2009: April 4 - April 10, April 11 - April 17
Join us as we start this tour in New Orleans to do our part to revitalize this fascinating city. We’ll overnight in regal plantation homes, cross the river via ferry, take a swamp boat tour and feast on Cajun cooking. The biking is all flat, so you can get a jump on the spring cycling season before the sultry summer starts.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: We meet in the heart and soul of Louisiana - in the Big Easy at our hotel in the beautiful Garden District. Meet at 2:30 pm for a rental bike fitting, 5:30 pm for our orientation and 6:30 pm for dinner. Or come early to explore historic Bourbon Street on your own. Take the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar for the 10-minute trip to the French Quarter. Then stop for a cup of coffee and a beignet, listening to live jazz at the Cafe du Monde. 0 miles.
Day 2: Our first ride leaves the city on a bike path on the banks of the Mississippi River. We’ll bike on top of the levee that protects the land today from the annual flooding that used to occur years ago. We’ll begin to understand the importance of the series of locks, dams and levees that have transformed the "working river" into what it is today. We’ll be able to watch the massive oceangoing ships as they glide by us. At the end of our ride, we’ll shuttle to our adorable accommodations at the Cajun Village Cottages – a series of lovingly restored shotgun houses. We’ll have the place to ourselves and feel as if we’re miles away from anywhere else. 25 or 44 miles.
Day 3: After a hearty southern breakfast, we’ll bicycle around the quiet, rural landscape of Louisiana. After lunch, we’ll have a workshop on how to be a better cyclist. We’ll learn about better bike handling, proper shifting, effective pedaling and nutrition. Our guides will even go over how to change a flat tire for anyone interested. Then we’ll shuttle to an air boat tour of nearby wetlands. We will see abundant wildflowers and wildlife, including water foul such as egrets and ibis and not just a few alligators. Then it’s back to our cottages for a home-cooked dinner. 21 miles.
Day 4: It’s back to the river this morning as we ride along the levee continuing north. We’ll quickly come upon our first plantation home, Houmas House Plantation, known as the "Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road". Then we’ll make a ferry crossing and have a picnic lunch at Plaque mine Lock State Historic Site. You can tour the museum and learn more about the lock and bayou system that allowed shipping access to the interior of Louisiana years ago.We’ll finish our ride past fields of sugar cane and sorghum to Nottoway Plantation, our home for the next two nights. Completed in 1859, it is the largest plantation home in the south and has been beautifully restored to its antebellum days. 34 or 49 miles.
Day 5: After breakfast, we’ll leave the Mississippi to explore more of Cajun country and the bayous. We’ll bike along Belle River and the inter coastal waterway. After a visit to Brownell Memorial Park and a short walk through a serene cypress swamp, full of moss-laden trees and wildflowers, we’ll have lunch at a locals’ place overlooking Lake Parlourde. If you’ve never tried fresh boiled craw fish, then this is your chance. We’ll shuttle back to Nottoway (or bike back if you want to double the miles,) and you can take a tour of our beautiful mansion before dinner. 40 miles.
Day 6: We leave our plantation and continue our trek along the River Road, stopping in Donaldsonville for lunch on your own. Take a minute to explore this historic town, home of the River Road African American Museum and the primitive artist and living legend, Alvin Batiste. Then we’ll head to another National Historic Landmark – Oak Alley Plantation. The view of the front of the mansion between the two lanes of 300-year-old sweeping oaks is magnificent. The opulence of the home has been authentically restored to its original grandeur and is our home for the night. 19 or 42 miles.
Day 7: We ride by a couple more plantation homes today, including the St. Joseph Plantation and the Laura Creole Plantation before concluding our tour with a picnic lunch by a church from 1770. Then we’ll say our good-byes to the antebellum south and shuttle back to the New Orleans airport by 1:30pm or to your vehicle at our starting hotel by 2:00pm. 15 miles.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- 6 nights lodging
- 6 breakfasts
- 5 picnic lunches, 5 dinners, snacks
- Bayou swamp tour
- Effective bicycling workshop
- Cue sheets
- Van support and trained guides
Price Excludes:
- Single Upgrade: $600
- Rental Bike: $175
Also see tour packages in:
USA
Louisiana
Outdoor: Land Rambler
Bicycle Touring
Women Tours
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