Ghost Tour and Haunted Pub Crawl Party with Free Shot

New Orleans does ghost stories best when the past is right outside the bar door. This two-hour walk mixes grim French Quarter tales with a free shot, drink discounts, and stops at places such as LaLaurie Mansion and Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. It is part history walk, part night out.

I like the low $19 price and the chance to hear stories in the places tied to them. I also like the guides’ personal touch. Pandi and Clarissa are repeatedly praised for lively storytelling, humor, and useful advice on where to continue your night.

The catch is that the evening is more reliable as a haunted history walk with drinks than as a full pub crawl. Some departures have skipped LaLaurie Mansion or the Andrew Jackson Hotel, and one disappointing night included only limited bar time.

Key things to know before you book

• The free shot comes at the opening stop: You begin at BMC Balcony Music Club, where the host handles introductions, drink specials, beads, and the complimentary shot.
• The stories are tied to real French Quarter locations: LaLaurie Mansion, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, and the Andrew Jackson Hotel anchor the route.
• Pandi and Clarissa earn the strongest praise: Their humor, city knowledge, ghost photos, and personal stories help make the walk feel lively.
• The route is not always identical: At least one departure missed LaLaurie Mansion and the Andrew Jackson Hotel, so confirm the evening’s stops if those sites matter most to you.
• You walk between bars and historic buildings: Wear comfortable shoes and expect a group of up to 28 people.
• The tour fits social evening plans: It works best for friends, couples, birthday groups, and anyone who wants stories with a drink rather than a serious paranormal investigation.

A $19 introduction to haunted New Orleans

At $19 per person, this is one of the easier New Orleans evening activities to fit into a tight budget. You receive a local guide, one alcoholic drink in the form of a shot, drink discounts, and a walk through several famous French Quarter locations.

I see the value mainly in the guide and the setting. You are not paying for a long museum visit or a staged theatrical show. You are paying for someone to connect the city’s darker stories with the streets and buildings around you.

The price is less impressive if you expect several included drinks. The package includes one shot, not an open bar, and the exact amount of time spent inside each bar can vary. You should bring money for any extra drinks and treat the discounts as a bonus rather than the main reason to book.

The tour is recommended by 96 percent of the people who rated it, with a 4.9 score from 268 ratings. That high mark matches the strongest pattern here: a good guide can make this a very enjoyable night. It also explains why the experience is a better fit for people who value storytelling and company over a strict bar-by-bar crawl.

Starting with a shot at BMC Balcony Music Club

The meeting point is BMC Balcony Music Club at 507 Frenchmen Street. The opening 15 minutes are meant for meeting the group, hearing about drink specials, receiving Mardi Gras beads, and taking the free shot.

This is a useful start for a social outing. You can get your bearings, meet your guide, and settle into the evening before the walking begins. The shot also gives the tour its party mood right away, though you can still focus on the stories rather than treating the evening as a drinking contest.

The experience is offered in English. Group size can reach 28 people, which is large enough to create a fun night-out feeling but small enough for a guide to keep the group moving together. If you prefer a quiet, private ghost investigation, this is not that sort of activity.

The guides help set the tone. Pandi is praised for keeping a large group engaged and for sharing fascinating stories without losing the social feel. Clarissa is described as energetic, funny, and generous with local suggestions after the tour. Wendy’s approach is more insider-focused, with an engaging and humorous take on the area’s past.

LaLaurie Mansion and New Orleans’s darker stories

The route lists about 30 minutes at LaLaurie Mansion, one of the French Quarter’s most infamous addresses. The building is also associated with American Horror Story, which gives it extra appeal for fans of the show.

The value here is the setting. You are not simply hearing a ghost story in a generic room. You are standing near a building connected with tales of cruelty, tragedy, and haunting. The guide’s job is to separate the documented past from the supernatural claims while keeping the story entertaining.

You should set your expectations carefully. This is an exterior stop, not a chance to tour the inside of the mansion. The itinerary lists free admission, but that means you view and discuss the location from the street.

There is also a practical warning. One departure did not visit LaLaurie Mansion or the Andrew Jackson Hotel, despite both being listed parts of the route. If LaLaurie Mansion is your main reason for booking, ask about the current route before committing. The company may adjust the evening based on timing, access, or other conditions.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, the best bar stop

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar is the most distinctive drinking stop on the route. Its old-world setting and pirate associations make it feel like a natural stage for stories about smugglers, ghosts, and the city’s rougher past.

You are scheduled to spend about 30 minutes here. That is enough time for a drink if the evening runs as planned, though the included package does not promise a full drink at every stop. The guide connects the bar’s atmosphere with the legends surrounding it, so you get both a place to sit and a story to hear.

This is the point where the tour’s two sides work best together. A standard ghost walk might take you past a famous building without letting you step inside a bar. Here, you get a chance to enjoy a drink in a location that feels tied to the tale.

Still, the pub crawl label can set a high bar. One unhappy departure found the bar portion too short and counted only a small number of drinking stops. I would book this for one memorable bar setting plus drink opportunities, not for a night of continuous bar hopping.

The Andrew Jackson Hotel and French Quarter backstreets

The Andrew Jackson Hotel is listed as another 30-minute stop. The property is part of the French Quarter Inns group and is associated with ghost stories and reports of apparitions.

The tour encourages you to bring a camera. Guides may share ghost photographs and personal accounts, and some people have reported catching unusual images during the walk. You should treat those pictures as part of the fun, not as proof that every legend is real.

The backstreets are important here. New Orleans is easy to reduce to Bourbon Street, but the quieter lanes offer a different sense of the French Quarter. You can listen to the guide, look up at old façades, and notice how close homes, hotels, bars, and historic sites sit to one another.

