tours isabelle new orleans reviews

Tours by Isabelle

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Small-Group Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Airboat and Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans

Small-Group Bayou Airboat Ride with Transport from New Orleans

Airboat Swamp and Destrehan Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Small-Group Louisiana Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Tours by Isabelle - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Best tour company and tour host!! - Tours by Isabelle

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• Tours by Isabelle

Best tour company and tour host!!

A perfect tour with a perfect host, Rene’. We were blown away by our history filled afternoon and wished we had booked another tour! The half day plantation and airboat ride was a perfect way to spend time exploring and learning about some of New Orlean’s rich history. We will definitely book another tour or two when we visit again! Thank you for a wonderful time!

We enjoyed the comfort and convenience of being picked up at our hotel and driven out to the air boat. We had a blast on the air boat and our captain was hilarious. Teenagers really loved the alligators and air boat.

listening to giselle great trip she is the best pleasant and knowledgeable . wpuld go with her again

We had a great time - saw an eagle and four alligators despite the cold. Really enjoyed hearing about the history of both plantations. The guides at each one were great and Rene was fantastic.

Good information in beforehand. Everything worked as scheduled. Friendly and well knowledged guide. Perfect !

What a great day! Rene was our guide/driver and he was the best. I don’t know how he could drive in all that traffic and still explain everything and be so easy to follow. Each of the other guides at the airboat and two plantations were also excellent. The buffet was delicious with a wide variety of Louisiana cuisine. It was a perfect day!

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Fun time - Tours by Isabelle

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• Tours by Isabelle

Had a wonderful time on our swamp tour! Our guide was Zac, and he did a great job in ensuring we got see gators and gave us a fun time on the airboat

Great fun on the Bayou.. lots of gators up close .. the guide was very knowledgeable. We got lost and missed out pick up time and the staff got us on the next shuttle .. went above and beyond!!

Isabelle was so sweet. She picked us up right from the hotel and we had a very informative ride to the swamp. The boat ride was awesome. Austin our driver was totally cool! He brought out the big guys and even got down in the muck with one! Beautiful fun ride through the swamp. I would definitely recommend.

Isabelle is amazing! So knowledgeable about everything New Orleans. She took care of everything and was always available for questions and to let you know what was happening next. Highly recommend.

Steve did A great job guiding our tour. He is very knowledgeable and provided a lot of insight into Louisiana history, especially about the Nola area. The bus was comfortable and the places we stopped were great. Good food at the last stop.

Gisèle was incredible! She gave us so much information and really went out of her way to make sure the kids had fun. We saw everything!

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Excellent Tour - Tours by Isabelle

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• Tours by Isabelle

Excellent Tour

Kat Fields was our tour guide and she was excellent. We were picked up at our hotel and started our day with a high speed air boat drive and then toured 2 plantations. Worth the money for a great day!

This tour was fantastic! Our tour guide John was a gem; full of great stories and anecdotes. We went on the swamp tour, Captain Rodney DuFresne was awesome. Alligators galore, and the airboat is fast and fun. We then visited Laura Plantation and Oak Alley. Wonderful historical experiences at both locations. Rocky, our guide at Laura, brings her history to life. If you only have 1 day, this is a great excursion to see some of the “must sees” in Louisiana.

Excellent to!ur! T. Earl presented the swamp and all its glory in a fun, informative, safe and beautiful trip. We went FAST, saw gators, floral and fauna, learned some history and had a great time! I highly recommend this trip.

Our guide was Muriel. She arrived promptly at the designated time. The van was clean and comfortable. Muriel was telling us the history on almost everything we passed. It was pouring and she provided raincoats and umbrellas for us. These were a god send, no one on the tour had these items with them. We took a swamp tour and saw two plantations. It was a great day!

Loved our tour guide...Gene. Bus and Airboat ride were comfortable. Oak Alley was pretty but just an okay tour. Lunch was small but good. Loved the Laura Plantation the guide was so informative and it was much more interesting than Oak Alley.

