I've been 3 times in the past 4 years. the guides are knowledgeable, passionate, and funny. it's a…read moregreat way to see new orleans in a new light, meet people, and learn about an authentic artistic subculture. it can be a very hot walk, wear a hat and bring a water bottle.

From the owner: From the bustling streets of the 9th Ward to the edge of the historic French Quarter, come…read moreexperience towering murals and hidden street art while learning about the city's underground art scene. Discover a side of New Orleans that never made it into commercial travel guides on one of the most colorful tours in the city. You'll also get an insider's take on some of the city's most exciting neighborhoods, music venues, and restaurants during your time with us—and plenty of great photo ops! We'll explore the largest concentration of street art, murals, and graffiti in New Orleans, painted by world-famous artists like Banksy, Rebeka Skela, Crude Things, Jeremy Novy, and Laurel True, as well as local artists such as WTFToto, Swan, Henry Lipkis, and Jay McKay. By the end of the walk, you'll know more about our public art than most locals.

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting this interactive cultural funhouse, highlighting the Joy /…read moreArt / Music of New Orleans. It was truly a love letter to the city, full of colorful, unique, and creative art exhibitions, all made out of recycled materials (which I found to be impressive and admirable)! There was a curated playlist of amazing jazz music playing throughout, which really set the tone delightfully! Upon entering, guests are welcomed into the space and there was a personable and helpful guide who described the space, then led us into the opening rooms. The first one was blue with neon pink, green, and glowing, with letters, symbols, and TV screens, comprising of one big puzzle. The next is a long hallway of hot pink with blue detailing and lights throughout, along with cool protruding, spongy shapes representing organs on the walls. Very psychedelic vibes! This led into a large space with sculptures of a larger than life alligator mouth open wide, creature atop a huge pot with the words "Stir the Pot," crawfish, tall lily pads, insect jazz band, peacock and more. There was also a cool, pretty flower wall, and upon closer inspection, I discovered they were made out of records. From there, I headed upstairs to see the blue, purple, and pink room holding the gorgeous Fountain of Youth glowing bright blue, filled with gold coins in them for wishes. The ceiling was lush and leafy with a lovely hanging light, as well as a pearly oyster shell inspired one. In addition, there was a shotgun style house with a balcony we could go in. Back downstairs, I explored a bar neon colored words related to New Orleans all over the walls, with upside down piano & drinks. Next, I checked out a decorative white a black room, featuring a glowing green stand. With the press of a button, it turned the room disco-y blue with a glow in the dark effect. After that, I went into the beautiful Desire themed room with humongous pearl structures hanging down, where you can write and release your true desires. Such a dreamy, ethereal feel to this one! There was a little sleek and sexy speakeasy space, called Candlelight Lounge. Then was one of my favorite exhibits: Feast Mode, displaying glittery New Orleans culinary delight classics in true indulgent style, as well as super funky, fun paintings and art pieces. Near this room was a window with full of shiny, delicately constructed objects of vibrant colors representing New Orleans. This was a glitzy video opp with props offered, with the phone going in the center, spinning around and capturing us dancing, shimmying, or whatever suits your fancy! The remaining few installations were music themed with drums and large silver circles, which could be played, emitting different sounds to create a symphony of song. At the end, there was a room showcasing larger than life sculptures of heads of musical greats, including Louis Armstrong, Lil Wayne, and Big Freedia. I really enjoyed my time here. Staff were super welcoming, accommodating, and helpful with photos throughout. The artistry, detail, and care was visible throughout each and every art piece and room. JAMNOLA was such a fun experience and I recommend you check it out for yourself!

I took my 12 year old daughter to JAMNOLA and we had a blast…read more Every room was something different, super colorful, interactive, and just fun. She was excited the whole time, and honestly so was I. It's one of those places where you can actually enjoy it as an adult and still let your kid have their moment too. We definitely got some really cute pictures, so if you're into that, you're going to love it. It's very "stop, pose, next room, do it again" in the best way. It's not a super long experience, but it's worth it. I'd say give yourself about an hour, maybe a little longer if you're taking your time with photos. Only tip is try to go when it's not too crowded, because some people really turn it into a full photoshoot and you'll be waiting a little. Overall, I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you have kids or just want something different to do in the city.

