Baton Rouge Attractions

Rural Life Museum © Louisiana Office of Tourism

Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens

Situated on the Burden Research Plantation, run by the Louisiana State University, is the Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens. The museum features an extensive collection of tools, household utensils, furniture, vehicles and farming implements, some outdoors and others housed in more than 20 buildings that depict the lifestyle of pre-industrial 19th-century Louisiana.

Address: LSU Burden Research Plantation, 4600 Essen Lane; Telephone: (225) 765 2437; E-mail: rulife1@lsu.edu; Website: rurallife.lsu.edu/html/hrs.html; Opening time: 8.30am to 5pm daily, all year round. Closed New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; Admission: $7 (adults); $4 (children 5-11)

Louisiana State Capitol © Louisiana Office of Tourism

Old State Capitol

The historic Old State Capitol Gothic building, once described by Mark Twain as being ‘the ugliest thing on the Mississippi’, sits on a bluff overlooking the river and today operates as a centre for political and governmental history. The building was completed in 1849 and housed the Louisiana Legislature until Union forces captured the city of Baton Rouge in 1862. The legislature returned to the building in 1882 and stayed until the new capitol was completed in 1932. The old Capitol has now been restored and houses a museum featuring state-of-the-art interactive exhibits and multi-media presentations detailing Louisiana’s past and political history.

Address: 100 North Boulevard at River Road; Telephone: (225) 342 0500; Website: www.sec.state.la.us/museums/osc/osc/osc-index.htm; Opening time: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm; Sunday 12pm to 4pm. Open Mondays for special tours; Admission: $4 (adults); children under 6 free, concessions available

USS Kidd moored on the Mississippi © Louisiana Office of Tourism

Nautical Center

A highlight of the Baton Rouge Nautical Center is the restored 369ft (112m) World War II Fletcher Class Destroyer, USS Kidd, which is the prime exhibit. Overnight camping experiences on the ship are offered. The center also features a huge collection of model ships, a restored World War II fighter plane, a jet fighter from the Vietnam era and a walk-through exhibit of the gun deck of Old Ironsides.

Address: 305 South River Road; Telephone: (225) 342 1942; E-mail: Info@usskidd.com; Website: www.usskidd.com; Opening time: Daily 9am to 5pm. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; Admission: Ship and museum: $7 (adults), $4 (children 5-12), concessions available

San Francisco Plantation

San Francisco Plantation

Louisiana's most authentically restored 'great house' is the San Francisco Plantation house, sited on the east bank of the Mississippi under centuries-old Live Oaks about 40 minutes from downtown Baton Rouge near the small town of Garyville. The galleried house was built by Edmond Bozonier Marmillion in 1856 in what is termed the Creole open-suite style. Inside the house features five hand-painted mural ceilings, faux marble and bois wood graining, and one of the finest antique collections in the United States. Also on the plantation is an 1830s slave cabin, a one-roomed schoolhouse and a museum store. Period-costumed guides take visitors on tours throughout the day. Other plantation houses open to the public on the Great River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge include Oak Alley, Nottoway, Laura, Madewood, and Tezcuco.

Address: 2646 Highway 44 (River Road), Garyville; Telephone: (985) 535 2341; Website: www.sanfranciscoplantation.org; Opening time: Daily 9.30am to 4.40pm (April to October), 9am to 4pm (November to March). Tours run from 10am to 4pm; Admission: $15 (adults), $7 (children), concessions available and children under 5 free

Louisiana Arts and Science Museum © Louisiana Office of Tourism

Louisiana Art and Science Museum

Housed in a historic railroad depot the Louisiana Art and Science Museum offers educational and entertainment opportunities for visitors of all ages. Featured are changing fine art exhibitions, interactive art and science galleries for children, an Egyptian tomb and a simulated space station. Also on the site is the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium and ExxonMobil Space Theatre, offering planetarium shows and large format films.

Address: 100 South River Road; Telephone: (225) 344 5272; E-mail: lasm@lasm.org; Website: www.lasm.org; Transport: Capital Transportation Corporation buses on the Florida Boulevard route stop on River Road directly across from LASM; Opening time: Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm; Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 1pm to 5pm; closed Mondays; Admission: Museum only: $6 (adults), $5 (children). Museum and Planetarium: $8 (adults), $7 (children)