About me
My name is Vadim. I come from Russia but have lived in Prague for eight years. I studied physics, ran and hiked, and traveled through some 30 countries on all populated continents except Africa. I have no formal education in history — and unfortunately, education in travel does not exist — but history, architecture, languages and travel have always been my passions. I speak Russian, English, French and Czech fluently, and can get the basics of any European language to the south of Flanders, Greek and Basque aside.
I have always spent time exploring cities and nature, space and time, stone and soul. Guiding others, sharing my discoveries and turning inside out things that do not have a flip side was for me half a hobby, half a dream, until I started doing it professionally in Prague in 2024.
So far I am the only person behind the project.
How does it work
I have several prepared tours, which you can read more about on the site in the "Tours" section, and you can book online on one of the major tour operator platforms (the respective links are on each tour page). There you can check calendar and availability, it is always up-to-date. The tours start twice a day, in the morning (10 or 11 am) and in the afternoon (2:30 or 3 pm). Full refunds are possible up to 24 hours before the start time, and latest booking time is 1-2 hours before the start (depends on the tour).
Tours start at easily accessible locations (metro/tram stops), in some cases, hotel pickup with public transport is included. I always contact visitors by whatsapp to make sure no one gets lost.
Alternatively, if you want a private tour, do not find anything that fits you, have some doubts or just want to write to me - write to me! In contacts section (or just at the bottom of each page) there are messengers and email links. I will arrange something that suits you.
All tours are available in English, French or Russian (one language at a time, based on the first booking). Times and languages of tours overlap, don't let that confuse you. Everything is based on the first booking - e.g., if I receive the first booking for Friday afternoon for Historical walk in French, I close other bookings and accept only ones for Historical walk in French.
The tours
I offer tours in small groups (up to 8 people) or as private tours, essentially walking, based on intense conversation and attention to detail. They focus on history and people, through architecture, streets and monuments. They are intense. The shortest is a 2-hour walk through Vinohrady district, which is 5 km long.
The short list of scheduled and bookable tours:
- Vinohrady Belle Epoque walk - 2 hours
- Malá Strana Baroque experience - 3 hours, 3-5km
- Historical walk (Prague Castle, Malá Strana, Old Town, Jewish Quarter) - 4 hours, up to 10km.
Prices for each tour you can find on dedicated tour pages. They start at 25 Eur/person, are charged per person and are discounted for seniors and children.
All tours run under any weather conditions.
On request I arrange full-day tours in Prague, by car or public transport, and outside Prague to remarkable castles and towns, such as Kutna Hora, Karlstejn, Cesky Krumlov. Also, hiking adventures on foot or by bike, which combine beautiful nature with historical heritage.
In my tours, I combine renowned "must see" landmarks with "hidden gems" known by locals or which I discovered myself. I'm not much influenced with trends and see beauty and value with my own eyes.
How I guide
Architecture, paintings, music, all kinds of art are just reflections of humans — how they think, what they feel, how they see the world. When you understand that, you don't just see a building or a painting. You understand it. You feel it. You could create it yourself.
Why do people travel? To get away from boredom, to have some fresh impressions. And if you see things differently, how people saw them a hundred years ago, wouldn't it be a fresh feeling and impression?
I know names and dates, but they serve only to build connections between things. If you are preparing for your history test, I will overwhelm you with dates and names. I know a lot of facts, many of them contested, unexpected or poorly known. If you want to win the next pub quiz in your neighborhood, I will overwhelm you with lots of unexpected facts. But what I want us to do together is to understand why things came to be as they are. And dates, names and facts will be the foundation we build on.
Why are there Sun, Moon and star hands on the Astronomical Clock, but no minute one? Why are colors and light more important in Baroque architecture than the scenes painted on frescoes? How did early medieval builders make Prague Old Town the center of nightlife in the 21st century?
I enjoy questions — both the ones I have a perfect answer to and the ones that catch me off guard. The guests I enjoy most are curious, adventurous, open-eyed and ready to move. If that sounds like you, let's go.
You can see Prague through my eyes at my Instagram page.
Is this for you?
Let's make it clear: I'm not an umbrella tour guide. Every tour has an idea behind it and a rough itinerary. But it is never the same - we may go slightly different way, the talk may take different directions.
I do not enforce formal requirements like age, physical condition, language mastery, preliminary knowledge or or whether you have a stroller, eg. But what I expect from you is curiosity and mobility. Look, ask questions, if something goes wrong - speak up, and together we'll make a lot of discoveries and will have great time. But if you think that I will open your head cover and put some knowledge into your brain - I am not that enlightened, sorry. I really cannot speak into the void, and talks, arguments, exchanges with my guests are my biggest joy, and when i see their happy smiles, it is my biggest reward.
I started running those tours because personally myself I always felt bored at the guided tours - they are always the same, slow and didactically dry and if the guide wants to tell some enticing story, that will be the same story of unhappy love and a bride in a white dress roaming somewhere for centuries - surprisingly the same everywhere. If you enjoy this kind of stuff, you better choose another tour.