Lucky Bean Tours New Orleans: French Quarter Ghosts and True Crime

Included and Not Included

One line sits in the verified included column: the 1.5 to 2 hour walking tour of the French Quarter focused on ghost stories and true crime history, led by a live English-speaking guide. Everything else that appears elsewhere on the listing page, such as any suggestion of entry, refreshments or transport, is not part of this price.

There is no entry inside any building on this walk. The LaLaurie Mansion, the most famous stop on any true crime route here, is a private residence that can only be seen from the street, so no tour of this kind could take you in anyway. No drinks, food, tips or hotel pickup are stated as included, and the listing states no mandatory extras.

What You Might Pay on the Day

Nothing is mandatory. The listing states no bar stop, museum visit or optional add-on with a fee. If you want a drink before or after, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop at 941 Bourbon Street is a bar in a 1770s building, though its link to the privateer Jean Lafitte is legend rather than documented fact.

Figures on this page come from the GetYourGuide listing and linked official sources.

Meeting Point on St Philip Street

You meet at 721 St Philip St in the heart of the French Quarter, the city's oldest neighborhood. The listing's opening history is heavy: a Native American gathering place, then a French colonial settlement of convicts and adventurers, and the arrival point of thousands of enslaved Africans. That last part is documented fact.

The first enslaved Africans reached Louisiana in 1719, and a mayor's ordinance of 1817 confined gatherings of enslaved people to Congo Square, where visitors recorded 500 to 600 people dancing and drumming on Sundays.

Madame Lalaurie, the Socialite Serial Killer

Any true crime walk here passes the LaLaurie Mansion at 1140 Royal Street. The documented core is grim enough. Delphine LaLaurie bought the property in 1831 and the mansion was finished in 1832.

A kitchen fire broke out in 1834 and rescuers found bound and mutilated enslaved people in the attic. The New Orleans Bee reported seven people, more or less horribly mutilated, suspended by the neck, and a 70-year-old cook chained to the stove admitted setting the fire. A mob then wrecked the house and LaLaurie fled, later dying in Paris.

She was never brought to justice. Records show 12 documented deaths of enslaved people in the household between 1830 and 1834, not the 100 of modern retellings, and the goriest details were added by writers in the 20th century. The house is private and viewed from the street only.

The Axeman Who Loved Jazz

The Axeman struck between 1918 and 1919 and was never identified. Most victims were Italian immigrants, many of them grocers, and the attacker usually chiseled out a back door panel and used the victim's own axe. A letter dated 13 March 1919 promised to spare any house where a jazz band was playing, and on the night of the letter the dance halls filled and no one was killed.

Sources count about a dozen attacks over 17 months, and the wrongful conviction in the Cortimiglia case shows how the panic warped justice. The case was never solved.

Bourbon Street and the Rest of the Roll Call

The listing also promises the Trunk Murderer, and the other Trunk Murderer, a singing ghost of a beloved priest, an accordion-playing German girl waiting by the river, a World War I hero shot by his wife on Bourbon Street, and a wine seller who got vengeance on the Mob. The listing gives no addresses or dates for these, so treat the details as guide's lore rather than verified history. Only the World War I story is placed on Bourbon Street.

The Quarter's ghost lore has documented roots: the Great Fire of 1788 destroyed 856 of about 1,100 structures, a second fire in 1794 destroyed 212 more, the 1853 yellow fever epidemic killed 8,647 people across Louisiana, and the city's cemeteries are above ground. The tourism board names exactly those as the reasons the ghost stories thrive.

The Finish

No return point or finish point is stated. Ask your guide at the start where the last stop lands if you have dinner booked.

The Age Problem

The listing contradicts itself. The highlights say ages 6 and over, while the full description says ages 12 and up, and the not-suitable list names children under 6. That leaves ages 6 to 11 genuinely unclear.

The honest move is to message the operator before booking and get the rule in writing. If you are travelling with younger children and want a walk that markets itself to families, the Dark Side of New Orleans family ghost tour costs $29, runs 1.5 hours and starts and ends at St. Louis Cathedral.

No Entry, No Scares, No Frills

You stay outside all evening. If you want to go inside a haunted building, the ghost tour with an interior visit costs $37 and includes one private haunted location. The listing sells storytelling that it calls a favorite among believers and skeptics alike.

If you want a harder-edged crime walk with no children at all, the adults-only true crime and ghost tour costs $38, runs 1 hour 45 minutes and admits 17 and over.

Practical Limits

The walk is wheelchair accessible and covers about 1 mile, with no fitness level stated. English is the only language, so non-English speakers are out. Smoking and pets are not allowed, assistance dogs excepted, and unaccompanied minors are not allowed.

There is no hotel pickup, so you make your own way to St Philip Street.

What Costs Nothing

The LaLaurie Mansion at 1140 Royal Street is best seen from the corner of Royal and Governor Nicholls Streets, and it costs nothing to stand there and read about the 1834 fire on your phone. Bourbon Street, St Philip Street and the rest of the Quarter are public. You lose the stories, and on a crime walk the stories are the product.

Guides must be licensed by the city. The documented LaLaurie case and the invented attic horrors are easy to mix up on your own, and the LaLaurie Mansion guide covers that split in detail if you would rather walk it yourself.

What You Cannot Do Alone

One thing a self-guided walk cannot deliver is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, which since 2015 has been restricted to approved tour groups. The official St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 walking tour costs $25 for 55 minutes and gets you a Cemetery Tour Access Pass at check-in. This Lucky Bean walk does not enter any cemetery, so if graves are your priority, book that instead.

The haunted places in New Orleans page lists the streets you can cover free, and the New Orleans cemetery tours page compares who gets you inside the gates.

When Walking Alone Is Enough

If you already know the LaLaurie and Axeman stories, a self-guided evening past the exteriors costs nothing. If you want a storyteller and context, the $30 buys a 1.5 to 2 hour walk with a live guide.