Things To Do: Cemeteries in New Orleans

Whether you take a guided tour or explore on your own, our cemeteries are waiting

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Burying the dead in a place built below sea level was a problem that faced the earliest residents of the French settlement that became New Orleans. The solution agreed upon, to entomb the departed in elaborate marble chambers above ground, created one of the city’s most lingering attractions: cemeteries that are both historic and hauntingly beautiful. Wander the purported resting places of voodoo queen Marie Laveau, musician Al Hirt and Civil War general P.G.T. Beauregard, all residents of what is known in New Orleans as the Cities of the Dead. Many offer guided tours, others you can explore on your own.