trip to cajun country

We are planning a week trip to Louisiana cajun country in Sept 2007. Any information about where to go, what to see, where to stay and eat would be much appreciated.

trip to cajun country

There%26#39;s certainly enough to do to keep you busy for a week. What are you seeking? History? Culture? Dancing? Good times? Do you have any issue with going into nightclubs or bars? What types of accommodations do you prefer? Are you adventurous enough to stay in ';unusual'; types of places, or do you insist on Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn types of lodging? How about B%26amp;Bs? Is sampling the local cuisine high on your list of things to do? If you%26#39;ll answer these questions and provide me with any additional pertinent information, I%26#39;ll be happy to assist you in crafting an agenda for a week in Cajun country.

September is a great time to come. It%26#39;s one of our more moderate months, temperature wise.

trip to cajun country

Thanks for replying Rodinlouisiana. In answer to your questions; We are interested in history, culture, good times but not dancing, . We don%26#39;t have any issue with going to nightclubs or bars as long as it is safe. We would be interested in staying in lodging of the Holiday Inn type as you put it or in BB%26#39;s. Sampling the local cuisime is very high on our list. We would also like to hear some authentic local music, take a couple of boat tours of the swamps, go on some local guided tours of the towns in the area if there are any, and just in general absorb the local cajun atmosphere. Thanks again.

OK...one more question, then I%26#39;ll offer some suggestions. By what route will you enter Louisiana? I-10 East? I-10 West? I-55? I-49? Once I know your entry point, then I%26#39;ll be able so suggest an agenda.

Thanks for the reply. We are flying into New Orleans, renting a car and then starting our week tour.

Okay, here we go. Please understand that these suggestions are my personal preferences, with consideration given to your answer to my previous question about your likes and dislikes.

Although many Cajuns live near and to the south of New Orleans, ';Cajun country'; is generally considered to be the four or five parishes around Lafayette, and the area is also known as Acadiana. Since you%26#39;re starting from New Orleans, you%26#39;ll have a bit of a drive (a couple of hours) to even get to Cajun country.

Some of the events I%26#39;m going to recommend only take place on Saturdays. Because of this, you%26#39;ll want to structure your trip so you%26#39;ll be in Acadiana on Friday and Saturday nights.

Even though you expressed a preference for traditional types of lodging, I suggest that you give some consideration to http://www.wildlifegardens.com/ in Gibson, LA. New Orleans International airport is north of New Orleans, and it would be fairly easy for you to pick up I-310 and go over to U.S. 90, completely bypassing the New Orleans traffic. Wildlife Gardens also has swamp tours, and this would be a good place for one of your tours.

Further up the road (U.S. 90), St. Martinville is home to the Acadian Memorial and to the Evangeline Oak, immortalized in Longfellow%26#39;s poem. It%26#39;s a lovely little town, on the banks of Bayou Teche.

Vermillionville, the village depicting early Cajun life, is located on the southern edge of Lafayette. Their web site is located at http://www.vermilionville.org/ and it%26#39;s worth at least a half day of your time.

Lafayette has many hotels (all the smaller and mid-priced national chains) and a few B%26amp;Bs, and is a good place to use as a base of operations. The B%26amp;B that seems to get the best reviews is T%26#39;Freres. Their web site is located at http://www.tfreres.com/

If you%26#39;re up for an adventure, another possiblilty for a short stay is http://www.bayoucabins.com/. These cabins, located in Breaux Bridge are clean, but rustic. T%26#39;Freres is much nicer.

Let%26#39;s talk about Saturday. The problem with Saturdays is that there are too many things to do and too little time in which to do them. A good start would be the Zydeco breakfast at Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge. http://www.cafedesamis.com/ They also have a B%26amp;B, Maison Des Amis. http://www.maisondesamis.com/

Another Saturday morning activity that%26#39;s a must-do, if possible, is the Saturday morning jam session at Savoy Music Center, between Eunice and Lawtel. http://www.savoymusiccenter.com/

If you get to Cafe Des Amis early, then you%26#39;ll have time to leave at or before the first band break, and make it to Savoy%26#39;s to catch some of the jam session.

An event not to be missed is Rendevous Des Cajuns, a live radio broadcast from the Liberty Theater in Eunice. It%26#39;s held every Saturday night between 6:00 and 7:30, which allows you time for dinner and dancing before bedtime. Their web site is located at http://www.eunice-la.com/libertyschedule.html

If you don%26#39;t mind being out a bit late, I%26#39;d suggest that you head from the Liberty Theater to DI%26#39;s Cajun Restaurant, in Basile (pronounced baa %26#39;zeel). The food is excellent and they usually have great Cajun bands on Saturday nights. www.discajunrestaurant.biz/NewDIs/index.htm

DI%26#39;s is a good hour from Lafayette, so you might consider spending the night in either Eunice or Jennings. Both have a good selection of hotels.

There are some very good Cajun restaurants in Lafayette also. Two places that have Cajun bands are http://www.prejeans.com/ and http://www.randols.com/

Lafayette is aonly about 15 minutes from Henderson, which is the entry to the Atchafalaya Basin on I-10. Henderson is home to many places that have live music (incuding Sunday afternoons) and is a jumping off spot for a number of swamp tours. Here are a few lins you may find interesting.

http://www.mcgeeslanding.com/home.htm

http://pw1.netcom.com/~rkiser/Directions/WhiskeyRiver.htm

http://www.basinlanding.com/

I%26#39;m getting tired of typing and I%26#39;ve barely scratched the surface. Please feel free to come back to me with specific questions.

You might also enjoy a trip to Shadows on the Teche in New Iberia, about 30 minutes south of Lafayette. It%26#39;s a beautiful home on the bayou, and it%26#39;s supposed to be haunted. Also near New Iberia is Avery Island, home of Tobasco pepper sauce.

One of our favorite restaurants ever is Prejeans in Carencro (on the outskirts of Lafayette), so I second that recommendation.

As far as swamp tours go, I would recommend Angelle%26#39;s Atchafalaya Swamp Tours at Whiskey River Landing. It%26#39;s right outside of Henderson, LA and easily reached from I10. The website is:

http://angelleswhiskeyriver.com/

Have fun!

I definitely suggest the area around Lafayette. Lafayette is a great hub for everything Cajun. You can venture out from here and find most anything you are looking for. On Fridays in September we have Downtown Alive, where from 6-8:30 bands play in the downtown area for free. There are also many festivals in September. You can do some research for your dates at www.louisianatravel.com . I definitely second the Saturday morning breakfast at Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge. Not only is the music wonderful but the food is amazing also. Cafe Des Amis also has a band that plays every Wednesday evening for dinner. This is not as crowded but the food is a little pricey. But again amazing. Cafe Des Amis also has their own website. Prejean%26#39;s in Lafayette also serves good food. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me.

Thank you so much for deciding to visit Cajun Country on your vacation. I can definitely promise you will feel very welcome on your stay.

I%26#39;d like to add one more point about Prejean%26#39;s and Randol%26#39;s. Tourists seem to prefer Randol%26#39;s. I suppose that%26#39;s because they advertise more and the show may be better than Prejean%26#39;s. But, I do quite a bit of business in Lafayette and I take many of my customers to lunch there Many of those customers regularly ask to be taken to Prejean%26#39;s. I%26#39;ve never had a customer ask to be taken to Randol%26#39;s.

I just wanted to thank all of you that have given suggestions for our trip to Cajun country in Lousianna. I know it has taken a great deal of time to type all those posts, and we will have a much better trip because of them.