Nancy S took us on a fabulous tour of 2 plantations, and a swamp tour with brunch. She was so knowledgeable and friendly. My husband uses a cane and she was so caring and attentive to help him as he was slower than the rest of us. The plantations were so interesting, It is hard to imagine what life was like then. The swamp boat tour seeing alligators, racoons and turtles was so much fun. The Alligators were dancing on their tails to reach food on a stick. We were even allowed to hold a baby alligator. All ages will enjoy this. I would love to go again.

Tours by Isabelle

• See all photos

Small-Group Laura and Whitney Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Airboat and Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans

Small-Group Bayou Airboat Ride with Transport from New Orleans

Airboat Swamp and Destrehan Plantation Tour from New Orleans

Small-Group Louisiana Plantations Tour with Gourmet Lunch from New Orleans

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

TOURS BY ISABELLE (New Orleans) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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Fun time - Tours by Isabelle

• United States    
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• New Orleans    
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• Tours by Isabelle

Had a wonderful time on our swamp tour! Our guide was Zac, and he did a great job in ensuring we got see gators and gave us a fun time on the airboat

Great fun on the Bayou.. lots of gators up close .. the guide was very knowledgeable. We got lost and missed out pick up time and the staff got us on the next shuttle .. went above and beyond!!

Isabelle was so sweet. She picked us up right from the hotel and we had a very informative ride to the swamp. The boat ride was awesome. Austin our driver was totally cool! He brought out the big guys and even got down in the muck with one! Beautiful fun ride through the swamp. I would definitely recommend.

Isabelle is amazing! So knowledgeable about everything New Orleans. She took care of everything and was always available for questions and to let you know what was happening next. Highly recommend.

Steve did A great job guiding our tour. He is very knowledgeable and provided a lot of insight into Louisiana history, especially about the Nola area. The bus was comfortable and the places we stopped were great. Good food at the last stop.

Gisèle was incredible! She gave us so much information and really went out of her way to make sure the kids had fun. We saw everything!

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Tours By Isabelle

• P: (504) 398-0365
• P.O. Box 740972, New Orleans, LA 70174 ( Directions ) P: (504) 398-0365
• P.O. Box 740972 New Orleans, LA 70174 ( Directions ) P: (504) 398-0365
• Neighborhood: Central Business District/Downtown

7:00AM - 7:00PM Every day

• Sightseeing
• Specialized
• Personalized
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First class personalized tours in small groups. Experienced knowledgeable driver-guides on comfortable, top of the line 13 passenger vans will make you fall in love with Louisiana. Locally owned and family run tour company since 1979.

No inventory available at this time, please contact this provider for additional information

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Tours by Isabelle

Review Highlights

“ An amazing tour of the the area between new Orleans, the Bayou and beautiful plantations (Laura and Oak Alley ). ” in 40 reviews

“ We just returned from an awesome day touring two beautiful plantations & taking a swamp tour which was so much fun. ” in 28 reviews

“ We had a great guide ( Ellen ) and the guides at the locations were excellent as well, so don't forget to tip them all! ” in 21 reviews

Location & Hours

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New Orleans, LA 70174

Serving New Orleans Area

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About the business.

Business owner information

Isabelle C.

Business Owner

Tours By Isabelle is a locally owned and family run New Orleans tour company, providing first class, small scale, personalized service since 1979. We give tours of New Orleans, the traditional parts of the City as well as lesser known, off the beaten-path neighborhoods, we give Plantation Tours, all -day or half-day , and also Swamp and Bayou boat tours in fast & fun small airboats. We have combinations such as the Grand tour where you can see plantations and swamps in one day with lunch included. Experienced and knowledgeable Driver-Guides on board comfortable, top of the line 13 passenger vans, will make you fall in love with Louisiana. We'll pick you up ! We invite you to join us and discover our beautiful city and its people. Tours By Isabelle offers a variety of tours, and can often provide a custom designed tour to meet all of your interests and requirements at reasonable prices. …

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Overall rating

219 reviews

We loved the Grand Tour, particularly Kat's nice historical perspective of the area. Oak Alley Plantation was terrific, as was swamp boat tour. Highly recommend airboat. Laura Plantation also very nice, but that tour seemed a bit long for its size.... maybe too much detail on the family dynamics if the owners.