This was one of the highlights of our NOLA visit. I found this while browsing through tours on…read moreTripAdvisor, looking or something off the beaten path and this looked like we'd be in neighborhoods and on the ground. Setting up the trip by email was easy and they answered all my questions - from vegetarian lunch options to was this suitable for a relatively inexperienced bicyclist. Derek, our tour guide, was easy going, knowledgeable, and said he never did the same tour twice. We were touring on St. Joseph's day so he threw in a visit to 2 altars, asking us ahead of time if we were ok with that. You start off on a cruiser bicycle with a basket, a bottle of water and helmet. We stopped to get lunch to go from Cajun Jo's, a plain neighborhood place run by a Vietnamese family. Simple food at cheap prices. We then rode a few block to eat lunch in Mr. Lewis's backyard. Visiting Mr. Lewis was a special experience, and hearing from him about his Dance and Feathers museum. He lost all the exhibits except a few to Katrina and as rebuilt it again. He's the community glue who lives for what he does. And for his grandchildren :) The tour is about 4.5 hours long but don't let this scare you. The bike seats are very comfortable, the pace is relaxed with a lot of breaks, drivers are patient letting bicyclists through, and the city is very flat. And Derek and our group of 9 were accommodating of me who fell behind a few times. Payment is in cash only. Like a TripAdvisor reviewer wrote: if you're breathing, you must go on this trip.

This was a really awesome experience and was a great way to cap off our New Orleans adventure. We…read moredid the tour on a freezing cold saturday morning at 930. We expected it to warm up but it never did, it only got colder, which was the only bad part of the tour. Our tour guide Derrick was incredibly knowledgable and friendly, informing all of us from a New Orleanian's perspective about the issues the Ninth Ward has faced, the issues it's still facing as well as it's hopes for the future. It was a really positive tour, focusing more on the brighter and unique features of the city rather than a whole bunch of depressing information about Hurricane Katrina. We stopped off at Cajun Joes for a po-boy about half way through the tour, which was really big and reasonably priced. The other major stop was Ronald Lewis' House of Dance and Feathers, a museum dedicated to the culture of New Orleans societies and clubs, with emphasis on the Louisiana Indians. The museum had a large array of photographs and incredibly complex and colourful costumes worn by Ronald in various parades over the years. He also has a book for sale that he wrote, that delves deeper into the many complexities and variations in this particular culture unique to New Orleans. Derrick even took us to his local bar afterward for a quick beer, which we found you were allowed to cycle and drink at the same time! Overall an awesome tour, highly recommended and definitely worth the money.

A group of friends and I visited Mardi Gras World during one of our New Orleans trips, and while it…read moreis cool to see some of the old parade floats, I don't know if it's worth a whole trip to see it. The floats are kind of stacked in front of and around each other, but you can still tell what you're looking at because they are so huge. We saw Buzz Lightyear, Spock, Pepé Le Pew, and other gigantic floats, with some non licensed floats like a greek soldier, a fountain, a cow, and a buck toothed dragon. Now here is where things got a little weird. When we got there, we definitely did NOT do a tour, like the website says is required. We perused the gift shop, bought a few things, and then walked through the warehouse by ourselves and saw the floats on our way out. Mardi Gras World is a pretty neat place to visit, but it's definitely outside the central area of New Orleans. For just a quick stop to shop and see a few floats it's fine, but I think if I went back, I would definitely seek out the tour and figure out how to do that!

I recently visited Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World and overall had a good experience. The host was…read moregreat--very welcoming and knowledgeable--which really added to the visit. There's a lot of interesting history behind Mardi Gras, and it was fascinating to see the craftsmanship and learn how everything comes together behind the scenes. One downside is parking. There's no free parking available, and the closest option is about a block away, costing around $23, which felt a bit inconvenient. I would recommend checking it out at least once, especially if you're interested in Mardi Gras history and culture. That said, it's probably not something I'd go back to a second time.

