natchez ms tour

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Indulge in natchez's finest, discover natchez's hidden treasures, journey through natchez’s elegance, take a stroll through natchez’s timeless splendor.

Welcome to Natchez, the enchanting city that beckons visitors from far and wide with its rich history and opulent past. Nestled along the picturesque Mississippi River, Natchez boasts a remarkable distinction—it once boasted more millionaires per capita than anywhere else, making it a captivating destination for those seeking to revel in the glories of a bygone era. Travelers flock to Natchez to immerse themselves in the captivating allure of a “live museum” where time stands still, uncovering the hidden gem of America’s history. Step into the elegant antebellum mansions, adorned with exquisite architecture and period furnishings, transporting you to a time when grandeur reigned supreme. With each cobblestone street and blooming magnolia tree, Natchez unveils the story of a flourishing past, making it an irresistible attraction for those in search of a truly remarkable experience. Come and discover the charm and elegance of Natchez, where the echoes of a vibrant past continue to enchant visitors today.

Design your experience

Travel back in time as you visit exquisite mansions.

Experience Natchez’s Deep South hidden gems: enjoy music, explore majestic manors, and embrace authentic Southern charm. Design your own adventure, traveling back in time to exquisite mansions and haunted spots. Uncover Natchez’s mysteries with knowledgeable local guides and delight in Little Easy Tours’ curated experiences.

Choose A Tour

Private tour guide.

Choose a Private Tour Guide to get a completely curated tour designed to suit your needs and experience Natchez from a whole new lens. Book online today!

Downtown Carriage Ride

Discover the history and beauty of downtown Natchez on an unforgettable horse-drawn carriage tour. Our tours offer an intimate and unique way to explore the antebellum homes, stunning gardens, and charming streets of this southern city. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable experience – reserve your spot now!

Walking Ghost Tour

Natchez is a top destination for those seeking a paranormal experience. Touted as America’s most haunted city, its turbulent history full of untimely deaths, slavery, and war leaves little doubt that it is inhabited by otherworldly souls. Here are some of your best bets for a ghostly good time.

Sit Back and Relax. We'll Give You the Tour!

The best way to experience the real charm and history of Natchez is to take a tour. There are a few unique ways to learn about this charming Southern town. One of the most popular is the double-decker open-top sightseeing bus. You can take an intimate carriage ride throughout town, or experience the grandeur and mystery of the city's cemetery.

Natchez City Sightseeing

Natchez City Cemetery

• MUSEUM HOME!

STANTON HALL c. 1857

Quick Details

• Tags Category: Year-Round
• Hour Glass Duration: Tour last between 45 minutes and 1 hour
• Users Ages: All Ages welcome
• Tag Available: Open daily
• Clock Times: First tour starts at 9:00 AM. Last tour starts at 4:00 PM
• Map Marker Location: 401 High St.
• Wheelchair Access: First floor only
•   Year-Round tours begin on the hour. First tour at 9:00 AM and the last tour at 3:00 PM.
• Spring Pilgrimage tours begin on the hour.  First tour at 9:00 a.m. and the last tour at 4:00 p.m. 

STANTON HALL TOUR

Stanton Hall is full of amazing antiques and stunning architectural features from the antebellum period. Come discover what makes this home so unique.

• Originally named “Belfast” after Fredrick Stanton’s birthplace
• Palatial Greek Revival antebellum mansion
• Furnished with period antiques and original Stanton Family pieces
• Delicately arched millwork in halls and parlors
• Owned and beautifully maintained by The Pilgrimage Garden Club
• National Historic Landmark

Related Tours

Year-round: rosalie mansion and gardens circa 1823.

Located on the Mississippi River bluff near the site of the massacre of the Natchez Indians, now a National Historic Landmark, this home was a Union headquarters during the Civil War.

Take A Stroll, Self-Guided Downtown Walking Tour

640 South Canal Street Natchez Mississippi, 39120

601-446-6345

An excellent way to become familiar with Natchez is by touring the historic downtown area on foot. Most walking tours begin at the Bluff Park, the grassy promenade that skirts Broadway and overlooks the River.

