The Badly Behaved Women Who Made New Orleans Tour

New Orleans has plenty of stories about saints, soldiers, and jazzmen. This tour turns the spotlight on the women who worked, resisted, profited from, or were controlled by the city’s vice trade. You’ll hear about the French Market, Storyville, Marie Laveau, and the women sent to the colony as correction girls. I like the unusual subject and the way the walk connects personal stories to streets and buildings you can still see.

I also like the relaxed two-hour pace, the small maximum of 15 people, and the chance to pause at places such as Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. Guides Josh and Tracy bring in architecture and wider New Orleans history, not just scandal. The main drawback is that the subject matter can be blunt and adult, and drinks at the suggested cocktail stops cost extra.

Key points to know before you book

• A women-centered look at New Orleans vice: The tour examines brothels, red light districts, trafficking, policing, and the women who shaped the city’s reputation.
• A walk through the French Quarter and Storyville’s former site: You begin near Chartres Street and Ursulines Avenue and finish at Louis Armstrong Park.
• Marie Laveau gets a more complicated role: You learn about her birthplace and the source of her income, rather than treating her only as a Voodoo figure.
• The tour includes cooling breaks: Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar may serve as a pause in the heat, though drinks are not included.
• Small groups keep the walk personal: The maximum group size is 15, useful on narrow French Quarter streets.
• The price is reasonable for a focused history walk: At $35, you pay for two hours of guiding, interpretation, and access to a specialized subject rather than a long list of attractions.

Why this New Orleans tour is different

The Badly Behaved Women Who Made New Orleans Tour is not a general French Quarter introduction. It uses vice, prostitution, trafficking, and women’s work as a way to explain how New Orleans developed.

That focus gives the walk a clear point of view. Instead of simply admiring balconies and old façades, you ask who lived behind them, who controlled the money, and how city leaders, churches, police, and business owners dealt with sex work.

The title has a playful edge, but the material is not all light entertainment. Some of the stories involve coercion and exploitation. The opening discussion of the Ursuline convent, for example, concerns women sent to the colony as correction girls and claims of harsh public punishment. That makes an important point: labeling women as badly behaved can hide the role of powerful institutions in creating or controlling the situation.

You’ll want an open mind and a tolerance for adult subjects. If you are looking only for architecture, food, or music, another French Quarter walk may suit you better. If you want a less polished account of the city, this tour offers a useful change of angle.

Starting near Ursulines Avenue and the French Market

The walk begins at Chartres Street and Ursulines Avenue at 2:00 pm. This is a practical starting point because you are already in the French Quarter, close to some of the oldest streets and buildings in New Orleans.

The nearby French Market is part of the tour’s setting. It was once considered the city’s most dangerous area, and that reputation helps explain why vice grew around commercial streets, lodging houses, bars, and waterfront trade. The tour uses this part of town to show that red light districts were not isolated places. They were tied to ordinary business, tourism, labor, and city life.

The opening subject is the Ursuline convent, whose construction began in 1727. It is described as the oldest building in the French Quarter. Here, the story turns sharply from colonial architecture to the role of the church and King Louis XV in sending women to the colony.

The account presented on the tour says these correction girls were sent to New Orleans through coercive systems and kept in line by the nuns, including nude public lashings. The language is difficult, and it is meant to challenge the easy idea that the women alone were responsible for vice.

This is one of the more serious sections of the walk. You are not simply hearing a colorful tale about old New Orleans. You are being asked to consider how women were moved, punished, judged, and used by institutions with far more power than they had.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar and a useful pause

The group often stops at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, described as the oldest building in North America still housing a bar. The stop lasts about 10 minutes and admission is free.

The building’s history is connected to smuggling, with the bar said to have served as a front. That fits the tour’s wider theme: respectable-looking places could have less respectable business behind them.

This is not listed as one of the historic cocktail stops, but it can provide a welcome break in New Orleans heat. The pause matters because this is a walking tour, not a seated talk. You get time to cool down and reset before the next story.

Drinks are not included. You can buy an alcoholic beverage if you wish, but you should treat that as an optional extra, not part of the $35 ticket. The operator also suggests historic cocktails at the start and during one break, so the experience can include a drink-focused element without requiring one.

If you do not drink, the stop still has value as a rest point and a chance to take in the building. If you do want a cocktail, budget separately and remember that the tour continues afterward.

Marie Laveau beyond the usual legend

A short stop of about seven minutes concerns Marie Laveau. The tour does not focus on the Marie Laveau House of Voodoo shop. Instead, it goes to the real birthplace of Marie Laveau and uses that setting to question how she fits into a tour about women, vice, and money.

The guide’s point is that Laveau was a Voodoo leader, but that is only one part of her public identity. You’ll also learn where she made most of her real money. That shift is useful because Laveau is often reduced to a supernatural legend or a souvenir-shop image.

The stop is brief, so do not expect a long standalone biography. Its value comes from the connection to the tour’s larger argument. Women in New Orleans could hold influence in several worlds at once, including religion, family networks, domestic work, and business.

Guides Josh and Tracy have both been praised for adding details about the city beyond the main subject. That makes this kind of short stop more worthwhile. You may hear architectural or local history that helps place Laveau’s life in the wider French Quarter.

Storyville and the view from Louis Armstrong Park

The final major section takes you to Louis Armstrong Park, where the group can sit in shade and look toward the area once known as Storyville.

Storyville was New Orleans’ famous red light district, with decadent palaces along Basin Street. Those buildings were later replaced by the Iberville Projects. The physical change is central to the experience. You are not touring the original brothels themselves. You are looking across a modern city space and learning how an entire district was reshaped.

