New Orleans: A Cultural Melange in the Crescent City

Join us for beignets in the Big Easy on this spellbinding Sojourn to the city of New Orleans. Founded in 1718 as a French outpost on the Mississippi River, New Orleans has served as an important economic and cultural hub for 300 years under successive waves of European and American rule. The traditions, superstitions, and material cultures of French, Spanish, Creole, and African residents weave together into a jubilant tapestry of life on the water, lived out loud. Friends and experts guide us on tours through the enchanting architecture of the French Quarter, the alluring beauty of the Garden District, and distinguished museum collections. Experience the extraordinary sights and sounds of the Crescent City as never before in an unforgettable exploration of the region’s diverse culture.

Tuesday, November 10

We convene at the Roosevelt New Orleans, a Waldorf Astoria hotel at the edge of the historic French Quarter. Originally opened in 1893, this storied Beaux-Arts masterpiece is a grand dame of the city. Our sojourn commences with a fulsome visit to the Historic New Orleans Collection, a renowned institution dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf South. Members of the curatorial team, including Lydia Blackmore, Curator of Decorative Arts, and Sarah Duggan, Decorative Arts of the Gulf South Project Manager, provide an introduction to the region through a lecture, exhibition tours, and special viewings of collection objects. The evening concludes with an elegant dinner at restaurant Galatoire’s.

Overnight: New Orleans
Included: R, D

Wednesday, November 11

Our first full day in New Orleans is devoted to the French Quarter. Cybèle Gontar, Director of Degas Gallery, and Russell Blanchard, Tour and Travel Program Manager for the Preservation Resource Center, accompany us throughout the day and offer commentary on the history, urban layout, and architecture of the city’s historic core. The morning commences with an exclusive private access tour of St. Louis Cathedral. Founded in 1718 and rebuilt twice, most recently in the 1850s, it is the oldest continuously active Catholic cathedral in America and an iconic focal point of the city. Our next stop, the beautifully restored 1831 Hermann-Grima House was the urban residence of the Hermann and Grima families as well as the enslaved people who served them. Curator Katie Burlison provides insight into the French Quarter’s best-preserved Federal house, where meticulously researched interiors are complemented by portraits and important objects connected to the prosperous families that owned the dwelling, which includes an impressive courtyard garden with kitchen and stables. Following lunch at Napoleon House, we visit the Old Ursuline Convent Museum. Dating to 1752, it is the oldest building in the region. Home to the Ursuline nuns, as well as an orphanage and school for girls, until 1824, it later served as the residence of the Archbishop of New Orleans. At the Historic Beauregard-Keyes House and Gardens, an 1826 raised-level villa combining Creole and American Federal architectural elements, we tour the period interiors and a formal parterre garden, learning about the property’s long ownership history and the enslaved people who worked there. At nearby Gallier House, built in 1860 by the New Orleans architect James Gallier, Jr., Curator Katie Burlison rejoins us to provide insight into the house’s distinctive decorative elements – including an intricate cast-iron gallery -period furnishings, engineering innovations, and the lives of its residents and enslaved staff. Toward the eastern end of Bourbon Street, an antiques dealer welcomes the group to his classic New Orleans double shotgun cottage. The home’s traditional design belies the 1887 construction date. An early-19th-century kitchen wing is preserved in the rear, separated by a brick-paved work yard. Both structures are furnished with an extensive collection, including heirlooms representing the owner’s deep roots in Louisiana. In the evening, please join us for a concert at New Orleans’s legendary venue Preservation Hall, founded in 1961 to preserve the city’s distinctive style of jazz.

Overnight: New Orleans
Included: B, L

Thursday, November 12

The day begins with a visit to the New Orleans Museum of Art, where we are welcomed before public visiting hours for a private exploration of the museum’s distinguished collections. Mel Buchanan, Trust Governor and RosaMary Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, introduces us to her showcase exhibition, Sèvres Magnifique: French Porcelain from the Collection of Thomas B. Lemann, which celebrates the artistry, craftsmanship, and historical significance of the renowned French porcelain manufactory. Lisa Rotondo-McCord, Deputy Director, offers a close look at the museum’s extraordinary collection of Japanese paintings, while Orlando Hernández Ying, Curator of Arts of the Americas, guides us through the galleries devoted to the artistic traditions of the Americas. Our next stop is the Pitot House, an outstanding example of Creole architecture built in 1799 in one of the earliest settled areas of New Orleans by a merchant during the city’s Spanish Colonial period. After lunch at Ralph’s on the Park, our afternoon resumes at stately Longue Vue House and Gardens, designed by architects William and Geoffrey Platt and landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, and completed in 1942. Our visit, led by Lenora Costa, Deputy Director of Collections, offers insight into the house’s thoughtfully integrated interiors, façades, and extensive gardens, as well as collections of English and American furniture, European and Chinese ceramics, and modern and contemporary art. The day concludes with a drive across Lake Pontchartrain for a private collection viewing and reception.

