Post Katrina Tours

I would really like to do an authentic post Katrina tour to view the progress since the devastation. Has anyone done one of these tours lately? Any suggestions from locals would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

AFAIK, Grayline started them: http://www.graylineneworleans.com/katrina.shtml

Some areas show tremendous progress, others, not so much.

Would anyone recommend doing this tour on their own? Renting a car and traveling through the area? Grayline looks good, priced within reason, however, you cannot get out of the bus and look closely. Is this because it is not safe?

People I know who have taken the Grayline your have been very impressed with it. You would see a lot if you did a self-guided tour, but would not learn how the levee system was designed to work and why it failed. My neighborhood, Lakeview, is part of the tour. Driving though it, you would not realize that you are ten feet below sea level. The only abvious signes of the flooding are all of the empty lots where homes once stood.

Other areas, like the lower 9th ward and Gentilly are recovering much more slowly. There are entire blocks which are still empty.

Safety isn't a big issue. There is just an awful lot of territory to cover, and it wouldn't be practical to let people get off the bus and wander around.

It's good to hear that people are still interested in seeing what happened to New Orleans. Most tourists come through the city and never see the neighborhoods devasted by the floods, but they are all around you.

Thanks for the replies. I think we will go with Grayline. I am really interested in the history of the beautiful city of New Orleans. Any suggestions concerning tours will be greatly appreciated.

I just got the 2011 NO Visitors Guide in the mail (I just filled out the request on the CVB website and the book arrived in the mail about a week later) which has a $10 off coupon for this tour:

http://www.celebrationtoursllc.com/citytour.html

That suggestion looks great! Has anyone here taken this tour? It looks to be about 20 dollars cheaper than Grayline, but is it a good tour? Any help will be appreciated. So excited about our vacation to New Orleans!!!

In the fall of last year we took a post-Katrina tour with Tours By Isabelle. The tour was expensive but we felt the cost was well worth the tour we received. Four of us traveled by van with the driver acting as the guide. A complete lengthy description of the tour in on the web site; http://www.toursbyisabelle.com. The tour given was as described with some extra things that our group was interested in seeing (katrina related).

It was one of the best guided tours that I have been on; they picked us up and dropped us off at our timeshare.

I doubt the organized tours take you anywhere unsafe. After Katrina, some locals weren't thrilled with tourists running around taking pictures of their misery, but most understood and wanted the rest of the world to know of the devastation. I don't think many locals take tours - they usually just get in their cars and drive to what they want to see.

The President or maybe it was VP of Grayline who thought up the tour, had a house in Lakeview.

Sometimes people will also just rent a taxi for a couple of hours or so, but usually the taxi drivers aren't tour guides.

There is sort of a Katrina tour here:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/katrina/index.htm

Thank you all for the tour information. Sargent, I am so sorry your family endured such a devastation. Hope all is well now. With three great suggestions, I am unsure which one to pick. However, I do thank you all and any others who can post pros/cons of each tour. While I am waiting for your answers/suggestions, can anyone suggest the very best local place to eat? Of course, we want every meal to be authentic, not something we eat in NC. Thank in advance. This board rocks!

Thank you. Never saw anything like that before, never want to see it again. Family is fine and we have moved on. In strange ways, it was also actually a blessing. Others haven't been as fortunate. It will still be years, so by all means hope you do get to do a Katrina tour.

There was a restaurant link on that page that I still have some work to do on:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/nola/food/LousianaFood.htm

but also you might want to see here:

http://www.nomenu.com/

http://www.nomenu.com/joomla1/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=7&Itemid=55

These are (mostly) in the French Quarter, and I think pictures in the Louisiana food link.

My favorite restaurant in the city is Galatoire's. Not cheap, dress code. Also ate at Commander's Palace (not in FQ) recently. Still excellent. Also Antoine's.

For informal, I like Acme Oyster, Remoulade, and Deanies. Johnny's Poboy, Central Grocery,.... Mandina's (not in FQ)

There are just too many great restaurants to pick one. If I branch out beyond the French Quarter it is beyond impossible. It is a good problem to have. :D

Would anyone recommend doing this tour on their own? Renting a car and traveling through the area? Grayline looks good, priced within reason, however, you cannot get out of the bus and look closely. Is this because it is not safe?

I've driven it many times, showing people around. IF you did a little research on the areas, it wouldn't be difficult to do.

I took the Grayline tour the day before I left on the NCL Spirit on it's first cruise when they resumed after Katrina.

Now I am a person that absolutely hates organized tours of this kind.

I thought it was a great tour at that time everything was very deserted still and kind of creepy.

Our tour guide was an older woman who claimed to have slept out on the ground near the river near where the tour leaves from.

She was a good tour guide who seemed really passionate about her job and assured us the people wanted the tours to show the word what had happened.

I would take the tour instead of trying to do a cab or rental car.

We were there last month. Nephew and his dad works on building the levees. We stopped off at the construction site. Didn't feel scared there but was told that some areas are just plain dangerous now. I wouldn't drive around if you didn't know about the areas.

We are interested in seeing and hearing about Katrina-does anyoneknow if the tours show you anything now? Anyone recommend a particular Katrina tour? Thank you.

I don't know that taking a Katrina would be worth it now. Most of the neighborhood flooded by Katrina (I live in one) have been re-built, or at least most of the debris has been removed.

The Lower Ninth Ward, which took the worst of the flooding, is coming back, but much more slowly that other areas. There has been an effort to keep the tour buses out because they damage the streets, and to respect the privacy of those who have returned.

I don't know that taking a Katrina would be worth it now. Most of the neighborhood flooded by Katrina (I live in one) have been re-built, or at least most of the debris has been removed.

 

The Lower Ninth Ward, which took the worst of the flooding, is coming back, but much more slowly that other areas. There has been an effort to keep the tour buses out because they damage the streets, and to respect the privacy of those who have returned.

Makes total sense plus respect for privacy is very important. Thank you.

I wouldn't do it now, there's not a whole lot of visible damage still left. There might be foundations with no houses but they're harder to see and not obvious at all.

I have driven my wife through Lakeview about once a year since 2007 and the rebuilding that has occurred there is amazing.

Thanks for all this info. We were thinking of doing a Hurricane Katrina tour in December when we are in town