Again, the planned route has not been guaranteed on every departure. The Andrew Jackson Hotel was one of the missed stops on a past evening. If you want a predictable checklist of exact sites, this may frustrate you. If you are happy for the guide to shape the night around the group and conditions, the flexibility may matter less.

What the guides add to the evening

The guide is the deciding factor here. New Orleans has no shortage of ghost legends, but a flat delivery can turn even a frightening tale into a dull sidewalk lecture.

Pandi receives especially strong praise for her energy, humor, city background, and ability to keep people involved. She has also been praised for helping a group stay organized and showing people where to stand so pedestrians can pass. That small detail matters in the tight French Quarter, where a group can quickly block a narrow sidewalk.

Clarissa brings a similarly lively style. She is praised for ghost photographs, personal stories, theories, and clear explanations of the places visited. She has also helped people find music stops after the official tour, which is useful if you want to keep your evening going.

Wendy’s strength is a more personal view of the neighborhood and an engaging sense of humor. Other guides have been called friendly, funny, and well informed about voodoo and local history.

You cannot choose the guide with certainty, but the repeated praise for Pandi and Clarissa gives you a useful booking tip: if either guide is scheduled, this is a strong reason to consider the date. The guide can also explain why a stop changes or why the group spends more time on one story than another.

Ghost stories, history, and the voodoo connection

The tour covers roughly 300 years of French Quarter death, tragedy, folklore, and supernatural claims. That makes it broader than a simple list of haunted addresses.

You may hear about the people and events connected to each place, then move into the legends that grew around them. The best part of this format is the connection between fact and folklore. You can decide for yourself where the historical record ends and the ghost story begins.

Voodoo is also part of the experience. One account describes a special voodoo blessing ceremony during a Mardi Gras departure, which took time away from other stories but added something unusual to that particular night. That sort of event should not be treated as guaranteed, but it shows how the evening can occasionally include local traditions beyond the standard route.

The tour is still built around entertainment. If you want a detailed academic study of New Orleans religion, architecture, or colonial politics, choose a more specialized walk. If you want a clear introduction to the city’s darker tales, this format works well.

Walking, timing, and the practical side

The tour lasts about two hours and ends at MRB Bar & Kitchen at 515 St. Philip Street. The route remains within the French Quarter, with stops generally lasting around 15 to 30 minutes.

You should wear shoes that can handle a couple of hours on foot. The walk is described as easy by one person who took it with a couple, but you still need to be comfortable standing and moving between stops.

The end point is useful. You finish near more food, music, and bars, and the guide can suggest places to continue your evening. Clarissa has stayed with groups after the official finish to point out music spots, but that extra help is a personal choice rather than a promised part of the tour.

Service animals are allowed, the activity is near public transportation, and most people can take part. Confirmation arrives at booking. Free cancellation is available until 24 hours before the start time. Inside that window, refunds are not provided. Poor weather or failure to reach the minimum group size can lead to a new date or a full refund.

Who will enjoy this tour most

I would choose this for a first visit to New Orleans when you want a quick introduction to the French Quarter after dark. It gives you stories, a drink, a little local folklore, and a starting point for the rest of your night.

It is especially suited to:

• Friends who want a social activity before dinner or music
• Couples looking for a light spooky outing
• Birthday groups and weekend celebrations
• Fans of American Horror Story who want to see LaLaurie Mansion
• People who enjoy ghost photographs and personal stories
• Anyone who wants practical bar and nightlife suggestions from a local guide

Families can participate if the group is comfortable with haunted tales and an adult-oriented bar setting. The free shot and drink discounts make this more naturally suited to adults.

I would skip it if your top priority is a serious paranormal investigation, a private group, or a guaranteed visit to every listed stop. I would also skip it if you want several included drinks. The experience can be fun and informative, but it is not an all-night pub crawl.

Is the $19 night worth booking?

For $19, I think this is a good-value French Quarter introduction, especially when Pandi or Clarissa is leading. The free shot, beads, drink discounts, and access to a famous old bar add value, but the main product is the guide’s storytelling.

Book it if you want a sociable evening with haunted history and a few drinks woven into the walk. Go in expecting stories first and bar hopping second. If LaLaurie Mansion and the Andrew Jackson Hotel are essential, confirm that the current route includes them before you pay.

That small adjustment in expectations is the key. This is a lively, affordable New Orleans night out with a spooky theme. It is not a perfectly fixed route, and it is not designed for people counting every bar. For most couples and friend groups, the mix of history, humor, and French Quarter atmosphere makes the price easy to justify.

FAQ

How long is the Ghost Tour and Haunted Pub Crawl Party?

The experience lasts approximately two hours.

How much does the tour cost?

The listed price is $19 per person.

Where does the tour begin?

It begins at BMC Balcony Music Club, 507 Frenchmen Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116.

Where does the tour end?

The tour ends at MRB Bar & Kitchen, 515 St. Philip Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116.

Is one drink included?

One alcoholic shot is included. Drink discounts are also provided, but additional drinks are not included in the listed package.

Which locations are included?

The planned route includes BMC Balcony Music Club, LaLaurie Mansion, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, and the Andrew Jackson Hotel.

Is LaLaurie Mansion part of the tour?

LaLaurie Mansion is a planned stop, with about 30 minutes scheduled there. The route may vary, so confirm the stops if this location is essential to you.

Is the tour offered in English?

Yes. The experience is offered in English.

How large can the group be?

The tour can have a maximum of 28 people.

Can I cancel for a refund?

You can cancel at least 24 hours before the start time for a full refund. Cancellations or changes made less than 24 hours before the experience are not refunded._weather-related or minimum-group cancellations offer a different date or a full refund.