Things to do in Baton Rouge, splurging
Destination dinners, serious cocktails, and a city that rewards the splurge.
This is Baton Rouge for people who book the table first and plan around it. Three days move from the Mississippi riverfront through a proper tasting-menu evening to a lap of LSU and Mid City, with the best cocktail bars and coffee shops filling the gaps. It suits a solo traveller or a couple who treat eating well as the itinerary, not an afterthought.
Day 1: Downtown and the river
A Gothic Revival capitol, a WWII destroyer on the Mississippi, dinner at Jubans and a nightcap at The Gregory in the old bank hall.
- 10:30 AM
Louisiana's Old State Capitol
1847 Gothic Revival gem, stained-glass dome, spiral staircase, and the immersive Ghost of the Castle experience.
Map - 12:30 PM
Cocha
Globally inflected small plates, vegetable and seafood-forward modern cooking, the buzziest lunch table downtown.
Map - 2:30 PM
USS KIDD Veterans Museum
Self-guided tour of a real Fletcher-class WWII destroyer moored on the Mississippi, genuinely spectacular.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
The Gregory restaurant bar
The Watermark's bar in the old Bank of Louisiana hall, under Angela Gregory murals; an easy last drink.
Map
Day 2: Boutiques, Indian lunch, a long dinner
A slow morning browsing Perkins Rowe, a sit-down Indian lunch at Bay Leaf, a stretch in Parklawn Park, then a long churrascaria dinner back at Perkins Rowe.
- 10:30 AM
Perkins Rowe
Open-air shopping street with boutiques, a bookshop and coffee; the same block as tonight's Texas de Brazil.
Map - 12:30 PM
Bay Leaf Indian Cuisine
Sit-down North Indian lunch in the southeast suburbs; order the lamb rogan josh and garlic naan.
Map - 2:30 PM
- 7:30 PM
Texas de Brazil - Baton Rouge
All-you-can-eat churrascaria at Perkins Rowe; go light at the salad bar before the picanha comes round.
Map
Day 3: Mid City, LSU, and BLDG 5
Beignets and café au lait at a 50-year institution, a live tiger on campus, 11,000-year-old mounds, and dinner on BLDG 5's patio.
- 9:30 AM
Coffee Call
50-year Baton Rouge institution, get the crisp-edged beignet fingers and a café au lait to start the day right.
Map - 10:30 AM
Mike the Tiger's Habitat
Only live tiger mascot on a US college campus, 15,000 sq ft habitat with waterfall and pool.
Map - 12:30 PM
The Chimes
LSU's north-gate tavern since 1983; fried alligator, crawfish étouffée and a very long draft list.
Map - 4:30 PM
LSU Campus Mounds
Two earthen mounds built by hunter-gatherers about 11,000 years ago, among the oldest in North America.
Map - 7:30 PM
BLDG 5 Market | Kitchen | Patio
Market and kitchen under the Perkins overpass; share a board and the crab cake plate out on the patio.
Map - 9:30 PM
Mid City Beer Garden
Fifty-plus taps under a plant-filled atrium and a big open-air patio on Government Street; 21 and over.
Map
Where to stay
WATERMARK Baton Rouge
The old Bank of Louisiana tower by the Old State Capitol, with The Gregory downstairs for Day 1's nightcap.
Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center
The 1927 Heidelberg Hotel on the river, a short walk from the capitol and the USS Kidd.
Make Baton Rouge your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Tiger Stadium: months ahead
- Santa Maria Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Last Wilderness Swamp Tours: a few days ahead
- Topgolf Baton Rouge: a few days ahead
- The Cook Hotel and Conference Center at LSU: months ahead
- Elsie's Plate & Pie: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Plantation tours that sanitise slavery. Choose Whitney for history centred on enslaved lives.
- The downtown riverboat casino as a destination. L'Auberge is the casino stay instead.
- Mall of Louisiana and Perkins Rowe dining presented as Baton Rouge food.
- Tigerland for anyone over about 23, and downtown on Sunday or Monday night expecting nightlife.
The full Baton Rouge travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around