New Orleans: Creole Bike Tour, Cemeteries & Congo Square

4.96

(271 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect the air to smell so sweet and earthy when we started pedaling out of the French Quarter—like rain on old bricks mixed with something frying far off. Our guide, Chris, waved us down by this lopsided house (apparently the oldest in the city) and told a story about pirates that made me laugh out loud. I kept glancing at the iron balconies above us—someone was playing jazz from an open window, but you could barely hear it over our bikes rattling along the street.

We zigzagged through Faubourg Marigny where Chris pointed out murals and explained why everyone waves here (I tried it—got three waves back). Mid-City felt quieter, almost like another town. Riding past shotgun houses and leaning fences, I caught whiffs of cut grass and coffee drifting from a porch. At St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, he got serious for a minute—explaining those above-ground tombs and how people leave little offerings on them. The marble felt cool under my hand, which surprised me because the sun was already strong.

Congo Square was next—honestly, I didn’t know much about it before. Chris played us a bit of old jazz on his phone while we sat under these huge oaks; he called it “the heartbeat of New Orleans.” There was this moment where nobody spoke, just listened to the music and watched a group practicing dance steps nearby. We stopped at Café du Monde in City Park for beignets (powdered sugar everywhere), then followed Bayou St. John for a stretch—the water looked muddy but peaceful, with herons picking around in the reeds.

I still think about that ride sometimes—the way people here seem to live outside more than in, how history just sits right there on every corner if you slow down enough to see it. My legs were tired by the end but honestly? I didn’t really want it to finish yet.