Travel To Haunted New Orleans

Not much, it seems, separates the living from the dead in New Orleans. Because the town is below sea level, tombs sit above ground in the 42 cemeteries within city limits. Ghosts from the War of 1812 still hang around the French Quarter. And visitors to the grave of a prominent 1800s voodoo queen continue to leave offerings and ask for help.

At Ghost City Tours they get a lot of questions about the cities haunted ghost tours run in. New Orleans is no exception. There is a lot of interest in New Orleans and its haunted locations and ghost stories, especially the ghosts and hauntings of the French Quarter.  While there is a common paranormal belief that after a certain period of time, ghosts simply cross over into the Great Beyond, there is something about the French Quarter, about New Orleans in general, that seems to contain the spectral activity and contain them.

The LaLauire Mansion

When we started thinking about what we would consider the most haunted places in New Orleans to be, there was one house that simply could not be left off of the list. Perhaps the most well known haunted location in the French Quarter of New Orleans is the LaLaurie Mansion, which has quite the tragic history. Today, it is a popular stop for almost every ghost tour company in New Orleans. (This is no exaggeration–at any point in the evening, you’re bound to find groups lining the sidewalks with their cameras pointed at the mansion).  On our Ghosts of New Orleans Tour, it is almost always one of the favorite stops for our guests. And for good reason, because the story behind the ghosts and hauntings of the LaLaurie Mansion seems to strike a nerve with everyone who hears it.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop

Sitting on Bourbon Street, away from most of the hustle and bustle of this infamous party street, is Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. With its dark interior and the fact it is one of the oldest buildings in the French Quarter, it is no wonder that Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop has so many ghost stories associated with it.

It has long been suspected that one of the ghosts that haunts Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop is Jean Lafitte himself. Lafitte was a famous pirate and privateer in New Orleans, and even in Galveston, Texas. While he is most well known for his role in helping to save the city of New Orleans during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Lafitte’s reputation within the city was much like that of Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Women swooned over him; men hated him or adored him, depending on whom one asked.  But the truth of the matter is: there is no historical information to support the claim that Lafitte used this now haunted bar as his base, although many people suspect that Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop was in fact Lafitte’s “underground” smuggling operation.

The Hotel Villa Convento

Toward the downriver side of New Orleans’ French Quarter sits one of our more personal Hotels, the Hotel Villa Convento. For many years, even before the building became the Hotel, there have been many ghost stories and reported hauntings coming from what is now the Hotel Villa Convento. We included it in our list of the most haunted places in New Orleans because of the volume of ghost stories that have come out of the Hotel Villa Convento and the personal experiences of a friend of Ghost City Tours, Author James Caskey.

The Hotel Villa Convento has an interesting history. It was built in the early 1800s and has been used as a Hotel, a personal residence, apartments, and reported was one of New Orleans’ brothels. It is rumored to be the house mentioned in the song, ‘House of the Rising Sun’.

The most well-known ghost at the Hotel Villa Convento is thought to be the ghost of the former Madame of the brothel. Many guests have reported seeing her in their rooms, checking in on them to make sure that everything is going as it should. You can even read their reviews on TripAdvisor to read the accounts of guests who have stayed at the Hotel Villa Convento and had a ghostly experience of their own–although, if we’re being honest, it’s generally the men staying at the hotel who have paranormal experiences.

Call Rawhide Travel and Tours and start planning that special vacation or event today. 602-843-5100 or visit our website rawhidetravel.com

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