Wonderful tour! We were picked up and dropped off right at our hotel. Our driver Muriel was friendly and very knowledgeable. We absolutely loved the air boat swamp tour and really enjoyed both plantation tours. The operation this company runs is so smooth and accommodating. I'm in the travel industry and I've been on a lot of tours and these guys are at the top of their game. I can't recommend them enough.

Great tour with Joseph Donenfelser. We were awed at his encyclopedic knowledge - he could answer every question AND he was very patient with all our questions. He had an amazing memory for the all the dates and facts, and he was very articulate and easy to understand. I appreciated that he even told us what highway he was taking, and he pointed out various things along the route - the ships loading grain, the height of the levees - not just other plantations that we weren't visiting. The swamp tour with Brian was wonderful. We were very glad that we hadn't opted for the airboat, because it would have been almost sacrilegious to break the calm of the bayou. We accused Brian of having trained alligators - many approached the pontoon boat when we came by. They apparently learn the sound of the boat's engines and his voice, and know that he will be tossing them marshmallows. As a consequence we got some "up close and personal" experiences! He taught us how to spot the alligators that didn't come to us, too, and he could tell us how long the alligator was just by looking at their heads. The Oak Alley and Laura plantations are both beautiful, and very different from each other. While there were only 8 people on the Isabelle tour, it was unfortunate that we had to join much larger groups at the plantation tours, so it was frequently difficult to squeeze into the rooms and/or to actually be able to see the pictures or artifacts that the docent was describing. But that's a minor quibble - especially given the delicious authentic Louisiana food at the included lunch which we ate at the Oak Alley plantation. Food is served buffet style so you can pick and choose AND go back for seconds, Important suggestions: 1. BRING water - it is very hot and humid, and the tour does not include bottled water. 2. Wear a hat - the tour at the Laura Plantation includes a lot of walking in the grounds and gardens. 3. Bring a camera and be ready to get some great shots. 4. Be sure not to miss the bread pudding at the Oak Alley lunch - best we have eaten here in southern Louisiana. 5. Be aware that there are stairs to be climbed, and not many places to sit down. 6. The van will pick you up at your hotel in New Orleans, BUT if you are living outside the city (we are staying in Metairie) you can arrange a pickup near you. We were picked up at the LaQuinta hotel in Metairie just off the highway - we were able to leave our car there without cost.

Fantastic tour with professional tour guide. Tour Guide was knowledgeable and was actually from France, so she had more background into the history of the area and pre-dating the area. The tour van picked us up in front of the bed and breakfast and then dropped us off later that evening. This is an all day tour, great fun.

Did a combination plantation and swamp tour with them. The plantation tour was okay although a bit pricey. The swamp tour was awful. It felt like going on a river cruise. Never even got close to the swamp banks on either side. Would not recommend this company!

Feb 26, 2019

Hello Usa G. , Thank you for taking the time to share your impressions about our tour. We are glad you felt the plantation part of the tour was okay. I think you probably went on our 20 passenger covered pontoon boat ride, (a safer option to stay protected from all the rain we have been getting!) which does stay on Bayou Chevreuil for most of the ride in the swamp. It sounds like you would have enjoyed more going on our small airboat ride, which is another option offered on our "Grand Tour", as that smaller boat is able to go deep into the swamps and on smaller bayous. See it here: https://toursbyisabelle.com/two-plantations-airboat-swamp-tour Please email us directly next time you come back to New Orleans, and we will be glad to give you a sizable discount on our fast and fun small airboat tour, where you will for sure get to go deep in the swamps! Looking forward to it! Thank you Isabelle Cossart, Owner, Tours By Isabelle

My husband and I took the Hurricane Katrina tour with Ellen. She was very informative and entertaining. This was so much more than just a Katrina tour. We saw many parts of the city we would not have seen otherwise. I feel like we got a small sample of many tours rolled into one. I would definitely recommend this tour.

