When planning a corporate meeting, event and/or conference in New Orleans, there is so much to consider, but don’t forget about transportation! Most events are held in the French Quarter and Central Business District and while these areas are very walkable we should keep in mind that these corporate meetings, events, and conferences are also a way for business professionals to enjoy their time visiting and exploring our great city. There are many different modes of transportation available for various budgets, but when you want to make a statement to your attendees, nothing will be more iconically New Orleans than a mule-drawn carriage.

Royal Carriages has serviced the French Quarter of New Orleans and surrounding areas for over 75 years. This veteran-owned company has a fleet of over 13 mule-drawn carriages with the ability to transport up to 75 guests at once. Royal Carriages is first and foremost a tour company, not a transportation company, so the transportation services we provide include licensed, professional, licensed tour guides as your carriage drivers, providing transfer from location to location while entertaining all passengers on board with the stories of New Orleans. It’s a fun way to travel through our city and the most authentic way to be introduced to our warm Southern hospitality. Everyone will remember their mule-drawn transportation in New Orleans for your event, and your corporate meeting, event and/or conference will not be forgotten either!

So instead of the standard mega-bus, consider the impact that carriage transportation will have on your corporate meeting, event, or conference!

Royal Carriages can provide mule-drawn carriage tours and transportation for the following:

• Conferences
• Seminars
• Business Dinners
• Client Meetings
• Recognition
• Holiday Parties
• Charity Functions
• Sponsorship
• Client Appreciation
• Workshops & Seminars
• Happy Hours
• Team Building
• Press Conferences
• VIP Events
• Shareholders Meetings
• Incentive Events
• Executive Retreats

If you would like to discuss carriage transportation options for your corporate meeting, event, or conference, call Nancy at 504-943-8820! 

New Orleans is a city unlike any other. We are lovingly referred to as "The Northernmost Part of the Carribean" due to our sub-tropical vibes, and sometimes people even compare New Orleans to The Disneyland (for adults)! With so much to see and do, it can be pretty overwhelming as a first-time visitor but have no fear, Royal Carriages is here to discuss 5 Reasons Why A Carriage Tour is the Best Way to See New Orleans! 

Learning the lay of the land is important when visiting New Orleans. It's a pretty big...but also a pretty small city. It's an extremely walkable place to visit but you should always look where you step since there are lots of uneven sidewalks and of puddles (that's what you get for putting a 300-year-old city in the swamp). Most of your time will be spent exploring the French Quarter, which is the main historic district and original part of this old city. The French Quarter, approximately 1-mile wide and 1/2-mile deep, has endless bars, restaurants, and boutiques. There is also quite a few free museums and hidden gems that are extremely easy to miss, especially if all of your time is spent bellied up at one of the local bars on Bourbon Street.

Local businesses in New Orleans offer more than enough ways to explore the French Quarter and surrounding areas, but by far the most common tours are 1) Bus Tours, 2) Walking Tours, and 3) Carriage Tours. Now, bus tours and walking tours are available in most every city! There isn’t anything unique or special about that! Few cities across America have carriages, but most provide just rides and transportation. Only a few carriage companies combine the ride with a fantastic tour, and this is something that we do extremely well in New Orleans. Keep reading to see just why!

Large Tour Buses are actually only allowed on certain streets in the French Quarter, and basically only provide hotel-pick-up services. Once seated inside the tour bus, it’s pretty hard to look out of the window and embrace that beautiful architecture, the sounds of the street performers, and the smell of roasted garlic rolling out of the restaurants. Plus, what if you get a guide who talks over the intercom like Ben Stein, the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller?!”

Walking Tours of the area give you the opportunity to experience just that, however, imagine what it’s like to walk on narrow sidewalks with a group of 28 various travelers for two hours. It can get pretty crowded and distracting, not to mention the fact that you’re going to go crazy just standing around certain areas for so long. Some people in the group walk fast, some walk slow, and you are stuck in the middle of it all. Walking Tours are really challenging for tour guides and typically refer to the experience as to “herding cats!”

So, why are carriage tours the best way to see New Orleans?

1. Carriage Tours with Royal Carriages combine authentic mule-drawn carriage rides of the historic French Quarter District with professional tour guides who are energetic and passionate about sharing the story of New Orleans with its many visitors! These guides are top-rated by thousands of TripAdvisor Members!
2. Unlike tour buses, our carriages can roll wherever they please, and frequently visit areas outside of the French Quarter that just aren’t obtainable with a walking or bus tour. Our carriage passengers usually feel like we are giving them a little lagniappe (that means something extra in Creole) when we tour them the various Creole Neighborhoods outside of the Quarter like the Faubourg Marigny or Treme, home of jazz music! You’ll get to see “where the locals go” for live music and see so many more colorful Creole cottages and shotgun homes! It’s truly incredible how much you can see in just 1-hour with Royal Carriages.
3. Our larger mule-drawn carriages seat between 6-8 passengers in each, ensuring that you won’t get lost in the crowd since it’s more of an intimate small-group experience. No microphones are needed since all carriage passengers are within 6 feet of the carriage driver who speaks loud enough for everyone to hear. Passengers have the opportunity to have conversations with the tour guide, asking various questions that may help him or her better understand the topic of discussion. At the end of the ride, most carriage passengers feel as if their tour guide is now their New Orleans’ friend! You are always welcomed to come back and find us, and we can continue answering questions and give you fantastic tips and suggestions! Royal Carriages is always eager to please!
4. In just 30-minutes, our carriages cover more ground and more information than a 2-hour walking tour! It’s true! Our 1-hour specialty carriage tours are basically combining 4-hours of walking tours into a 1-hour mule-drawn adventure of the historic downtown, without having to walk! Let’s face it when on vacation, time and money are precious! It’s best to spend both wisely. 
5. Lastly, you’re not walking or standing around in one single area for an extended period of time!  You know how it feels to be standing in a large group with someone speaking at your for a long time…your feet and legs get tired, your mind gets’s distracted, and you start playing on your PHONE! The carriage helps solve all of those problems! As the carriage slowly rolls past all of these amazing historic restaurants and businesses, you’ll be learning exactly why they are so important to the city of New Orleans and its history, all while seated comfortably on a carriage and supporting a 75-year-old family-owned business that employs and cares for over 68 precious carriage mules! You’ll have plenty of opportunities to take great photos and videos. You may have so much fun that you forget to pull out your phone all together! Our goal at Royal Carriages is to help you time-travel back to the good old days! 

