St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Tickets, Access Rules And How To Book
There is no walk-up ticket window at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and there has not been one since March 2015. Every visitor enters with a licensed operator, and the choice between the three bookable tours comes down to duration, price and where you meet.
Short answer
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 has been licensed-guide-only since March 2015, so there is no walk-in ticket to buy. Access comes through a guided tour: from $25 for 45 to 55 minutes with the official operator, or from $28 for a 2-hour visit. Tours run daily in daytime, departing from Basin Street.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 sits just outside the French Quarter boundary, behind a wall on Basin Street, and it is the single most-visited historic cemetery in New Orleans. It is also the one you cannot simply walk into. Since March 2015 the Archdiocese of New Orleans has required every ordinary visitor to enter with a licensed, contracted tour operator, a policy adopted after years of vandalism and tomb damage. The gate is staffed, the rule is enforced, and there is no ticket booth on the street selling entry to individuals.
That makes the practical question for a visitor a booking question, not an arrival question. There are three distinct bookable tours that get you inside, run by different operators, at different lengths and different prices, and picking between them is genuinely confusing because their names sound nearly identical. This page lays out the access policy as the Archdiocese states it, separates the three listings, and explains what you actually see once you are through the gate. For the wider picture of the city's graveyards, including the ones you can enter freely, start with the companion piece on New Orleans cemetery tours.
Why Can't You Walk Into St. Louis Cemetery No. 1?
The cemetery has been closed to unguided walk-ins since March 2015 under an Archdiocese of New Orleans policy, adopted because of repeated vandalism and preservation concerns. Every ordinary visitor must enter with an authorized licensed operator, and the Archdiocese contracts Cemetery Tours New Orleans as its official tour operator. There is no general admission ticket and no self-guided option.
The Archdiocese, which owns the cemetery through New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries, explains the policy plainly in its own frequently asked questions: tourism access is offered only through authorized guided tours, and the revenue from those tours funds restoration of the tombs. Before 2015 the cemetery was open to anyone during daytime hours, and the tombs paid the price. Marked and unmarked vandalism accumulated over years, and the restricted-access model was the response.
Two exceptions exist, and both are narrow. Family members with loved ones interred in the cemetery can request a Family Pass through the Archdiocese, and Louisiana residents may enter on certain holy days with identification. Neither route applies to a tourist planning a visit. If a grave is yours, the contact number for the cemetery office is 504-596-3050; if it is not, a guided tour is the only door in.
The practical consequence is worth stating bluntly, because a surprising amount of outdated travel content still implies otherwise. There is no gate price, no same-day walk-up ticket, no annual pass and no way to pay a guard. Anyone selling "skip-the-line entry" is selling you a guided tour with marketing language on it. The honest framing, and the one this site holds to, is that the tour is the ticket.
How Do You Actually Get St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Tickets?
You book a guided tour, and on this roster there are exactly three listings that enter the cemetery: the official 55-minute walking tour from $25, a 2-hour guided visit from $28, and a 45-minute walking tour from $25. All three run in daytime, all three include the licensed access required by the Archdiocese, and all three can be booked online with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
The three listings are easy to confuse because two of them carry nearly the same marketing title. They are separate products from different operators, with different durations, different meeting points and different review histories. Here is the honest breakdown of each.
The "Cemetery No. 1, 55 Minutes" official walking tour, run by Cemetery Tours New Orleans and meeting at Basin St. Station, is the listing the Archdiocese's exclusive arrangement covers. It is the most-reviewed product on this entire site's roster, 4.5 from 4,684 reviews, from $25 per person, and it departs every 15 to 30 minutes during daytime hours from Basin St. Station at 501 Basin Street. That frequency is its quiet superpower: if you decide at breakfast that you want to see the cemetery before lunch, there is very likely a departure within the half hour.
The "Cemetery No. 1, 2 Hours" guided tour by Haunted History Tours is the long-form option, from $28, rated 4.6 from 642 reviews. Licensed access, not the Archdiocese's exclusive tour. It meets at Morning Call Coffee Shop at 5101 Canal Boulevard, which is a short drive or a long walk from the French Quarter, and it runs rain or shine. The extra hour and change buys you more storytelling around the tombs rather than more cemetery, since the site itself is compact, and the framing leans into the haunted history the operator is known for.
The "Cemetery No. 1, 45 Minutes" walking tour, run by New Orleans Hop-On Hop-Off (separately licensed, not the Archdiocese's exclusive Cemetery Tours New Orleans), is the shortest listing, from $25, rated 4.6 from 1,865 reviews, meeting at 501 Basin Street by the Basin St. Station Visitor Center. It carries a "likely to sell out" flag on its listing, which is worth taking seriously in peak season even though departures are daytime-only.