I took the Oak Alley and Laura Plantation Tour on Sunday, August 19, 2018. While the overall tour experience was well organized and the individual plantation tours were informative, my tour guide, Kat, was extremely rude. First, I was admittedly late for my 8:15 a.m. pickup as I was headed to the hotel lobby restroom at the time my tour guide called my cell phone number. I received a notification from my gmail account stating that my tour guide called my room number and I was not in my room (as I was in the hotel lobby restroom). Perhaps my tour guide was accustomed to articulate voicemails because she and/or the main office assumed that the contact number I provided to them was an office number (it was, in fact, my personal cell phone). Nevertheless, at the end of the time at Oak Valley, I arrived at the meeting spot at 1:34pm (4 mins late) because I had to go to the restroom before the hour drive back to New Orleans. As I approached the shuttle van, Kat yelled at me, asking, "Do you have a watch?" She was extremely disrespectful and stated that 5 mins before the departure time, she went in and out of the cabins looking for me because one of the other guests last saw me in that area. I explained to Kat that I was in the restroom. I didn't have food in my hand and I didn't have gift shop items in my hand. Kat then told me that it didn't matter that I was in the restroom, that 1:30 was 1:30! She proceeded to tell me that this was disrespectful to the other guests and to her. She told me that I was disrespectful to her because I was not even in my hotel during pick up (she inaccurately assumed this as when she returned to pick me up at a later time, she didn't notice that the take-out breakfast container had my hotel name on it as my hotel prepared a to-go meal for me because I'd miss breakfast that morning due to the tour). All in all, we spent more time outside of the van discussing whether I had disrespected the other guests than I had going to the restroom. At drop off, her tune completely changed and she was sweet as pie. In front of the other guests, she asked me if I would like to be dropped off anywhere in the French Quarter or near the French Market. She insisted that she could drop me off at my hotel or anywhere else in the FQ. While this was a nice gesture (conveniently before I write a review or give a tip), it doesn't excuse her behavior. Although I was late, Kat should have addressed my tardiness in a professional manner. I am not a child and she is not a Catholic school teacher. While I am certain that this tour company has other amazing guides, I regretfully have to give this a two-star rating. If you get my tour guide, please have a strong bladder and definitely don't go to the bathroom before departure times.

Can't say enough about City Tour. I am from here and needed to show my old friend more of the city and this was a perfect way. I even learned things I didn't know. Our tour guy was great and on time and we kept on schedule. I recommend this tour for oldies like me as well as tourists. It gives you a renewed appreciation of our unique and wonderful city.

Wonderful tour overall - greatly enjoyed......I would recommend. (We did the swamp & 2 plantation tours) Anna was our driver/guide - very informative. She was wonderful!! I learned a lot about the history of NOLA along our drive! Both of the plantations were amazing - definitely must see places in LA. The only drawback was it seemed rushed at both places - I would have enjoyed wandering around and seeing more on my own time. There was so much to enjoy around the buildings! ALSO - for the inside tour of the plantation houses, there were WAY too many people crammed into our tour (maybe around 40-45 people). In some rooms of home, it was difficult for everyone to even fit. There was a wonderful artifact room, but nobody could see anything because we were packed in there on top of each other. And we were quickly guided into the next room. (reason for my 4, not 5 review). Overall, a well - organized, informative & fun tour!

Overall a decent tour but I had higher hopes for the experience. We did the combo bayou/plantation tour. The Destrehan plantation tour was a little underwhelming and the tour guide seemed a bit amateur. He was rushed and scattered in his explanations and I didn't feel like I got a good understanding of the grounds. The bayou tour was fun, but we went there second instead of doing it before the plantation tour so it got really hot. Not sure why it was scheduled that way. Also, we had discussed having s smaller 6 person boat but ended up on a larger 13 passenger boat. Not quite as intimate as we had hoped. Like I said, we had a good time but it would have been nice to adjust our expectations ahead of time or potentially not pay as much or find a different tour.

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