Good news: the Black Death is no longer airborne. Mostly.
In 1713, the plague returned to Prague. Most of the city's doctors suddenly discovered they had urgent business in literally any other town. Alexandr Schamsky, 28 years old and apparently lacking that survival instinct, stayed. He treated patients, documented the outbreak and somehow lived to tell the tale. Three hundred years later, you can follow his footsteps through Prague's Old Town with a guide in full 17th-century plague doctor costume: beaked mask, hooded cloak, leather medical bag and all.
This is not a typical sightseeing tour. Over 90 minutes, your guide brings Schamsky's storey to life with the wit, detail and dark humour of someone who has told it thousands of times - because we have. The tour has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vogue and Forbes - proof that medieval medicine still makes excellent journalism.
What you'll experience:
You'll walk roughly 1.5–2 km through Prague's Old Town, starting near Klementinum and finishing at the beautiful St Agnes Convent. Along the way, your plague doctor guide will:
Reveal five competing 18th-century theories on what actually caused the plague (one involves the alignment of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn)
Explain how quarantine was enforced in 1713 Prague - at sword point, if necessary
Let you smell the lavender oil plague doctors used as protection
Offer you an anti-plague pill (sugar-based, vegan, and considerably safer than the original 18th-century recipe)
Pass by one of Europe's oldest continuously operating hospitals
Share the now-infamous “avocado analogy” that previous guests promise will change how you shop for groceries forever
The tour is built on real historical research, not generic facts recycled from a guidebook. Expect genuine surprises, several laughs in places you didn't expect to laugh, and a finishing group photo with your plague doctor at St Agnes Convent.
Who this tour is for:
This tour is for anyone who finds history more interesting when it's slightly uncomfortable. You don't need to know anything about Prague, the plague or the 18th century - we'll handle that part. What you do need is a tolerance for dark jokes, a willingness to be told things you didn't ask to know, and comfortable shoes, because the Old Town has been cobblestone since long before anyone thought about your ankles.
We get history lovers, of course. But we also get people who normally find history tours boring and walk away surprised. Families do brilliantly here - kids tend to remember “the plague doctor tour” long after they've forgotten the castle. And then there's our strangest recurring audience: doctors, nurses and medical students, who come for the bacteriology and leave with a newly complicated relationship with squirrels.
We are a family-owned Prague company founded in 2016. We also run The Nightwatchman of Prague (medieval crime and curfew).
