• Image of swamp, bayou, and marsh

    Jean Lafitte

    National Historical Park and Preserve Louisiana

Boat Tours of Bayou Vermilion

Children and a park ranger wave from a traditional wooden boat during a bayou tour

Bon voyage! Explore Louisiana on a bayou boat trip with a National Park Service ranger

Cruise Bayou Vermilion in a traditional Louisiana boat and learn the history of Lafayette, Louisiana's "Cajun Capital." A National Park Service ranger will share stories of Indians, farmers, trappers, and traders as you watch for wildlife on the banks and relive another era in an old-fashioned bayou "schoolboat."

Tours are offered in spring and fall and cast off from the Vermilionville Heritage & Folklife Park of the Bayou Vermilion District (right next door to the Acadian Cultural Center).

Spring 2013 cruising dates will be posted here soon. Information below is from last fall.

Tours leave at 10:30 a.m. and return at noon. Two tour packages are available:

  • Full tour package includes boat tour, self-guided tour of Vermilionville and lunch at Vermilionville's restaurant: $30 for adults, $28 seniors 62 and older, $21 children aged 4-18. For children 3 and under, the boat tour and self-guided tour of Vermilionville are free and lunch at Vermilionville's restaurant costs $6.95.
  • Guided boat tour only: $12 for adults, $10 seniors 62 and older, $8 children aged 4-18, free for children 3 and under.

Students aged 4-18 who are part of a scheduled, organized, educational group receive a 50% discount on boat tour ticket price.

Call Vermilionville at 337-233-4077 for reservations and information. Reservations are encouraged as the boat seats 16 and a minimum of four passengers is required. For groups larger than 16, special arrangements including shorter tours and adjusted prices are available.

Did You Know?

Vultures arrive on land.

Vultures do not have many predators. If an enemy does approach, the vulture will face its enemy and vomit. This inventive bird also has a unique way to stay cool: it urinates on its legs. The urine also helps kill any germs picked up while standing on a carcass.