Oak Alley Plantation

Situated on the southern banks of the Mississippi, in between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Oak Alley Plantation provides a glimpse at life on a sugar plantation in Louisiana, and staying overnight allows you to be here before and after the day visitors arrive. This is an opportunity to book into a classic Creole country cottage that comes complete with comfy parlour room and screened front porch. You also get the treat of modern amenities, too, with walk-in showers and Jacuzzi tubs sitting on wooden floors. Step outside and you’ll find yourself surrounded by wide open spaces and well plotted formal and ornamental gardens. There’s also the iconic avenue of oaks leading up to the Big House that must have made for an incredibly imposing entrance in the antebellum era. Oak Alley’s restaurant invites you to tuck into Creole and Cajun cuisine for breakfast and lunch, whereas the café conjures up ice creams, coffees and signature mint julep cocktails. There are also numerous recommended restaurants for evening meals, close by. Optional tours of the Oak Alley Plantation grounds, the Big House and the Slavery Museum, give you plenty of food for thought throughout the day – it’s worth remembering that not all of its former inhabitants were allowed to enjoy the refined lifestyle of today’s visitors.