Characterised by its port on the Mississippi, its wonderful Art Deco buildings, the tallest capitol in the nation and lush greenery, this is a destination that will quickly win you over with its Cajun charm.
Baton Rouge is a place where you can explore the Creole cooking delights and soak up live jazz and blues in low-key, intimate bars.
Visit old plantation houses, take a steamboat trip on the river and get to know the city’s scandalous political history and you will come closer to touching upon what makes this Southern destination so appealing and inseparable from its captivating past. Meanwhile, just a short drive from the city, you can enjoy inland swamps, coastal marshes and mazes of bayous, all teeming with wildlife.
The range of accommodation options in Baton Rouge ensures that visitors can find a suitable place to stay, with chains catering for those who prefer to rely on lodgings with an international reputation, while tourists looking for more authentically Louisiana accommodation can try one of the numerous bed and breakfasts dotted across the city.
The region of Baton Rouge was first settled by Native Indians, with the Houmas and Bayougoulas tribes dividing up the lands into separate hunting grounds, indicated by blood-smeared poles. The French explorers who arrived in 1699 named the early settlement after these poles, with Baton Rouge translating as ‘red stick’.
The French-Canadian Acadians arrived from Nova Scotia, a British colony at the time, in 1755, after having been expelled on account of their refusal to renounce their Catholic faith and swear allegiance to the Crown. The beginnings of the French settlement in Louisiana saw Baton Rouge develop as a small farming community, with hunting and trapping also playing a big part in the resident’s lives.
This isolated community remained fairly unchanged for centuries until the 1940s, when paved roads connecting the town with other US states were introduced, contributing to an influx of new settlers. Cajun music gained in popularity and the booming oil business attracted immigrants from across the country, with Baton Rouge mushrooming as a result.
However, the oil slump hit the community hard, while the region’s susceptibility to hurricanes has also contributed to sometimes annual devastation.
Political events and scandals have also played an important role in Baton Rouge’s history, with the State Capital being the site of the assassination of Democratic Governor Huey Long, who was responsible for instigating many of the city’s public works in the late 1920s. Other Baton Rouge governors who gained notoriety include Ku Klux Klan member David Duke, who was eventually imprisoned for the embezzlement of his supporters’ money, while Governor Eddie Edwards was also sentenced for extortion in 2001.
Despite the indigenous French language having been virtually wiped out with Roosevelt’s decree that all children should speak English at school, the strong French and African influences on the region remain, combining with Americanism and the natural beauty of the area to create a mystical and enchanting destination.
Susceptible to dramatically shifting weather conditions throughout the year, largely due to winds that sweep in from both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, storms and temperature changes are not uncommon, regardless of the season.
With its southerly location, Baton Rouge gets hotter than many parts of the country in the summer, making for uncomfortable and humid conditions, which are sometimes relieved by breezes that come in from the Gulf of Mexico. This is also the wettest time of the year, with thunderstorms and the risk of hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic, sometimes causing annual devastation.
Winters are generally much milder than at destinations farther north; however, it is not unheard of for snow to reach the Gulf of Mexico and chilly winds are the norm. The autumn is a lengthy season and often makes a pleasant time to visit, with the weather being typically mild at this time of year.
