About Henley's Private Tours
Step into the stories and the laughs with Glen Henley, your host, driver, and lifelong enthusiast of all things Louisiana. A licensed New Orleans tour guide since 2012 and owner-operator since 2016, Glen has taken countless guests through the city’s vibrant neighborhoods, historic mansions, and plantation landscapes, all with warmth, insight, and a deep local connection.
Transportation:
Comfort, Luxury, Room to Spare.
Your tour begins the moment you step into our pristine white Lincoln Navigator—spacious, quiet, and outfitted for comfort. With plush leather seating, climate control, and plenty of legroom, you can relax and enjoy the ride as much as the destination. The Navigator’s elevated seating offers excellent views of the city and countryside, while its smooth ride makes even longer drives to plantations or Lake Pontchartrain a pleasure. Whether it’s just the two of you or a small group, there’s room for everyone to travel in style.
Glen Henley
Owner/Operator, licensed tour guide Since 2012
I usually don't discuss my qualifications and prefer guests' reviews speak for me. Thus, I encourage you to read those reviews before delving into my background. With over 200 five-star reviews, I've had the pleasure of meeting families and individuals from diverse backgrounds. The most rewarding aspect of running a private tour company is the opportunity to engage with my guests, who share in their experiences, and, of course, I share the vibrant life of New Orleans. In addition to the reviews on my website, we have hundreds of reviews on websites such as TripAdvisor, Viator, Google, Yelp, and others.​
Henley's Private Tours Mission:
My goal is simple, I make sure that every guest leaves with a deeper understanding of New Orleans and/or Plantations - and we have a few laughs along the way.
Glen Henley Biography
Shortly after high school, I joined the United States Air Force and served for 4 years. Immediately upon completing my tour with the Air Force, I started a career in sales. For most of my career in sales, I called on business owners and managers and sold computer and software solutions. I usually sold accounting and customer service systems over for decades. When I started with a nationally known software vendor that specialized in the Property and casualty insurance market,​ I was one of their top representatives for over 12 years. Unfortunately, the owners decided reorganize the company on December 11th, 2005, I was called to and told that 26 people were being laid off and I was in that number. This was about 86 weeks after Katrina. The job market was pretty bad in 2026 and so I took the exit package and went to work in the insurance industry. I floated with several opportunities and finally decided to start a new career in the tour business.
I had seriously considered getting into the tour business many years earlier, so I got my tour guide license and my Commercial CDL license and applied for a position with a large tour company and was given a chance in the tour business. (They hired me knowing I didn't have any experience in the tour business, an absolute miracle!) I had had done thousands of presentations in my career sales, so I felt this was a great fit for me. However, I didn’t realize how much I had to learn, so after several years with them I realized, I really needed more knowledge to do city tours properly and I didn’t have expertise needed. So, I began spending countless hours reading dozens of books and articles on various topics about New Orleans and Louisiana. After continuing working for a few tour companies, I decided to start my own private tour business, "Henley's Private Tours", in 2016. Since then I've conducted over 900 tours and now offer both city and plantation tours.
Although I was not born in New Orleans and am a native of South Louisiana, and I’ve lived in the area since 1975. I spent much of my informative years in the wetlands, (swamps and marshes) of Louisiana and I have been an avid fisherman all of my life. My family were successful entrepreneurs in the restaurant and grocery store business and my Great grandmother was 100% Cajun french.
Passion for Sharing History
I love to share stories and subjects about the first explorers, the Mississippi river, the past and present history, the cemeteries, the architecture, the legendary citizens, many of the famous landmarks, our wetlands, the flood control systems in the area, the plantation life, slavery, the neighborhoods, the food (the po-boy story is unusual), the music, the diversity, (French, Spanish, English, German, Italian, Irish, Croatian, African, etc.), the origins of the people, the architecture, the mansions and the Catholic influence. We will also discuss the Creole and Cajun cultures and such topics as, our ports, the Battle of New Orleans, the Civil War here, the National World War 2 museum, Hurricane Katrina, Free people of color, Mardi Gras, Jazz, the unique food here, and even more.
New Orleans is one of the most unique and beautiful cities in the world. (It's not just the French Quarter either.)