Unique NOLA Tours — Local services in New Orleans

If you're heading to New Orleans for the ghosts and the grit, forget the big, crowded tours. You need to find Aurora. Seriously, dude, her ghost tour was the absolute highlight of my trip, and I've done a few of these in NOLA before.

We met up right around dusk, which is the perfect time for the French Quarter to start dripping atmosphere. Aurora immediately set the tone—she wasn't just reciting facts; she was performing. She has this incredible, mesmerizing presence, a little theatrical but totally genuine, and she knows how to work the shadows and the gaslight to maximum effect.

What truly sets Aurora apart is her storytelling. I felt chills that weren't just the Louisiana humidity. She dug deep into the real history, the documented darkness, but also gave space to the legends, spinning them together into something genuinely chilling. She didn't rely on cheesy props or cheap scares; her power is in the narrative. She made sure we understood the historical context of the tragedies.

She kept the group small, which was clutch. We could actually hear her (a rarity in the Quarter) and she paused for questions, even responding to some of the specific energy people were feeling at certain sites. She pointed out architectural details and hidden courtyards that you'd totally walk past otherwise.

If you want a tour guide who is knowledgeable, passionate, and has the magnetic stage presence required to bring the dead back to life for an hour and a half, book Aurora. She's not just a guide, she's a gifted orator who understands that the real history is often scarier than the fiction. She’s the best in the...

NOLA has a million tour options, and I cannot stress enough how happy I was to find Unique NOLA Tours. I had so much fun on my first tour I signed up for a second one on my last day in town. Firstly, the shop is adorable and comes with the sweetest kitty cat named Norma. The shop clerk, I think her name was Monique (sorry if I am wrong), was so sweet, and when she saw it was my birthday, she made sure I knew about the NOLA Birthday $1 tradition. The first tour I did was the Lewd Spirits Tour with Jonathan. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, funny, and a great storyteller. Our group was small, so we all got to ask questions and didn't feel rushed or ignored. The second one I went on was Sinister Criminal Intentions, led by Dane. Dane was also very knowledgeable, friendly, funny, and a fanatic storyteller. (He even does voices) I also got to see how well he dealt with drunk and rude tour patrons and thought he handled the one woman in my group who was so wasted she would not shut up about Nicolas Cage very professionally. This second tour was on a Saturday evening, so I saw how gigantic other tour groups can be on the weekends. While our group of 5 got one-on-one attention and information, I watched groups of 20+ people struggling to keep up with and hear their guide. Unique NOLA Tours is a great way to learn about the French Quarter and its quirky history. I will be going again the next...

I went on this ghost tour with Aurora the tour guide in New Orleans , and it was such a memorable experience! Our guide was absolutely fantastic — she had such a deep knowledge of the city’s history and you could tell she genuinely cared about sharing it with us. What really stood out was the way she blended historical facts with ghost stories. Instead of just reciting dates and names, she painted vivid pictures of the people and events that shaped the city, and then connected them to the haunting legends.

She was also a natural storyteller — every stop along the way felt like stepping into another time, and she knew how to set the mood so you could really imagine what had happened there. I especially appreciated how she encouraged questions and made sure everyone was included, which made the tour feel more personal and engaging.

New Orleans has such a rich and spooky history, and this tour really captured that spirit. I left with not only some chills from the ghost stories, but also a much greater appreciation for the city’s past. If you’re looking for a tour that’s equal parts educational and entertaining, I couldn’t recommend...