4 New Orleans Mardi Gras Tours to Fit Into Your Trip

1.New Orleans Mardi Gras World Behind-the-Scenes Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 538 reviews · from $29Our pick

At Mardi Gras World, you’ll see the warehouses where artists build floats and props for more than 40 New Orleans parades. A guide shares Mardi Gras and krewe history, and you can pose by floats, try on costumes, and taste King Cake. The 90-minute visit includes a shuttle from designated downtown pickup points.

“Highly recommend this tour, we loved it and seeing the parade floats up close was exciting. We had a great tour guide who worked for the company and we even got to try a piece of King cake.”

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2.More Than Mardi Gras: French Quarter Tour (Small Group)

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 39 reviews · from $39Top rated

Walk the French Quarter with a local guide, tracing colonial landmarks, Pirate Alley, Royal Street and Bourbon Street. The 90-minute tour starts at Jackson Square at 10:30 am and ends at the Presbytère, where you can visit exhibits on Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina. Guides Andrew and Daniel have led the walk, though your guide may differ.

“This was a phenomenal French Quarter walking tour. Our guide, Andrew, was very knowledgeable about the history and provided a detailed background about the origins of New Orleans and the French Quarter. This was my 5th trip to NO and Read more”

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3.New Orleans Mardi Gras 2026 Experience

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 9 reviews · from $33

Join a guide for a roughly two-hour walk from Bourbon Street to Jackson Square, covering Mardi Gras traditions, French Quarter landmarks, burial customs, and ghost and vampire tales. You can borrow an EMF meter and paranormal detector, though sightings are never promised. The tour costs $33 and has a maximum group size of 28.

“About an hour or so before our tour, we got notification via text that it was supposedly cancelled but listed a different time than that of the booking. So, we reached out for clarification to no avail and waited at the spot at the time but nobody ever called/messaged us back Read more”

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4.Mardi Gras Mambo Tours: Mambo Nights

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $175

Spend about 3.5 hours exploring New Orleans Mardi Gras culture, local spirits and food. Visit Mardi Gras World for a mask-making workshop, Hurricanes and King Cake, sample spirits at Seven Three Distilling Co., then sit down to dinner and a burlesque show at The Starlight. The tour starts and ends at 535 Tchoupitoulas St.

“This tour was lit from beginning to end. We ate the best food and the drinks kept coming. It was one for the records!”

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