Overnight: New Orleans
Included: B, L, R

Friday, November 13

We start the day with a visit to the Newcomb Museum of Art at Tulane University, where Thomas Friel, Curator of Interpretation, presents highlights from the museum’s decorative arts collections, including magnificent stained glass windows. A highlight of our visit is the exhibition The Moss Mystique: Southern Women and Newcomb Pottery, which examines how the manufactory’s female ceramic artists drew inspiration from Southern plants and scenery to produce its cool-toned, dreamlike palettes and vegetal motifs. This is followed by a visit to Degas Gallery, where Cybèle Gontar, Director, offers insight into an exhibition of works by the French Neoclassical portraitist Jacques Amans, who painted in New Orleans in the mid-19th century. Following lunch at Commander’s Palace, we embark on a walking tour of the elegant Garden District, led by Russell Blanchard of the Preservation Resource Center. Built during the second half of the 19th century, the Garden District is characterized by tree-lined streets and stately houses in diverse architectural styles. Our tour includes visits to private homes, where we will view furniture pieces by Kohlmaier & Kohlmaier, one of New Orleans’s most distinguished cabinetmaking workshops since the 1930s. Concluding our time in New Orleans in grand style, we are welcomed by Trust members to their elegant Garden District home for supper and a private look at their collection. The evening offers a fitting finale to our exploration of New Orleans’s distinctive traditions of architecture, collecting, and hospitality.

Saturday, November 14

Guests depart for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport or continue for the Optional Extension.

Included: B

Saturday, November 14

We depart for an excursion to New Orleans Plantation Country. Joining us is Richard Campanella, Senior Professor of Practice in Architecture and Geography at Tulane University, who provides commentary on the geography, history, and urban layout of New Orleans and the surrounding region as we follow the Mississippi River out of the city. Our first stop is the Laura Plantation, characterized by brightly hued, raised Creole structures. Our guide illuminates the lives of the Duparc-Locoul family and the enslaved people who lived and worked on the estate. Following lunch, we tour nearby Oak Alley, famed for its quarter-mile canopy of mighty oak trees. The plantation’s Greek Revival-style Big House, built in 1839, is distinguished by a colonnade of 28 colossal Doric columns. Our visit examines the plantation’s architecture and interiors, collections of decorative arts and archaeological artifacts, grounds, and the lives of the owners and enslaved people who resided there. Our day concludes with a visit to Whitney Plantation, a 200-acre indigo, and later sugar, plantation that operated from 1752 to 1975. The Big House on the estate, built in ca. 1790 and subsequently expanded, is one of the finest surviving examples of Spanish and French Creole architecture in Louisiana, and our guide provides deep insight into the history and lived experience of the enslaved people who worked on the plantation. At the conclusion of the tour, we return to New Orleans for dinner at Compère Lapin, marking the close of our adventure in the Crescent City.

Overnight: New Orleans
Included: B, L, D

Sunday, November 15

Guests depart for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport or continue travels at their leisure.

Included: B

Registration fee: $4,450 per person based on double occupancy for 4 nights. For the Optional Extension, $850 per person, based on double occupancy for 1 night.

Included in the trip cost: Accommodations in a 5-star hotel. Private airport transfers. All breakfasts (B), lunches (L), receptions (R), and dinners (D) referenced above. Private coach transportation; local guides; admission in museums and historic houses; gratuities for professional guides and coach drivers. 

Not included in the trip cost: Airfare, alcoholic beverages other than when provided, personal expenses, and trip insurance. Please do not make your airline reservations until you have received written confirmation of your registration from the Trust.

Single supplement: The single supplement is $750 for the Main Tour and $190 for the Optional Extension.

Membership: All participants must be members of the Decorative Arts Trust. Click here to see membership levels and benefits.

Itinerary: The schedule, sites, and events outlined in this itinerary are subject to change as necessary.

Participation: The program is limited to a maximum of 25 participants and requires a minimum of 20. We will organize and maintain a waiting list on the basis of the time requests are received.

Activity Level: The Trust’s itineraries are planned with care and attention to detail to ensure a memorable and rewarding experience for all participants. This itinerary includes standing for long periods of time, walking on uneven surfaces, and ascending and descending stairs without handrails. Please consider if this program is suited for your health, physical condition, and individual circumstances, understanding that this is a group event and the inclusion of participants who are not mobile enough to cope with these conditions can greatly diminish the experience for other guests.

Cancellations and refunds: All cancellations received by August 5, 2026, are subject to a full refund less a $250 administrative fee per person. Participants canceling between August 5 and October 9, 2026, will receive a 50% refund. Refunds will not be made after October 9, 2026. THE TRUST STRONGLY ENCOURAGES ALL PARTICIPANTS TO PURCHASE TRAVEL INSURANCE TO PROTECT AGAINST CANCELLATIONS DUE TO ILLNESS, INJURY, AND OTHER DISRUPTIONS.