New Orleans: Bad Broads Crime Walking Tour French Quarter

4.92

(296 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“If these walls could talk, cher, they’d probably cuss you out.” That’s what our guide, Tasha, said as we stood near Jackson Square, right where the tour started. She had this way of telling stories that made me forget I was on a tour at all — it felt more like tagging along with someone who’d lived here forever. The air was sticky even after sunset and there was that faint sweet smell from the praline shop mixing with old brick and something else I couldn’t place. We followed Tasha through the French Quarter’s uneven streets, dodging puddles from an earlier rain. She pointed out balconies where “bad broads” once ruled — madams, voodoo queens, women who didn’t care about polite society or its rules.

I didn’t expect to laugh so much hearing about people who did some pretty dark things. But Tasha had us grinning at every stop — especially when she described how Madame LaLaurie’s parties weren’t exactly what they seemed (honestly, that story stuck with me in a weird way). We paused outside LaLaurie Mansion and the street got quieter for a second; even the usual jazz from down the block seemed to hush. Someone in our group asked if she believed in ghosts and she just shrugged, “I believe in stories.” It felt right. My sneakers were already picking up bits of gravel but I didn’t care.

The last stop was Marie Laveau’s old home. There was this moment where Tasha talked about how people still leave offerings at her tomb — lipstick tubes, coins, little notes folded tight. She said you can feel history here if you stand still long enough. Maybe it was just the humidity or maybe it was something else, but I actually got chills. The whole walk only took about ninety minutes but by the end I felt like I’d seen a side of New Orleans most folks miss — not just ghosts and legends but real women who left their mark (for better or worse). Still thinking about some of those stories now.