All three listings include the licensed access that the policy requires. The distinction this site keeps making, and that the listings themselves support, is that only the official walking tour is the one covered by the Archdiocese's exclusive operator arrangement for licensed access. The other two are legitimate, well-reviewed products that also enter with authorized access, described differently on their own listings. None of the three is a scam and none is a shortcut; they are three shapes of the same door.
Which Of The Three Cemetery No. 1 Tours Should You Pick?
Pick the official 55-minute tour if you want the most-reviewed, most frequent option and the direct Archdiocese connection: 4.5 from 4,684 reviews, from $25, departing every 15 to 30 minutes. Pick the 2-hour visit if you want fuller storytelling from $28, or the 45-minute tour if you want the shortest licensed visit at the same $25 entry price.
The decision usually comes down to three things: how much time you have, where you are staying, and how much narrative you want. The cemetery itself is small, roughly a city block, so a longer tour does not mean more ground. It means more time at each tomb, more context, and more of the guide's own material.
| Listing | Operator | Duration | Price | Rating | Meeting point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cemetery No. 1, 55 Minutes | Basin St. Station / Cemetery Tours New Orleans | 55 minutes | From $25 | 4.5 from 4,684 reviews | Basin St. Station, 501 Basin St |
| Cemetery No. 1, 2 Hours | Haunted History Tours | 2 hours | From $28 | 4.6 from 642 reviews | Morning Call Coffee Shop, 5101 Canal Blvd |
| Cemetery No. 1, 45 Minutes | New Orleans Hop-On Hop-Off | 45 minutes | From $25 | 4.6 from 1,865 reviews | 501 Basin St (Visitor Center) |
Read the table as a shape, not a ranking. The official tour's review pool, 4,684 reviews, is the largest on this roster by a wide margin, and its departure frequency means it fits almost any itinerary. The 2-hour tour's 642-review pool is smaller but its 4.6 rating is a touch higher, and its rain-or-shine policy matters in a city where afternoon showers are routine. The 45-minute tour splits the difference: the same $25 floor as the official listing, a slightly higher rating, and a "likely to sell out" flag that argues for booking ahead rather than turning up.
If you are pairing the cemetery with a ghost walk later the same evening, the shorter tours leave your afternoon open. If the cemetery is your main event for the day and you want the stories to breathe, the 2-hour version earns its extra $3. And if you are staying in the French Quarter without a car, note that the official and 45-minute tours meet at Basin Street, walkable from the Quarter's lakeside edge, while the 2-hour tour meets on Canal Boulevard, which most visitors reach by rideshare or the Canal streetcar line.
One more honest note on the "exclusive access" language. The Archdiocese's arrangement covers the official operator, and the operator's own FAQ describes tours running daily from roughly 9 a.m. to late afternoon, about 45 minutes each, with reservations recommended. The other two listings are separate commercial products that also enter under licensed access. This site does not extend the "official" label beyond the listing that carries it, and a careful reader should not either.
What Do You Actually See Inside The Cemetery?
Inside the walls you see dense rows of above-ground tombs, including the traditionally cited resting place of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, the alleged tomb of Nicolas Cage's future plot marked with an ash pyramid, and the Wall Vault along the Basin Street side. The cemetery is compact, roughly one block, so a 45 to 55 minute visit covers it at a comfortable pace with time for stories.
The burial architecture is the reason photographers come. New Orleans sits below sea level, so bodies cannot go six feet under; the dead rest in oven vaults and family tombs stacked above ground, whitewashed and black-streaked by a century of rain. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest surviving cemetery in the city, as the tours tell it, and it packs well over a thousand tombs into its small footprint.
The most famous stop is the tomb traditionally associated with Marie Laveau, the celebrated Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. The verified facts support saying that her traditionally cited tomb lies within this cemetery and that the tours stop at it; they do not support asserting disputed burial details as settled fact, and the tours themselves frame her story as legend and history intertwined. As the guides tell it, her practice combined Voodoo with Catholic devotion, and her grave became a site of pilgrimage. For the fuller story on visiting her legacy around the city, see can you still visit the Voodoo Queen's New Orleans sites.
The white pyramid marked with "Liber Abaculo" that appears in many photos belongs to Nicolas Cage, who purchased a future plot here during his years of local property ownership. It is a real, verifiable oddity, and guides point it out on most visits. The Wall Vault along the rear, where the city's poorer dead were buried in stacked niches, is usually the emotional center of the tour, a reminder of who the cemetery was built for.
