We were in town for a convention and my wife and I went on several tours: (Cocktail Tour, Natchez steamboat tour, city bus tour, and Mardi Gras World tour). The Cocktail tour was by far the best of all. We had a blast. Our guide (Joe) was outstanding. The tour is equal parts: history, achitecture, local tales, customs, and drinks. We had a large group and all had a lot of fun. I would encourage you do this early (as we did) as you can go back to your favorite stops later in your trip. This was worth the money, I would do it twice (if we had the time) as there were places we did not see in the French Quarter. Joe caters the tour specifically to each group. Again, he was an outstanding guide, kinda like the 'mayor' of the French Quarter cocktail scene. Anyone can go to the famous bars (tourist places), Joe takes you to the original establishments and tells you the history of the building and the place.

We walked to Toulouse and Decatur to go on the Gray Line Southern Comfort Cocktail Tour at 4 PM. I usually don’t like group tours in New Orleans because I have been to New Orleans about a dozen times and have read at least a dozen books about New Orleans. The cost was $25 and our guide was a retired New Orleans school teacher. His house was flooded and he is living in Baton Rouge. He started out by explaining that a lot of the workers in the tourist industry were having a hard time finding places to live and have been through a lot. Some are living in other cities and are driving to NO to work. He asked us to be patient with the food servers and bartenders as all places are short handed. He explained that the cocktail was invented in NO. He took us to the Napoleon House, walked by Antoine’s and took us to a bar on Pirate’s Alley that serves Absinthe. Yes, real Absinthe imported from France. It is not legal to sell in the US but can be imported and served. It is a psychoactive drink that tastes like licorice and is made from wormwood which is a plant. He even mentioned it was similar to marijuana. He also told us some history about Jean and Pierre Lafitte. They were pirates who raided British and Spanish ships at sea and sold the goods to the people of New Orleans. The Catholic Church allowed these sales to go on behind the church for a small donation of course but the garden was being trampled. A fence was erected to keep the customers out. The pirates would be inside and show the merchandise through the fence to customers and exchange goods for money through the fence. This is where the term “fence” came from. A fence is a person who deals in stolen goods. I did learn some things on this tour after all. We also went to the Court of 2 sisters and Tujague’s. This is a great tour.

I agree with Blue Unit. This was a very worthwhile tour and a great one to start your visit to the French Quarter with as it will give you an overview of the area as well as get you into or past several high quality eating and drinking establishments.

Now, don't think this is just a pub crawl, cause it isn't. Joe, our Grayline guide, gave us a lot of insight into how the cocktail was invented by a French Quarter pharmacist and the word "cocktail" was actually a variation of the word for eggcup which the first fruit twist & alcohol drinks were made from etc. Not only that but you'll get to go into such great eating establishments as Antoine's, Arnouds etc and hear about their longterm history in the quarter, their very experienced waitstaff, etc and other great dining tidbits like where "brunch" was invented and so on. So, it's not only a drinking tour, but also a dining tour.

And as Blue Unit said, IF you want to have a drink at any of the stops along the way, it's on your nickel until the very last place at which Grayline buys a round.

Now, the guide will suggest a local favorite from each place you visit, but you are certainly NOT bound to buy that kind of drink there. You may purchase anything you like at any place, but we enjoyed the local suggestion, but were under no such pressure to do so.

As I say, a very enjoyable time; couldn't recommend the tour OR our tourguide Joe enough. Both were well worth the time and money.

Highly recommended. Do it early on during your visit as you will gain a lot of insights into the Qtr and various establishments. You may find that afterwards you are able to skip some of the other walking tours if you go on this one.

I have gone on it pre and post Katrina and while the former was better, this is solely due to the damage to some of presvious stops. I think Grayline and the guides still do it right. Keep in mind the minimum age of 21. Assuming you are a drinker, you'll need to pay from all the drinks except the last one. If you have the flexibility and a choice ask for the tour given by the guide named "Joe" but do it in any case.