This part of the tour lasts about 25 minutes, making it the longest listed stop. You can expect photographs and stories about the district’s wildest characters. The seating and shade make it easier to absorb the material than if you were standing on a busy pavement.

Louis Armstrong Park also gives the walk a calm ending. The location allows the guide to gather the separate threads: prostitution, architecture, city planning, Black neighborhoods, vice laws, and the changing image of New Orleans.

The tour also covers the Golden Lantern and the story of Southern Decadence. The Golden Lantern is tied to the modern history of New Orleans’ sexual culture and public celebration. Its inclusion shows that the walk is not limited to the colonial period or Storyville. It links older vice districts with later expressions of sexuality and nightlife.

You will also hear about May Baily’s Place, described as the first legal brothel in New Orleans. That detail helps explain how the city sometimes regulated vice instead of simply trying to erase it. The tour’s strongest moments come from this tension between prohibition, official tolerance, profit, and public morality.

What the two-hour format feels like

The experience lasts about two hours and keeps to a walking-tour scale. That is long enough to develop a theme without taking over your entire afternoon.

A maximum of 15 people is a real advantage here. French Quarter streets can feel tight, and a smaller group makes it easier to hear the guide and ask a question. It also helps the walk feel less like a moving crowd and more like a conversation.

The pace has been described as comfortable rather than rushed. That matters because the subject includes dates, names, buildings, and social context. A sprint through the French Quarter would reduce the tour to a string of scandalous facts.

You should still prepare for outdoor conditions. The walk includes a break at Lafitte’s and a longer seated section in Louis Armstrong Park, but most of the experience takes place outside. Comfortable shoes, water, and protection from the sun are sensible choices, especially for a 2:00 pm start.

The tour is offered in English. A mobile ticket is provided, and confirmation arrives when you book. Service animals are allowed, public transportation is nearby, and most people can participate.

The guides and the tone of the walk

Josh and Tracy are the named guides connected with this experience. Josh has a lively approach and adds architecture and other New Orleans stories along the way. Tracy keeps a fun tone while bringing in citywide history, and the pace gives you time to listen without feeling hurried.

That mix is important. A tour about vice can become either too grim or too silly. The best version needs room for humor while still acknowledging coercion, exploitation, and unequal power.

Expect a guide-led interpretation rather than a formal academic lecture. The stories are designed to make streets and buildings memorable. You may hear sharp claims, colorful characters, and connections to wider New Orleans history. If you want to pursue a particular fact later, make a note of names and places as you walk.

The high rating of 4.9 from eight ratings points to a strong response so far, but the sample is small. I would read that as a sign that the tour’s format and guides are working well, not as proof that every person will enjoy the subject.

Is $35 a fair price?

At $35 per person, this is fairly priced for a two-hour, small-group walking tour in the French Quarter. You are paying for a narrow subject and a guide who interprets the city, not for entry to a collection of attractions.

The value is strongest if you like social history and want something beyond the standard Bourbon Street circuit. The walk covers several locations, connects them through one theme, and includes sitting and cooling time. The small group limit also gives the price more weight than a large, impersonal street walk.

There are limits. The tour does not include alcoholic drinks, and it does not provide access to preserved Storyville brothels. Much of Storyville has disappeared or changed, so the experience relies on stories, photographs, and views from the former district.

You should also note that the tour is usually booked about 30 days ahead. That suggests you should reserve early if your New Orleans schedule is fixed, especially if you want a particular afternoon.

Free cancellation is available if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start time. Cancellations or changes made inside that window are not refunded or accepted.

Who should book this tour

I would choose this walk if you have already seen the basic French Quarter sights or if you prefer social history to a general city overview. It suits adults interested in gender, vice, law, religion, migration, and the way cities control public behavior.

It is also a good pick for anyone who wants a guide with room to add architecture and broader New Orleans details. Josh and Tracy appear to bring more than a single set of prepared scandal stories.

Families should use their judgment. The content includes sexual exploitation, brothels, public nudity in a historical account, and adult nightlife. The supplied information does not set a minimum age, so you should contact the operator if age suitability is important for your group.

People with limited walking ability should also ask for current details before booking. The tour is on foot, though it includes seating at Louis Armstrong Park and a possible break at Lafitte’s.

Should you book The Badly Behaved Women Who Made New Orleans Tour?

Book it if you want a focused, candid look at the people and systems behind New Orleans’ reputation for vice. The combination of the Ursuline convent, Marie Laveau’s birthplace, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, Storyville, the Golden Lantern, and May Baily’s Place gives the afternoon a clear arc.

Skip it if you want music, food, or a broad introduction to every major French Quarter landmark. This is a specialized walk, and its adult subject matter is the point.

For $35, the strongest reasons to go are the small group, relaxed pace, thoughtful women-centered theme, and guides who add architecture and wider city context. Reserve ahead, wear comfortable shoes, and leave room in the budget for an optional drink.

FAQ

How long is the tour?

The walking tour lasts approximately two hours.

What time does the tour start?

The tour starts at 2:00 pm.

Where does the tour begin?

It begins at the intersection of Chartres Street and Ursulines Avenue in New Orleans.

Where does the tour end?

It ends at Louis Armstrong Park, at 701 N Rampart Street.

What is the price?

The price is $35 per person.

Are drinks included?

No. Alcoholic beverages are not included, though the tour has suggested cocktail stops and historic cocktail recommendations.

Is the tour offered in English?

Yes. The experience is offered in English.

How large is the group?

The maximum group size is 15 people.

Is the tour accessible by public transportation?

Yes. The meeting area is near public transportation.

Can I cancel for a refund?

Yes. You can cancel at least 24 hours before the start time for a full refund. Cancellations made less than 24 hours before the tour are not refunded.