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Voykit pocket guide · United States
Houma
Give Houma one night, two at most: it is a bayou-and-wetlands base, not a sightseeing city. Come for an airboat run and Cajun plate lunches.
Houma is a small city of about 33,000 on Bayou Terrebonne in south-central Louisiana, the seat of Terrebonne Parish and the middle of a metro area of a little over 200,000 with Thibodaux and Bayou Cane. Visitors use it as a base for swamp tours, plantation houses and Cajun food, not as a place to walk a historic core. New Orleans is about 1 h 15 min by car, Lafayette about 2 h 10 min.
- Country
- United States
- Best months
- Feb–May, Oct–Nov
- Avoid
- Jun–Sep (heat, humidity and hurricane season); check for storm closures
- Stay
- 1–2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- USD
- Money
- Currency is the US dollar (USD, $). Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere; carry a little cash for tips and small vendors.
- Daily spend
- Budget $90–140 excl. bed · Mid $140–230 excl. bed · High $230+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile cover the country; prepaid SIMs at their stores and Walmart/Target (passport required), or an eSIM before you fly.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance 911 · Houma Police Department (non-emergency) 985-873-6371
- Plugs
- Types A, B · 120 V · 60 Hz · Chargers are dual-voltage; hair dryers and straighteners from 230 V countries need a converter.
- Tipping
- Sit-down restaurant: 18–22% of the pre-tax bill.; Bar: US$1–2 per drink or 20% of the tab.; Taxi / ride-hailing: 15–20%, in the app.; Hotel housekeeping: US$3–5 a night.; Porter / valet: US$2–5 per bag or car.; Tour guide: US$10–20 per person for a day tour.; Counter service / tablet prompts: Optional; 0–15%.
- Water
- Tap water is drinkable nearly everywhere; boil or treat water from streams in parks.
- Toilets
- Free public toilets are scarce in big cities; use cafés, department stores, libraries, stations. Rest areas on highways are free.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee | $3–5 |
| Plate lunch (meat, rice, side) | $12–18 |
| Po-boy | $10–16 |
| Boiled crawfish, per pound, in season | $6–9 |
| Museum entry | $1–10 |
| Airboat swamp tour, adult | $40 |
| Gallon of petrol | $3–4 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- MSY · Louis Armstrong New Orleans International
- About 1 h 15 min by car via I-310 and US-90; the usual arrival airport for Houma.
- LFT · Lafayette Regional
- About 2 h 10 min by car via US-90 east.
Typical fares
- MSY airport → Houma by car
- about 1 h 15 min, 100 kmabout 1 h 15 min, 62 mi
- Greyhound Houma → New Orleans
- about 1 h 30 min, fare check
- Airboat swamp tour, adult
- $40, about 1½ hours
Get around
A car is effectively required: sights, swamp-tour launches and plantation houses sit outside the centre and there is no useful local transit. Greyhound stops at a Shop-N-Bag on West Park Avenue and links Lafayette, Morgan City, Thibodaux, Houma, Raceland and New Orleans along US-90. Amtrak's Sunset Limited stops at Schriever, about 20 min north, three days a week; the station has no facilities.
See and do
Known for
- Bayou Terrebonne and the Intracoastal Waterway
- Airboat swamp tours
- Cajun and seafood plate lunches
- Southdown Plantation House
- Chauvin Sculpture Garden
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | Car via I-310 and US-90, or Greyhound from West Park Avenue | About 1 h 15 min by car |
| Thibodaux | Car via LA-24 or LA-20 | About 30–40 min |
| Morgan City | Car west on US-90 | About 45 min |
| Franklin | Car west on US-90 | About 1 h 15 min |
| Grand Isle | Car south on LA-1 | About 1 h 30 min |
Sleep
- West Park Avenue corridor
- Chain hotels, the mall and most restaurants; you need a car for everything.
- Downtown Houma (Main Street)
- Closer to the bayou front and a few local restaurants; quieter at night.
- Grand Caillou Road
- Extended-stay and budget options south of the centre, on the road toward Chauvin.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Thank you | Thank you |
| Where is the restroom? | Where is the restroom? |
| Can I pay by card? | Can I pay by card? |
| Is this seat taken? | Is this seat taken? |
| How far is it? | How far is it? |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and 'hi, how are you?' — reply 'good, thanks'; avoid: Treating the question as a real health enquiry
- Restaurants: Tip 18–22% and wait for the check; avoid: Leaving without tipping
- Personal space: Keep an arm's length in queues; avoid: Standing close to strangers
- Politics and religion: Listen more than you speak; avoid: Opening with hot-button topics
- Smoking: Smoke only in marked areas; avoid: Smoking near doors or in parks where banned
Scams and watch-outs
- Hurricane season runs Jun–Nov: check storm tracks and evacuation routes before booking a summer trip.
- Airboat and swamp tours run on reservation and can be cancelled by weather; confirm the day before.
- Some plantation houses and small museums keep short or seasonal hours: check before driving out.
- Distances between sights are longer than they look on a map; plan around one or two stops a day.
Houma is a normal small US city: the real risks are heat, mosquitoes and summer storms, not street crime. Drive carefully on US-90 and bayou roads, and keep an eye on hurricane forecasts from June to November.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Houma yet. Suggested stay: 1–2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Bayou Terrebonne and the Intracoastal Waterway
- Airboat swamp tours
- Cajun and seafood plate lunches
- Southdown Plantation House
- Chauvin Sculpture Garden
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Houma Area Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.houmatravel.com/
- Louisiana Office of Tourism: www.louisianatravel.com/
- Amtrak — Sunset Limited: www.amtrak.com/routes/sunset-limited-train.html
- Greyhound: www.greyhound.com/
- Wikivoyage: Houma, revision 5243993 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5243993
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Houma
To this address, please
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
- Police, fire, ambulance911
- Houma Police Department (non-emergency)985-873-6371
No embassies in Houma; consulates are in New Orleans and embassies in Washington, DC.
Tipping is expected: 18–22% at sit-down restaurants, $1–2 a drink, 15–20% taxis.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/houma). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.