Why You Shouldn’t Visit New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation

Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana is a relatively easy day trip from New Orleans, making it a popular plantation to visit.

Plantations near New Orleans are undeniably an important part of history, and I’m not saying to ignore them entirely. You should visit a plantation when visiting New Orleans, but I don’t think it should be Oak Alley.

Here’s my honest review of New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation, and why you should choose one of the other plantations near New Orleans to visit instead.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

Why Visiting Plantations Near New Orleans Is Important

Plantations are a huge part of Louisiana’s history, but also one of the darkest aspects of it…

Large plantations were built throughout Louisiana, some of those are around New Orleans.

It’s no secret that the state is mostly made up of swamp land, so it’s impressive that early settlers were able to thrive as an agrarian society back in the 1800s. First, starting with indigo plants before moving on to cotton and sugarcane.

Unfortunately, it was the slave trade that sustained these plantations…

People of colour were treated as less than human on these plantations. They did all the work on and off the plantation (cooking, cleaning, and babysitting the aristocrat’s children) without pay and often under horrible conditions.

So although it isn’t a very uplifting part of history, it’s still very important to learn about it in Louisiana.

Why I Chose To Visit Oak Alley Plantation

There are a few reasons why I chose to visit Oak Alley Plantation near New Orleans…

It’s Close To New Orleans (An Easy Day Or Half Day Trip)

Oak Alley Plantation is only about an hour drive from New Orleans. So you can easily visit on day trip (or even half day trip) from the city.

Because Oak Alley Plantation is so close to New Orleans, a lot of tour companies host organized visits. In fact, I went on this one from Viator.

So even if you don’t have a car, you can still visit the plantation (P.S. Uber will not pick you up here, even if they’ve dropped you off!).

Oak Alley Is The Largest / Most Well Known Plantation

When I was researching New Orleans, Oak Alley Plantation came up as one of the top things to do (see more top things to do in New Orleans here) .

It’s one of the largest plantations near the city, and has the iconic “oak alley”, which is no doubt a picture perfect spot!

Oak Alley Sounded Like It Was The Most Well-Rounded Plantation …

Once I looked in to Oak Alley Plantation a bit more, it seemed like it had it all! I wanted a more well rounded plantation tour that gave me insight into all the plantation practices, good and bad.

New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation has an exhibit on the enslaved, a guided tour of the Big House (where the plantation owners lived), a film on the sugarcane industry. Plus, that picture perfect view of the oak alley!

It seemed like a visit to Oak Alley Plantation checked all the boxes if you wanted a snapshot of these times (but I guess the snapshot was just too realistic for me!).

Oak Alley Plantation Photos Were Beyond BEAUTIFUL!

You can’t look at Oak Alley Plantation photos and not want to visit! It’s friggin’ beautiful! If this isn’t an Instagram worthy spot, I don’t know what is!

The main attraction of Oak Alley Plantation is undeniably the Big House, built in Classical style architecture from the 1800s. And then the view just gets better with those large, 200 year-old Virginia Oak trees!

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I Wasn’t Interested In Such A Heavy / Sad Day Trip

At the end of the day, I chose to visit Oak Alley Plantation because I didn’t want to be sad on my day trip. I thought if it was only about the slaves it would be a very depressing day.

So I figured Oak Alley provided a good balance; the beautiful architecture and landscaping, paired with an exhibit on the enslaved, and that should have been enough.

But now I know that this was ultimately the wrong way to look at a day trip to a plantation from New Orleans…

Why You Shouldn’t Visit Oak Alley Plantation In Louisiana

My visit to Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana left me feeling odd to say the least.

As I mentioned, I wanted to visit a plantation to learn about Antebellum plantations in the South, which included both the production of sugarcane but also the slave trade.

Although they touched on the enslaved at Oak Alley, it was far from enough. The tour merely cemented the fact that we haven’t really grown at all from those times, which is quite sad.

I wish I would have visited one of the many other plantations near New Orleans instead of supporting this type of tour.

Not Enough Of A Focus On The Enslaved

Oak Alley Plantation put WAY too much emphasis on the Big House. Of course, this is what draws you in to visit Oak Alley in the first place, but they should use that to their advantage, to educate people about its problematic past..

The plantation should use the oak trees and the Big House to attract tourists. But then there should have been a much, MUCH larger focus on the enslaved rather than the people who owned them…

Their website doesn’t lie when they say there’s an exhibit on the slaves. But, what they don’t mention is that it’s a self guided tour through the slaves quarters, and one that is completely optional.

You could mindlessly walk through the slaves quarters, skimming over the information, if you even read anything at all!

Way Too Much Focus On The Big House

Compare the self guided tour of the slaves quarters to the guided tour through the Big House.

A guide (in my case, a caucasian person), led us through the house telling us about the families that had lived here (and ultimately owned slaves…).

You aren’t allowed to wander through the house on your own, in case you break something, I guess? And no pictures are allowed, as you want to keep the inside a surprise for newcomers!

P.S. The best part about all this is that the inside of the house really isn’t that impressive at all…

You can also pay your respects to the past owners of Oak Alley Plantations at the on-site cemetery…

The Focus Of Oak Alley Plantation Was Ultimately All Wrong

These two exhibits at Oak Alley (the slaves’ quarters and the Big House) should have been completely swapped.

Let tourists wander at their own pace through the Big House and owners quarters. This should never have been the focus of the tour.

And give a guided tour of the slaves quarters, telling their stories, and making sure people actually hear them!

On top of everything, if you’re going to highlight the graves of the past owners, at least set up a large memorial for the slaves that lived there.

Which Plantations Near New Orleans To Visit Instead

The reality is that there are several other plantations in the same area, and there’s no reason you should end up at Oak Alley Plantation.

For starters, two popular plantations are the Whitney Plantation and the Laura Plantation.

The Whitney Plantation

The Whitney Plantation is the plantation to go to for a full focus on the enslaved.

In fact, my tour made a stop at the Whitney Plantation first before continuing to Oak Alley.

On the bus ride back, I overheard people discussing how good the exhibit was at the Whitney Plantation.

Originally, I didn’t want to go to Whitney Plantation because I thought it would be too depressing. But I=in retrospect, I don’t think you can have that sort of attitude when visiting a plantation in New Orleans.

If you’re going to a plantation, expect it to be a sad day, but one that is nonetheless important to do.

I also didn’t know beforehand that there were in fact tours to Whitney Plantation from New Orleans… you can book a tour on Viator here.

The Laura Plantation

While going to Oak Alley Plantation, the tour guide pointed out the Laura Plantation and recommended it as well.

So I did some more research and it’s a Creole Plantation. On their website, there is a larger focus on the enslaved as well (who made up 80% of the plantation residents).

They are currently building a database of stories of the enslaved. You can actually read some of the completed ones on their site here.

They also recently opened an entire exhibit “From the Big House to Quarters: Slavery on Laura Plantation.”

And in case you don’t have a car, there is an organized tour from New Orleans, see it on Viator here.

P.S. Need A Place To Stay In New Orleans? My Hotel Recommendations

I stayed at the Hampton Inn Conference Center in New Orleans, although it was a great hotel, it’s a bit far from all the main attractions. See it on Booking.com here.

I would recommend instead staying on Canal Street instead. It’s a large lively street with a lot of hotel options. Plus you’re within walking distance to the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and all the streetcars (even the St. Charles Streetcar!) to take you wherever you want to go!

A good option is the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street (see it on Booking.com).

Or if you’re looking for a more budget friendly option, just slightly off Canal Street is the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton, see it on Booking.com.

Click here for more hotels in New Orleans on Booking.com.

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Last update on 2024-05-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API