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The Voodoo Museum in New Orleans

Updated: September 1, 2023

This post is about visiting the unique Voodoo Museum, which houses a collection of voodoo-related artifacts.

You can explore it on your own or take a guided tour, all of which we explain below.

Visiting the museum is just one of 25 great things to do in the French Quarter.


DIRECTIONS AND TICKETS

The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum is located in the historic French Quarter at 724 Dumaine Street between Bourbon St. and Royal St. (map)

The museum can be reached easily by one of two trolley lines that run along Canal Street.

Read more about how to ride the  New Orleans Streetcars.

Hours: Open 7 days a week 10 am - 6 pm. Open on most holidays.

Tickets:  (purchase in the gift shop)

  • $10 Adults
  • $8 Seniors, Military, Students

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING YOUR VISIT

Regular museum-goers may do better to think of this as a folk museum rather than as a typical, professionally curated collection. 

Marie Laveau

The space is small, with exhibits packed densely in two rooms and a hallway. Most visitors can explore it completely in 20 minutes.

Note that it only takes a few visitors to make the space feel crowded and hard to navigate. 

The hallway focuses primarily on Marie Laveau, the 19th-century priestess who is the most famous face of the voodoo religion.

You will see portraits believed to depict her, newspaper articles dating from her lifetime, and a prayer stool from her home.

The hallway also includes masks from the West African cultures and religions into which many enslaved people were born.

The two rooms consist mainly of artifacts and altars of various voodoo spirits and deceased members of the religion.

Voodoo Museum Altar

As is the custom, the altars are covered with offerings, such as loose change, cigarettes, Mardi Gras beads, or small items of personal significance.

You will also see exhibits that include voodoo dolls and a man-sized effigy of a Cajun alligator monster.

While the relevance of many of these artifacts to the real practice of voodoo is limited, it is the source of much of Hollywood’s depictions, and thus popular perceptions, of voodoo.


GUIDED TOURS BY THE MUSEUM

Note: We offer a pay-what-you-wish guided Voodoo Tour that operates @ 10 a.m. every day but Tuesday as well as @ 11 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays.  

We are the #1 tour company on TripAdvisor in New Orleans, so look no further.


The museum offers a two-hour guided walking tour, which includes the museum, as well as portions of the French Quarter, Treme, and St. Louis Cemetery #1 relevant to voodoo history.

Tours are held daily at 9 a.m. and 12 pm and cost $32 per person. Tours only take place if at least two people are booked.

There is a maximum of 10 guests per tour so an advance booking is highly recommended.

Book tours here.


REVIEWS

Overall, reviews suggest the museum is best suited to visitors with little past exposure to voodoo seeking a loosely organized introduction to voodoo's history and present-day practice.

Reviews on both TripAdvisor and Yelp average about 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Positive reviewers praise the visual experience, atmosphere, and conciseness.

Negative reviews often mention the small size and the lack of depth in the information presented.

Reviews by those who took the tour are more positive than those who explored the museum on their own, stating that the tour makes the experience of the museum much more informative. 

Some reviewers who are familiar with voodoo felt that the museum does not do the best job of distinguishing fact from myth.

Reviews describe a variety of experiences, from long, enjoyable conversations with the person at the desk to brusque or rude encounters with staff during busier hours.


GIFT SHOPvoodoo gift shop

The front room of the Museum is the shop and ticket office.

The shop includes a variety of merchandise fairly typical of the French Quarter’s various voodoo shops and other occult stores.

You'll find candles, oils, or gris-gris bags meant to accomplish various effects, and locally crafted souvenirs like artwork or voodoo dolls (sometimes including explicit imagery or some recognizable political figures).

There are also books ranging from sound historical research to entertainment.


LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL IN NEW ORLEANS

If you want to learn more about voodoo and the supernatural, you might want to take a look at our name-your-own-price guided walking tours such as our New Orleans Voodoo Tour or New Orleans Ghost Tour.

We also offer daily tours of both St. Louis Cemetery #1 and Lafayette Cemetery #1

For a list of all our New Orleans tours, see our tour calendar.


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About The Author

Sarah Hester

Sarah first moved to New Orleans in 2001 to work for the American Red Cross of Southeast Louisiana. While working in the communities of New Orleans she fell in love with the unique culture of the Big Easy; it's food, music, architecture, wildlife, and most of all history. Read More... Sarah began her career with FTBF, first as a guide, then as an owner/operator. She believes every day is a good day if she gets to impart her love of her beloved New Orleans with Free Tours By Foot guests. She especially likes to convert new Who Dat Saints Fans!
Updated: September 1st, 2023
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