Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve - Boat Tours of Bayou Vermilion (U.S. National Park Service)

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 Tuesday through Saturday, now through December 30 (weather permitting; no tour December 25). Tours cast off from the Vermilionville Heritage & Folklife Park of the Bayou Vermilion District (right next door to the Acadian Cultural Center). Tours depart at 10:30 a.m. and return at noon. Reservations are encouraged as a minimum of four passengers are required.

Ticket prices are

for the boat tour only: $12 adults, $10 seniors 62 and older, $8 children 4-18, children 3 and under free
for the boat tour, a self-guided tour of Vermilionville Heritage & Folklife Park, and lunch at Vermilionville's restaurant: $27 adults, $25 seniors 62 and older, $19 children 4-18, children 3 and under free
students aged 4-18 who are part of a scheduled, organized, educational group receive a 50% discount on the boat tour ticket price

Call Vermilionville at 337-233-4077 for reservations and more information.