St. Joseph Plantation and Felicity Plantation
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PlantationHistory
Overview
Felicity Plantation is a historic sugarcane plantation on the banks of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located along Louisiana Highway 18 in Vacherie, St. James Parish.
Practical Info
Suggested Duration2.5-4 hours
Best TimeRecommended from November to March in the morning (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM). Still owned and operated by descendants of the original historic family, this location preserves a raw, functioning 19th-century sugarcane farm atmosphere (famously filmed in '12 Years a Slave'). Morning offers mild daylight to tour the timber cabins.
Getting TherePerfectly positioned between Oak Alley and Laura at 3535 LA-18 (River Road) in Vacherie. Public transit does not serve this rural belt; personal car is required. Follow the standard I-10 W to LA-3127 S route into Vacherie, cut to LA-20 to LA-18, and stop roughly 1 mile before Oak Alley to find the historic yellow manor and free gravel lot.
Travel Tips
- Both estates are active private agricultural zones; stepping off guided matrices into active sugarcane fields results in immediate arrest for criminal trespass.
- Active Hollywood production schedules cause unannounced total facility closures; cross-reference the website's booking block ledger before scheduling local transit.
- The 1851 framing enforces hard fire-code occupancy caps per hour; late arrivals are physically barred from squeezing into filled tour groups without recourse.
Reviews
Positive
- An exceptionally authentic, raw sugar plantation estate preserving original farming layouts; its Creole-Greek cottage served as the filming set for 12 Years a Slave.
- The estate is still proudly managed by direct descendants of the historical family; having family members guide you past 200-year-old heirlooms and family letters loads deep sentiment.
- Compared to overcrowded neighboring commercial sites, crowd density here is extremely low and tourist kitsch is zero; you can peacefully stroll rustic stables and ruins at a slow pace.
- Admission is highly economical and includes full expert tours; the free lot is wide and level, and stepping outside allows climbing the levee for sweeping river views.
Heads up
- To maintain its unrefined rustic state, outer ruins and stable loops severely lack paved concrete accessible paths; gravel-dirt paths get sticky and muddy after storms.
- As a privately family-run boutique site, scheduled tour slots midweek are quite limited; walking in without checking online timetables ensures long waiting loops.
- To protect the aged structural wood and fragile attire, photography or video recording is strictly banned inside the main manor rooms, disappointing holiday photographers.
- Deep trail corridors lack sufficient public restrooms, trash bins, or shaded benches; when trekking outer sugar fields, backtracking to the main gates takes significant effort.