Tours do not enter individual tombs, and no visit includes interior access to any vault. What you buy is the walk, the guide's narrative, and the licensed presence inside the walls. Photography is generally permitted from the paths; the rules section below covers what is restricted.
How Much Do St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Tickets Cost?
Licensed tours into St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 run from $25 to $28 per adult on this roster: $25 for the official 55-minute tour, $25 for the 45-minute tour, and $28 for the 2-hour guided visit. There is no separate entrance fee on top of the tour price, and the Archdiocese charges no general admission, because there is no unguided entry to admit anyone to.
The price you pay is the tour price, full stop. The operator's fee covers the licensed access, the guide, and the contribution to restoration that the Archdiocese's model funds. Nothing is added at the gate, and there is no tipping obligation, though guides on walking tours in this city are customarily tipped when you enjoy the tour, typically a few dollars per person.
| Cost item | Typical figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Official 55-minute tour | From $25 | Most frequent departures, largest review pool |
| 45-minute walking tour | From $25 | Shortest licensed visit |
| 2-hour guided tour | From $28 | Longest narrative, rain or shine |
| Separate cemetery entrance fee | None | No unguided entry exists to charge for |
| St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, by contrast | Free | Open to the public, self-guided, no escort needed |
That last row deserves a sentence, because it is the honest alternative many visitors never hear about. St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, on Esplanade Avenue, remains open to the public with no guide requirement, free admission, and gates roughly 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. If your interest is the architecture rather than the specific Marie Laveau tomb, No. 3 is a free, unhurried option, and the Red Sash Tours walk there, "Cemetery No. 3, Private Option," 5.0 from 479 reviews, from $35, is the guided version. St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, by contrast, remains locked with no public or tour access during ongoing restoration. The city's Division of Cemeteries and the Archdiocese's own cemetery page are the authoritative sources for the current status of each.
For budget context across the whole haunted-activity scene, the cheapest tours on this site's roster run $18 to $22 for French Quarter ghost and vampire walks, and the full price landscape is laid out in the guide to what a New Orleans ghost tour costs. The cemetery listings sit in the middle of that range, which is fair value for the one attraction in the city that legally requires a guide to enter.
When Do Tours Run And How Should You Plan Your Visit?
Tours into St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 run daily in daytime hours only, with the official operator departing every 15 to 30 minutes from Basin St. Station and the other listings running scheduled daytime departures. There are no evening or night tours inside this cemetery; after-dark cemetery visits in New Orleans exist only as bus tours that stop elsewhere.
Daytime-only is an Archdiocese rule, not an operator preference, and it shapes your planning. The official tour's high departure frequency means you rarely need a rigid schedule: arrive at Basin St. Station, join the next group. The 45-minute and 2-hour listings run set departure times, so those need a booked slot, and the 45-minute listing's "likely to sell out" flag means booking a day or two ahead in busy periods is wise.
Season matters for comfort more than availability. New Orleans summers run hot and humid, with average highs around 90 to 92 degrees from June through August, and the cemetery's brick-and-plaster corridors hold heat. October through November brings the most comfortable walking weather of the year, highs in the low 80s down to low 70s, plus the Halloween-season atmosphere that pairs naturally with a cemetery visit. The full seasonal breakdown is in the guide to the best time for a New Orleans ghost tour.
A practical half-day plan for a French Quarter base: book the official 55-minute tour for mid-morning, walk or rideshare the short distance to Basin Street, and be done before the midday heat builds. The cemetery sits at the edge of Tremé and the Quarter, so it chains easily into a French Quarter afternoon, and it pairs naturally with an evening ghost walk; the meeting points for the major evening tours are a 15 minute walk away. Visitors who want the cemetery and the evening stories in one day will find the timing works without rushing.
Weather cancellations are rare on the rain-or-shine listings, but lightning and tropical systems do occasionally stop tours, and every listing on this roster offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, which covers the normal case of a changed dinner plan rather than a hurricane.
What Are The Rules Once You Are Inside?
The cemetery rules are strict and enforced: stay with your guide and group, keep to the paths, do not touch, mark or lean on the tombs, no food or alcohol inside, and no rubbing or tracing of tomb inscriptions. Photography from the paths is generally permitted, but entering any tomb or vault is never allowed, and the guide's instructions govern the visit throughout.
These rules are the direct descendant of the vandalism that closed the cemetery to walk-ins in the first place, and the Archdiocese frames them as preservation conditions of access rather than suggestions. The most famous former violation, the X-markings scratched onto the Marie Laveau tomb by visitors copying a folk ritual, is exactly the kind of damage the licensed-access model was built to stop. Guides now address it directly, and fresh marks are treated as vandalism.