Pick up your map and Visitors Guide at the Visitor Center located at 640 South Canal Street. Many of the historic sites located on the map are available to stop in and tour year-round, such as the beautifully restored interior of St. Mary Basilica, the historic fountain in Memorial Park just behind St. Mary’s, Magnolia Hall, Stanton Hall, First Presbyterian Church, The House on Ellicotts Hill, and Rosalie Mansion.

Completed in 1812, Auburn was “designed to be the most magnificent building in the territory” and was built for Lyman Harding, the first Attorney General of Mississippi. After his death in 1820, the home was purchased by Stephen Duncan, a physician and wealthy planter, and his wife, Catherine and remained in the Duncan family until 1911 when the heirs donated the home and 210 acres adjacent to it, now a park, to the city of Natchez. The most striking thing about the mansion is the free-standing spiral stairway that rises between the ground and second floor completely unsupported. The separate kitchen and servants quarters are original outbuildings to the home and stand independently at the rear entrance.

Tour Details

• Address: 400 Duncan Ave., Natchez, MS 39120
• Duration: 45 minutes
• Ages: All ages welcome
• Tickets: $20 Adults, ages 13+
• Information: Fall Pilgrimage every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

Tours Natchez

6 Glenfield Ln, Suite B, Natchez, MS 39120

text 601.493.5777 or call 601.442.1002

Copyright © 2022 Tours Natchez, LLC - All Rights Reserved.

[email protected]

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Longwood Natchez, Mississippi

Photo Credit: Visit Natchez Scroll down the page to view more pictures!

Longwood, the largest octagonal house in the United States, is an historic antebellum mansion located in Natchez, Mississippi. The mansion is known for its octagonal design, byzantine onion-shaped dome and the contrast between the finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors. Longwood is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.

Longwood, also known as Nutt's Folly, was designed in 1859 by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan for cotton planter Dr. Haller Nutt and and his wife Julia. Construction began in 1860 but was halted in 1861 by rising tensions over the Civil War. Craftsmen, who were from the northeast, dropped their tools (where they still lay) and fled home. The exterior was mostly complete but the home's interior was left unfinished except for the lower level.

Haller died of pneumonia in 1864 and his Julia and children continued to live in the finished first floor. The interior of the upper five stories were never completed. The property was deeded to the Pilgrimage Garden Club in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

Longwood Tours and Location Map

Today, Longwood is one of Natchez' most popular attractions. Tours are available each day thru Natchez Pilgrimage Tours from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. starting every 30 minutes with the last tour starting at 4:30.

For more information including tickets, see: www.natchezpilgrimage.com

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• The Burn B&B
• The Guest House Inn
• Silver Street Gallery and Gifts
• The Old Country Store Restaurant
• William Johnson House
• Natchez Historic Photographs
• Natchez Tour Homes
• Natchez Bluff Trail
• Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture
• Natchez Pilgrimage Tours
• Natchez City Cemetery
• Natchez National Cemetery
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A Visit to a Historic Mississippi Port Reveals a Small Town With New Stories to Tell

W HEN YOU DRIVE up to Natchez you never know which Natchez you’re going to get,” a friend cautioned after hearing I was visiting the historic Mississippi river town. “It’s either awake or asleep.”

I’d heard chatter of a small town with big appeal, but the first portents weren’t great. As I neared, a downpour broke over U.S. Route 61, the fabled “Blues Highway.” Through the rain, I spotted a building built in the shape of a platter-bearing, hoop-skirted woman. Constructed in 1940, the year “Gone With the Wind” swept the Academy Awards, “Mammy’s Cupboard” is a restaurant designed to resemble a stereotypical Black “mammy.” Overestimating the redemptive qualities of a new coat of paint, different owners over the years have layered on progressively lighter skin tones. I drove on, following Natchez’s quiet streets to a desolate hotel parking lot.

The next morning, however, the sun shone, permitting me spectacular Mississippi River views from the Natchez bluffs. At Butter Cakery, my first stop downtown, I admired brightly decorated cupcakes in flavors like lavender and raspberry-lemon. Nearby, at Franklin Street Relics, a 28,000-square-foot antiques mall with 55 dealers, I found pre-Civil War playing cards for $8 a piece, mementos of an era when this steamboat port teemed with cardsharps, brawlers and brothels.

