Tell Lena when you book. Gumbo can be made with chicken and sausage only, and at the boil we cook a separate pot of sausage, corn and potatoes. Kitchens on this tour handle shellfish all day, so we cannot promise zero contact.

Can I fly home from New Orleans?

Yes. The transfer on day 6 runs to both Lafayette and New Orleans airports. New Orleans has more nonstop flights; allow about two and a half hours for the drive.

Is there a shorter version?

The French Quarter Food Walk is three and a half hours and covers the city classics. Book it the day before this tour and the walk is on the house.

Can I join on my own?

Yes. About a third of our guests travel solo. A single room on this tour costs $690 extra, and some dates have no single supplement; we can also try to match you with a roommate.

What if I have a food allergy or a special diet?

Tell Lena when you book. Vegetarian, pescatarian and gluten-free versions are arranged with every kitchen before you arrive; for severe allergies we tell you honestly which stops we can and cannot make safe.

What if I need to cancel or change?

Your $300 deposit holds the seat, the balance is due 60 days before departure, and you can move once to another date or tour free up to 45 days before. The full scale is on the booking terms page.

Should we tip the host?

Tips are welcome but never expected. Guests who want a guideline usually give 10 to 15 US dollars, or the same in local money, per person for a day walk, or per person per day on a multi-day tour; restaurant tips on included meals are already paid.

Dates and seats

Ask about Cajun food tour dates

Tell us the tour, the date and how many of you are coming. Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day with seats, room options, the total price and any questions about dietary needs.

Lena, Grant and Priya, Charleston

To[email protected]

SubjectNew Orleans and Cajun Country: Gumbo, Crawfish and Boudin: dates and seats

Please include

  • Tour: New Orleans and Cajun Country: Gumbo, Crawfish and Boudin
  • Date
  • Guests (all 18 or over?)
  • Room type (double, twin or single)
  • Dietary needs or allergies
  • Message
  • Your name, email and a phone number
Write to Lena

Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day. No payment now. A $300 deposit per person holds seats on a multi-day tour; day tours are paid when you book.

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