The 'Most Haunted City In America' Has A Slew Of Spooky, Seasonal Spectacles To Enjoy Around Halloween

There are few places that top New Orleans when it comes to spooky cities that are perfect for a Halloween vacation. Commonly considered a spectral crossroads and called "the most haunted city in America" by Green Global Travel, New Orleans is packed with cemeteries of above-ground tombs and tales of restless spirits and voodoo rituals. The city's French Quarter, with its historic architecture and infamous mansions, is the perfect backdrop for ghost stories and tours of legendary sites associated with supernatural entities.

Some might attribute New Orleans' hauntings to its turbulent history, rife with fires, floods, and murder sprees. Tour guide Elaine of Ghost City Tours said, "Add in all the fires and hurricanes...Yellow fever! And, all the violence throughout the city's history. New Orleans is such a strange city, it has a different personality that you just can't find any place else." Figures associated with the macabre linger in the city's lore, from the pirate Jean Lafitte to torturer and serial killer Madame Delphine LaLaurie. Folded in with this history is the city's significant Caribbean-influenced voodoo tradition, led by the "Voodoo Queen" Marie Laveau. Pair all of this with the raucously festive Halloween celebrations across the city, and you can see how New Orleans' reputation stands true while making for an adventurous spooky season destination.

Much of New Orleans' hauntings might not be visible, so doing a tour during the Halloween season is a great way to get a new perspective on sightseeing and learn about the tragic and mysterious stories that linger in each site. One perfect place to start is at New Orleans' oldest cemetery, Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, a site full of mystical legends. Not only are tours of the cemetery thrilling, they're also the only way to see it. Walking tours are offered every 15 minutes, by day or — for the brave — by night. The cemetery was created in 1789, following the first of the city's disastrous fires and a slew of disease outbreaks. Unlike other cemeteries you might be used to, the tombs were required to be above ground due to the land's susceptibility to flooding, making it visually unique. There are a few ghosts said to haunt Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, most famously Marie Laveau, who's buried there.

Many of New Orleans' most iconically eerie landmarks are centered around the French Quarter, and one French Quarter tour that 90% of reviewers on Tripadvisor recommend is the Premier Ghost, Voodoo & Vampire Walking Tour. The tour hits all of the spookiest places, beginning at the Witches Brew Gallery & Haunted Sanctuary and ending at the notorious LaLaurie Mansion, where Madame LaLaurie imprisoned and tortured enslaved workers. It proceeds along several sites on Bourbon Street, Louisiana's most famed street, including Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, which is often deemed the neighborhood's most haunted bar. People claim to see Jean Lafitte himself here as an apparition donning a sailor's outfit, usually near the fireplace on the first floor.

Beyond tours, Halloween activities abound in New Orleans, from festivals and trick-or-treating to haunted mansions and themed bar crawls. One event for families that can't be missed is Ghosts in the Oaks, a four-day frightful festival held at City Park. Trick-or-treating, amusement park rides, and hot dog roasting around a campfire are some of the fun activities planned for you to do with kids, and it's the ideal place to show off your costumes. What might be considered the festival's adult counterpart is Brews and Boos, also held in City Park but for adults only. Here, you can ride in costume on the Ferris wheel or carousel and then get tipsy at the beer bar.

Another fun event for adults is the Halloween Bar Crawl, which takes place on Halloween weekend. You'll get to pop into numerous renowned New Orleans bars in extravagant costumes on one or both days of the crawl. For those who like to feel the thrill of getting spooked, there's no shortage of haunted houses in New Orleans. The Mortuary Haunted Mansion is well reviewed for its actors and elaborate staging, and one thing that makes it unique is that it's in a real former funeral home, with many accounts of actual ghost sightings.

The main airport serving New Orleans is the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is just over a 20-minute drive from the French Quarter and city center. You could also take the E2 Airline bus directly from the airport, which has frequent stops around downtown with a 45-minute commute.