New Orleans: French Quarter Disease History Walking Tour

4.92

(25 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the way the air in the French Quarter seems to hang heavy — not just from the humidity, but like it’s holding onto secrets. We met our guide right outside the Pharmacy Museum, and he grinned when he saw my friend’s umbrella (it wasn’t even raining, just that sticky Louisiana heat). “You’ll want that,” he said, “not for rain — for ghosts.” I thought he was joking, but honestly, after hearing about yellow fever and all those old epidemics, it didn’t sound so far-fetched.

We wandered past Jackson Square, where buskers played brass and a woman sold pralines from a cart. Our guide pointed at a balcony and told us how families used to hang yellow flags when someone inside was sick. It’s weird — you start picturing those flags everywhere once you know. The stories weren’t sugarcoated; there were details about squalid conditions and some pretty wild medical ideas (leeches came up more than once). I tried to pronounce “lagnappe” like he did — Li laughed when I butchered it. The smell of beignets drifted over from somewhere nearby, mixing with something sharper from the old pharmacy doors.

I didn’t expect to feel so much empathy for people who lived here centuries ago. There’s something about walking these same streets, hearing about voodoo rituals and desperate prayers during cholera outbreaks, that makes it all feel close. Our guide had this way of weaving in little facts — like how religion shaped public health — without making it sound like a lecture. He even showed us an alley where doctors supposedly argued about what caused fever (spoiler: they were mostly wrong).

By the end, I kept looking at doorways differently. You can still see marks where floodwaters rose or where someone scratched a symbol for protection. It’s not exactly comforting, but it does make you appreciate how tough this city is — and how much history clings to every brick. I still think about that view down Royal Street as dusk settled in; everything felt quieter for a minute, even with all the noise around us.