We hope you that you've enjoyed reading our 5 Reasons Why A Carriage Tour is the Best Way to Discover New Orleans!  We hope this has made you so excited to book with us!! If you have any questions, don't be afraid to give us a call at 504-943-8820! 

All throughout the day and night, when the carriages are lined up at Jackson Square waiting for riders, the drivers frequently hear passerbys argue whether or not the animals pulling the carriages are horses or donkeys. Most are incredibly shocked to hear that the animals are neither horses or donkeys, but a blend of both animals. Most people have no idea that mules even exist, which is CRAZY because they are so important to humans and our history!

What is a Mule?
A Mule is the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), and are typically sterile. The only way Mules exist is because people began breeding these two species together ages ago, but why?

Why Mules?

• As it turns out, Mules are actually one of the hardiest animals on the Earth, known to be smarter, stronger, and more surefooted that their horse-counterpart. That in itself is amazing! Don’t you agree?
• Mules also have much thicker skin and denser muscles than either of their parents, meaning they are largely unaffected by biting or stinging insects!
• Mules can out-perform both of their parent in almost every field that makes them useful! One specific category that mules won’t exceed in though is speed! We’ll leave that one to the horses!
• Mules are extremely well-adapted for desert travel! We can thank their desert-dwelling donkey fathers for this one! They are more resistant to extreme temperatures and can survive far longer without a drink than either parent animal. Mules are very much like the camels of the equine world in many ways!

Mule-Drawn Carriages in New Orleans
Royal Carriages in New Orleans, Louisiana began in 1941, using a mixture of both mules and horses for the first 30-years. In the 1970’s, Mr. Jimmy Lauga visited The Reese Brothers at their farm in Gallatin, Tennessee. Mr. Lauga was more than impressed with the quality and care of these extremely large Belgium draft mules. He soon replaced his entire herd with mules instead of horses, and it’s been that way ever since!
Years later in the 1980’s, Mr. Lauga and Dr. Beirhman DVM worked with the City of New Orleans to establish the current laws and regulations regarding the commercial carriage industry that are still in effect to this day. Together, they fought for the use of mules over horses, and to this day, all of the various animal-drawn carriages that you see in the French Quarter are all pulled by these amazing hybrid animals!

Royal Carriages currently employ 68 working carriage mules! Why so many? Our 75-year-old family-owned business is actually one of the largest commercial carriage operators in the United States and we employ about 25 professional, licensed carriage driving tour guides! ...and it’s totally true, we treat our mules better than we treat our drivers! While our carriage drivers receive just about 2 weeks of vacation each year (which is pretty standard amongst most employers), each of our Royal Carriage mules receives 3-6 months of vacation on one of our farms, plus paid healthcare, dental, housing, food, shoes...you name it, they got it!

A Day in the Life of a Carriage Mule
Early in the morning, before the sun rises over the city, our stable crew is hard at work making sure the mules receive their feed on time each day! It’s a fun thing to experience, seeing these mules run around in circles as they are just excited as pet dogs are to eat! The mules are given ample time to eat their fill and digest their food before the carriage drivers arrive hours later. Once the carriage drivers arrive, each driver retrieves it’s mule, providing that mule a nice soapy bubble bath. Bathtime and grooming provide the mule and the driver the opportunity to bond with one another prior to their day of work. After a driver has harnessed it’s mule, staff members assist one another with putting the mule to the carriage, and then the driver and mule are off to work! In New Orleans, an average shift is about 7 hours long.

Throughout the 7-hour shift, carriage drivers and mules do an average of 2-5 hours of actual tours, totaling anywhere between 8-15 miles of moderate exercise and. Mules also work NO MORE than 5 days each week, and absolutely cannot work a night shift followed by a day shift! These are examples of our city regulations which we are more than grateful for. At Royal Carriages, our mules work in the city between 6-9 months each year, receiving an immediate 3-6 months of pasture vacation. This rotation provides mules a lot of time to enjoy both work and muleling around!

After 7 hours out of the stable, the mule-drawn carriages return to the stable, where other mules and drivers are ready to begin their night! Worked mules are rinsed and brought back to their large box stalls where both hay and grain are waiting for them! No matter how hard these giants work, they always skip the water and head straight for that sweet feed! Some of them like to roll around, covering themselves with dirt and shavings immediately after work! This is typical mule behavior! They do love to roll! 

Well, well, well, we hoped you learned a little bit about our mules!
They are indeed incredible animals and we are so thankful for the opportunity to work with mules and share them with the public each and every day!

If you are a fan of these long-eared lovers like we are, we’d love to meet you! Consider making a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, and let us show you around! We have so many tour options to choose from, including tours of our stable where visitors can meet, pet, and learn about our mules a little bit more!

From our family to yours, thank you for reading and sharing our story!