A few specifics worth knowing before you go:
| Rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Stay with the licensed guide | The access is the group's, not yours individually; wandering off ends the visit |
| No tomb touching or marking | Includes leaning on vaults and the historic inscription rubbings some older guidebooks suggested |
| No food, drink or alcohol | Finish the go-cup before the gate; the French Quarter open-container allowance does not extend inside |
| Photography from paths | Permitted in general; no climbing, no drones, no entering vaults |
| Family Pass holders | Separate Archdiocese arrangement, 504-596-3050, not a tourist route |
The alcohol point trips people up in a city famous for go-cups. New Orleans permits open plastic containers on the streets of the defined French Quarter zone, bounded by Canal Street, Rampart Street, Esplanade Avenue and the river, but that zone ends at the street, and a cemetery is not a street. Finish the drink or leave it before the gate.
Dress for the conditions rather than the theme. The paths are paved but the sun is direct, and summer visits want a hat, water and sunscreen; the practical packing details are covered in what to wear on a New Orleans ghost tour. The 2-hour listing's rain-or-shine policy means an umbrella or poncho earns its place in a day bag for most of the year.
Respect extends to the residents of the surrounding blocks. The cemetery sits at the edge of Tremé, a living neighborhood, and the tour operators' own conduct guidance asks visitors to treat the streets around the gates as someone's home. The licensed-guide system exists partly because the city and the Archdiocese concluded that unmanaged tourism was harming both the dead and the living here.
Can You Visit Other New Orleans Cemeteries Without A Tour?
Yes, but only some of them. St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 is free and open to the public with no guide requirement, while St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 remains locked with no public or tour access, and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the Garden District remains closed to general walk-in visitation, with historical tours from the Preservation Resource Center scheduled to begin in early October 2026.
The three St. Louis cemeteries tell the whole access story in one family. No. 1 is licensed-guide-only since 2015. No. 2 is closed to everyone, including tours, during ongoing restoration; family members can call 504-596-3050 for limited entrance. No. 3 is the open one: free, self-guided, gates roughly 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays and holidays, with no tours permitted on All Saints Day or All Souls Day.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, the famous Garden District cemetery from film and novels, has been closed to general walk-in visitation since September 9, 2019, and it remains closed to the public, with only permitted workers and vetted family members able to enter. The change worth knowing about: the city selected the Preservation Resource Center as its sole contracted tour operator after a public bid, and historical guided tours, explicitly not ghost-framed, are scheduled to begin in early October 2026. No product on this site's roster visits Lafayette's interior, and any tour that promises you the interior of No. 1 or Lafayette is promising something that does not exist.
For visitors whose real interest is the Voodoo history around the cemeteries rather than the tombs themselves, the dedicated guide to New Orleans Voodoo tours covers the French Quarter side of that story, and the piece on the most haunted cemetery in New Orleans ranks the lore. This site, New Orleans Haunted Tours, keeps every cemetery claim anchored to what the operators and the Archdiocese actually state.
Common Questions About St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Tickets
Can I buy St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 tickets at the gate?
No. Since March 2015 the cemetery has been licensed-guide-only, with no walk-up ticket window and no general admission. Entry comes only through a booked guided tour, from $25 per adult on this roster, or through a Family Pass if you have a loved one interred there.
Which tour is the official St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 tour?
The "Cemetery No. 1, 55 Minutes" official walking tour, from $25, 4.5 from 4,684 reviews, is the listing covered by the Archdiocese's exclusive operator arrangement with Cemetery Tours New Orleans. It departs every 15 to 30 minutes in daytime from Basin St. Station at 501 Basin Street.
Can you see Marie Laveau's tomb on the tour?
Yes, tours stop at the tomb traditionally cited as the Voodoo Queen's resting place within the cemetery. The tours present her story as legend and history intertwined, and the tomb's burial details are treated as traditionally cited rather than fully settled fact.
Are there night tours inside St. Louis Cemetery No. 1?
No. Access is daytime-only under the Archdiocese's policy. After-dark cemetery experiences in New Orleans exist as bus tours, such as the night cemetery bus tour with EMF detectors, which visits other locations, not St. Louis No. 1's interior.
Is St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 also guide-only?
No. St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 on Esplanade Avenue is open to the public, free, and self-guided, with gates roughly 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Only St. Louis No. 1 requires a licensed guide, and St. Louis No. 2 is closed to everyone.
What happens if it rains on my tour day?
The 2-hour guided listing runs rain or shine, and the shorter listings operate in normal rain. Every tour on this roster offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, so genuinely severe weather can be planned around rather than lost.