A car is essential. The River Road plantations are spread over 50-plus kilometres; the bayou towns along Lafourche are another 40 kilometres south; there is no public transport connecting any of it. Donaldsonville's own downtown is small enough to walk in twenty minutes, but everything else requires driving. The River Road is best taken at a leisurely pace — stop at plantation gates, pull over when the levee view looks good, allow half a day for the stretch to New Orleans rather than trying to rush it.