Welcome to Baton Rouge, and to this tour of the downtown area, presented by Insight Guides. My name is Kathleen and I’ll be your guide. This tour takes approximately two and a half hours to complete. You can stop at any time and start again at the same spot later. You can follow the route on your phone or simply listen as I guide you from one sight to the next. I’ll be giving you clear directions and the audio will automatically start playing when you get close to the next sight on the tour. Don’t worry if you need to skip a sight – the tour will pick up at the next location. One more thing before we get started – always be aware of your surroundings and be sure to obey all traffic signals.

Louisiana is as close as you come to visiting a foreign country in the United States. Its capital, Baton Rouge, is a mixture of many cultures. Founded by Iberville in 1699, he named the city Baton Rouge after a blood-stained red stick he saw marking the division between neighboring native tribes. All in all, seven different flags have flown over this city: French, British, Spanish, West Floridian, United States territory and state, Confederate, and once again United States.

It’s the second largest metropolitan area in the state so we can’t cover it all in a single walking tour. Instead, we're going to concentrate on one of the most interesting sections, the downtown area along the Mississippi River, which includes the capitol buildings and so much of the historical part of Baton Rouge.

We are going to start the tour at the Visitors’ Center. It’s centrally located and there is parking nearby. Parking meters are free after 6pm and on weekends in Baton Rouge.

Ready? Let's get going!