Joyce was amazing! She was so helpful and quick with responding and scheduling. As for Joyce and…read morethe ride herself, she was funny, entertaining and so knowledgable about NOLA, Louisiana and Mardi Gras specifically. I highly recommend her for any transportation needs, especially around the festival.

What a great company-amazing staff. They've welcomed us for years. This company not only goes…read moreabove and beyond for my husband and I- they took care of my mom on her trip there and made sure she was taken care of. I highly recommend them- quality, punctual & incredibly knowledgeable.

River was a wonderful guide!!!!! We were a group of girls on a birthday trip; and were joined by…read moreanother 'girls trip' group.....we stopped at a brewery and snacked on pizza and beers! It was rainy, and River provided us with rain ponchos !!!! Please go and enjoy yourselves!!!!

This is a must do for any bachelorette party! The location away from the touristy area of NOLA was…read morea lot of fun as we got to experience cheaper, local bars. The Bike Bar staff is very friendly and accommodating.

Marc Preuss's private tour was the best!…read more Definitely worth the upgrade from the regular tour companies with their 22-seater buses. We have always shied away from private tours in the past because it sometimes results in high-pressure situations where the tour guide pushes the places and activities they want and is not able to tease out what you want without being overbearing. And if that happens, the higher cost of a private tour makes you feel a bit of a chump. However,our family of 4 (one teen and one younger daughter) visited New Orleans during 2023 Mardi Gras week and had an absolute blast with Marc. There were not too many tour companies running on Lundi Gras right Monday (the day before Mardi Gras Tuesday) but he was. His partner Kristen makes all the arrangements but Marc is the one who conducts the tours -- it's pretty much the two of them. We were picked up mid-morning in a mid-size Ford SUV that was comfortable and nimble enough to navigate the tight roads in the French Quarter and many other places. It certainly allowed us to see a few places we could have otherwise not visited. This also made it very easy to be dropped off right at our hotel in spite of the traffic late afternoon, in spite of live parades and crowds. With one teen and a young kid in our party, we had been concerned that the private tour might be a little over their heads, but Marc was able to make everything interesting for everyone and cover a lot of ground, both outside and inside the city proper. We were able to see some unique spots with him such as the Lake Ponchartrain shore and levees, Crescent Park, Treme and understand the history of the region. All in all, Marc went above and beyond, spending much more time with us than the reservation had promised, and accomodating all our desires. e.g. he took us on drive-through tour of a cemetery, since we wanted to see one but did not want to get out and walk. He knew what would be open even though most were closed that day. He treated us to beignets at a mid-morning tour stop in City Park that was much appreciated. As we are all vegetarian, we had also been concerned about lunch. But we need not have worried. He took us to a relaxed no-pressure lunch at a very nice food court/market, which had various cuisines from around the world and we had a great choice of flavorful vegetarian entrees. All too often, vegetarian is translated by some tour guides into an unappetizing salad and sandwiches. On the way back to our hotel, he stopped at a supermarket so the kids could find and buy the moon-pies they had been looking for, and we were able to pick up some bottled drinking water for the rest of our stay. We were not able to see inside St Louis Cathedral as they were closing for the day when we arrived, but we managed to get inside another day. Apart from that, we covered everything the tour companies would have and more, with very little walking, exactly as we had wanted. That said, we did get out and walk at multiple places that we wanted to and skip the ones we didn't. As we got back into our hotel room, we realized that our youngest daughter's bracelet had been left behind in Marc's vehicle. No matter, he found it and dropped it off at the hotel a couple days later. Marc also provided some tips on what to do on other days of our trip and where to eat or listen to live jazz. Be sure to ask Marc about the original business he and his father were into as natives of New Orleans -- that provides him the background to be such an effective tour guide. Overall, we agreed this was money well spent -- first time ever we splurged on a private tour, but very glad we did. Go for it, you won't regret it!