What remains of that dock life is clustered in Under-the-Hill, a strip at the base of the bluff. That evening a Viking cruise ship had pulled in—one of two lines that visit Natchez regularly. Live music leaked from the Under-the-Hill Saloon, housed in one of the oldest buildings on the Mississippi, as the sun dipped into the river.

Natchez has long been known for its Spring Pilgrimage, a series of historic house tours (now until April 28) that conveys a romantic—and, to many, problematic—view of the Old South. But I soon found more multidimensional takes on history. At the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, a museum and park pay tribute to the eponymous Native-American tribe which made this land its capital. On Saint Catherine St., the Dr. John Bowman Banks House, which served as an NAACP headquarters during the civil-rights movement, now functions as a by-appointment museum.

The National Register of Historic Places lists 1,000 structures in Natchez, many dating to the years when the toil of enslaved people in cotton fields created immense wealth. It’s said that, by the 1850s, Natchez housed more millionaires than anywhere else in the country. Today most of the mansions remain private residences, viewable only on special tours like those the Spring Pilgrimage offers. Some, like Longwood and Stanton Hall, remain open year-round. How to tell their stories can spark debate.

Tracy A. Collins, a Black Baptist pastor, runs Rev’s Country Tours, bringing visitors around Natchez and to less-visited spots like Emerald Mound, built by ancestors of the Natchez Indians. While showing me Windsor Ruins, the dramatic remains of a plantation house, Collins scorned descriptions he’d heard of the skilled craftspeople who built such palaces as “servants’’ or “help.” “That’s not true,” he said. “They were enslaved.”

Tours of Melrose, an 1841 estate run by the National Park Service (NPS) and open year-round, focus as much on the lives of the enslaved as the mansion owners. The NPS also plans to expand the visitor experience at Forks of the Road, site of the South’s second largest slave market.

Even the future in Natchez seems at times concerned with the past. More than one person spoke excitedly of the restoration of the Eola, a Gatsby-era hotel first opened in 1927 and set to reopen in 2025

“I’m a Nat-choose-ian not a Natchezian,” said Matt Deming, sounding like those Under-the-Hill drifters of yore. Deming, a tech worker from Austin, bought and restored an 1827 house, opening up the top floor as an Airbnb. Nearby, I met Beau Deshotel, who’d recently relocated from Manhattan to open Arts District Studio, which exhibits local art.

Before leaving, I spoke to Richard Grant, author of “The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi,” published in 2020. “The basic rule in Natchez is to talk to the women because they know what’s going on,” Grant said. “It’s one of the most matriarchal places I know.”

So on my last evening in town I found myself, Aperol spritz in hand, on a porch belonging to Regina Charboneau, a 7th-generation Natchezian who teaches Southern cooking classes. “Most of us have tossed the hoop skirts,” said Charboneau. “But the hospitality remains.”

True. That night, a pizza dinner at the Natchez Brewing Company became a meet-and-greet with various Natchezians and Natchooseians, leading to an invitation to catch a band at Smoot’s, a juke joint. Then Deming asked me to try another tradition: Steak Night at the Corner Bar. Driving to New Orleans the next day I called my friend. “Natchez isn’t dozing,” I told her. “It’s a dinner party you don’t want to leave.”

THE LOWDOWN / How to Navigate Natchez

Getting there: There’s talk of an air link, but Natchez remains a road-trip destination. It’s an easy drive from New Orleans or Baton Rouge or 111 miles from Jackson International. Others come on the Natchez Trace, a 444-mile scenic parkway starting in Nashville.

Staying there: Most visitors choose one of the restored antebellum properties like Linden Historic Bed & Breakfast (from $170 a night). A new arrival, the Big Muddy Inn and Blues Room (from $200) is full of colorful chinoiserie and hosts concerts in the back parlor.

Eating there: In the land of the fried-chicken salad, options tend toward the hearty, from Biscuits & Blues to Fat Mama’s Tamales. The Camp in Under-the-Hill offers grilled catfish tacos and fried-pickle-and-jalapeño chips along with a river view. Frankie’s On Main serves upscale fare in an eclectically decorated 1820s Greek Revival bank.