New Orleans Epidemics: History of Disease and Recovery

Uncover the infectious history of New Orleans on a historic and strange plague tour. Explore the squalid conditions, odd medical practices, and the resilience of the city.

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • New Orleans Pharmacy Museum - We’ll go into the history of strange ways the medical field approached various pandemics.
  • Jackson Square - The center of the French Quarter has a lot of history with pandemics and other disease.
  • French Quarter - Visit various stops across the French Quarter important to historic and recent pandemics and plague.
What's Included
  • Professional guide
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Pervasive epidemics have tormented New Orleans for many years, and if you’re interested in the intriguing backstory of our city, the ideal place to start is our complex history with illness.
We invite you on an eccentric historical journey to explore the unsanitary epidemic-riddled conditions that New Orleans has faced. Moreover, we’ll share motivating…

Location
815 Toulouse St
Toulouse Street
Meet at the Unique NOLA Tours shop
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(24 Ratings)
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Traveler11945008932
Apr 23, 2025
New Orleans history from a unique perspective - Miko took us on a fascinating and informative tour demonstrating the resilience of New Orleans in the face of multiple infectious disease challenges over the centuries. A walk through the French Quarter full of fun facts and historical details.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Claire_g
Apr 20, 2025
A hidden gem that’s actually a must do! - I was lucky enough to end up with a 1:1 tour experience. It was perfectly paced and informative. I work in outbreak response and love medical history - and I learned a lot of new things! This is a must do tour for my fellow nerds. Mikko showed me a trash can!
Review provided by Viator
Jeff_k
Mar 18, 2025
Garbage Not To Be Missed! - Mikko is extremely knowledgeable about the topic and New Orleans in general. Be prepared for a rapier wit and wonderful humor to be a tasty side dish to the info imparted. We saw a good smattering of the French Quarter along the way. While the Pharmaceutical Museum was closed on the day of our tour, don’t pass up this gem. Of all the Viator tours I’ve been on (all over the world), Mikko was by far the best tour guide. And, of course, the view of the in-ground garbage is not to be missed!
Review provided by Viator
Robert_k
Mar 2, 2025
My favorite tour of New Orleans history! - Mikko was a fabulous tour guide. He spoke of the city, current and past, the tour topic - Pestilence, Pandemic, and Plague throughout the history of New Orleans and the US, and as we were visiting during Mardi Gras season, a bit about what to enjoy around town. Mikko is a world traveler and it shows. Highly recommend this tour. It is not at all grim and gross but educational.
Review provided by Viator
716miquim
Oct 20, 2024
Pleased with Plagues - The tour guide, Mikko, was knowledgeable and charismatic, which made for a wonderful time to learn about the diseases/plagues of New Orleans. The best stop of the tour was definitely the floor trash can. Recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Peterbz1989yb
Sep 13, 2024
Take a walk through New Orleans and get down with the sickness - Lots of history and learning with this tour! The tour guide knows his stuff and there are a lot of diseases that made their way through the city.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
D4421oxsams
Sep 13, 2024
Mikko showed me a garbage can! - Mikko showed me a garbage can! Veri interesting character with lots of good stories and very interesting knowledge on the history of plagues in New Orleans
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hb864
Jul 18, 2024
Great tour!! - Mico (I can’t remember the spelling?!) was a knowledgeable and funny tour guide! He had us laughing with his story telling! I loved how he included history in with the paranormal stories! We also had a much smaller tour group of about 14ish people than other tour groups we saw which had about 30 people!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F8385ilmeganr
Jul 18, 2024
Ghost, History, Sightseeing with Nikko - Nikko was great! He led a fantastic tour around NOLA, full of unique ghost stories, history, and sightseeing! We really enjoyed it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alisa_p
Jun 30, 2024
Interesting Tour with an Engaging Tour Guide - Our tour guide, Dalvin, provided an entertaining and insightful tour. His knowledge and love for New Orleans came through during the tour as he was able to point out interesting and obscure details all along the way, in addition to the main points of our tour. He also made sure that we had opportunities to hydrate and rest, essential in the hot and humid weather. It was a nice touch that the tour provided us with waters at the start of our tour.
Review provided by Viator
From $37
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).