Marc was so awesome! This was the perfect tour for us. Don't waste your time on those big tours…read morethat are not tailored to you. Call NOLA Detours instead and get the truly personalized experience you're looking for. We learned so much about New Orleans and experienced the sights and sounds with a local as our guide. It was like having a friend pick you up and show you around. Marc's knowledge about and passion for New Orleans shines through. We will definitely be back and when you return, we will absolutely call Marc again.

Frenchman Street is really alive after dark. Lots of jazz venues with music pouring out onto the…read morestreet. Many creative and artsy gift shops. There is a lot of construction and the sidewalk is irregular and dangerous. But after 9 pm the streets came to life, musicians played jazz on the corners.

My sister's Bach party and I stayed right in the heart of the French Quarter. After a fun,…read morefriendly, slightly drunk, chaotic night on Bourbon Street, we were looking for something more chill. We heard that Frenchmen Street offers a good amount of jazz music, so we headed over. Funny enough, we were a little late getting there and ended up at Café Negril because most places were either super packed or had a cover charge. (Feel free to look them up for my review!) - Dope live reggae band and no cover charge! Overall, Frenchmen Street was quite a fun experience. We enjoyed the lively music and vibrant atmosphere. Even better, we decided to walk back to our Airbnb--which was about a mile or so--and the whole area felt safe, even late at night. Definitely a great spot to unwind and soak in some authentic jazz vibes after a wild night on Bourbon!

Francis -Parkinson Keyes, one of my favorite authors lived here so we always pay homage on a trip…read more it never gets old. Built in 1926, This architectural treasure is an outstanding example of a raised center hall villa and includes both Creole and American features in an elaborately detailed residence. BK House's diverse history includes the stories of those who both lived and labored here for nearly 200 years. Originally owned by Ursuline nuns and subsequently occupied by PT Beauregard and Francis- Parkinson Keyes. FPK also wrote a novel called The Chess Players, based on chess champion Paul Morphy, who was also the grandson of the original owner of the house, LeCarpentier.(A great book). Our first tour a few years ago was just us and the docent. There was an ermine cape as worn by FPK and I tried it on. It fit perfectly. Another Urban gem in New Orleans.

The BK Historic House and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark built in 1826 and restored to its…read morepresent condition by renowned author Frances Parkinson Keyes beginning in 1948. It is an example of a raised Creole cottage and is lovingly cared for by the Keyes Foundation. Reasonable admission price, the tours start every hour on the hour. You are not allowed inside to wait more than 10-15 minutes before the tour begins, so be aware of that during the hot summer months. This is well worth the stop if you are in the area. It is located in the French Quarter, but off the beaten path.

We took the history History and Voodoo tour with Erin. It was absolutely amazing! Erin was so…read moreknowledgeable, enthusiastic, and fun. We learned so much about the history of the city and the origins of Voodoo. 10/10 would recommend!

We did the evening Ghost and Vampire Tour, and it was so bad we ended up leaving halfway through…read morebecause of our tour guide, Addie. She came across like an overly dramatic theater kid who couldn't dial it back. Her mannerisms and constant theatrics were cringey, and while maybe one or two stories had potential, the delivery completely ruined them. She would randomly go off on personal tangents (where she lives, her parents, and other irrelevant details) that had absolutely nothing to do with ghosts or vampires and added nothing to the experience. The worst part was her points system, where she'd give out points if people followed instructions or answered questions. For example, when we stayed on the sidewalk instead of walking in the street, she'd shout "10 points!" and point at each person while repeating it. It wasn't quirky or fun, it was just annoying. I wouldn't recommend this tour based on her alone. After our awful experience we tried another company called Nola Ghost Riders and I'd highly recommend them. They are located at the Voodoo Lounge off Decatur St, while French Quarter Phantoms is at Voodoo Lounge off Rampart St.