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What Was the Grand Tour of Europe?

Lucy Davidson

26 jan 2022, @lucejuiceluce.

In the 18th century, a ‘Grand Tour’ became a rite of passage for wealthy young men. Essentially an elaborate form of finishing school, the tradition saw aristocrats travel across Europe to take in Greek and Roman history, language and literature, art, architecture and antiquity, while a paid ‘cicerone’ acted as both a chaperone and teacher.

Grand Tours were particularly popular amongst the British from 1764-1796, owing to the swathes of travellers and painters who flocked to Europe, the large number of export licenses granted to the British from Rome and a general period of peace and prosperity in Europe.

However, this wasn’t forever: Grand Tours waned in popularity from the 1870s with the advent of accessible rail and steamship travel and the popularity of Thomas Cook’s affordable ‘Cook’s Tour’, which made mass tourism possible and traditional Grand Tours less fashionable.

Here’s the history of the Grand Tour of Europe.

Who went on the Grand Tour?

In his 1670 guidebook The Voyage of Italy , Catholic priest and travel writer Richard Lassells coined the term ‘Grand Tour’ to describe young lords travelling abroad to learn about art, culture and history. The primary demographic of Grand Tour travellers changed little over the years, though primarily upper-class men of sufficient means and rank embarked upon the journey when they had ‘come of age’ at around 21.

‘Goethe in the Roman Campagna’ by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Rome 1787.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Grand Tours also became fashionable for women who might be accompanied by a spinster aunt as a chaperone. Novels such as E. M. Forster’s A Room With a View reflected the role of the Grand Tour as an important part of a woman’s education and entrance into elite society.

Increasing wealth, stability and political importance led to a more broad church of characters undertaking the journey. Prolonged trips were also taken by artists, designers, collectors, art trade agents and large numbers of the educated public.

What was the route?

The Grand Tour could last anything from several months to many years, depending on an individual’s interests and finances, and tended to shift across generations. The average British tourist would start in Dover before crossing the English Channel to Ostend in Belgium or Le Havre and Calais in France. From there the traveller (and if wealthy enough, group of servants) would hire a French-speaking guide before renting or acquiring a coach that could be both sold on or disassembled. Alternatively, they would take the riverboat as far as the Alps or up the Seine to Paris .

Map of grand tour taken by William Thomas Beckford in 1780.

From Paris, travellers would normally cross the Alps – the particularly wealthy would be carried in a chair – with the aim of reaching festivals such as the Carnival in Venice or Holy Week in Rome. From there, Lucca, Florence, Siena and Rome or Naples were popular, as were Venice, Verona, Mantua, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Milan, Turin and Mont Cenis.

What did people do on the Grand Tour?

A Grand Tour was both an educational trip and an indulgent holiday. The primary attraction of the tour lay in its exposure of the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, such as the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, as well as the chance to enter fashionable and aristocratic European society.

Johann Zoffany: The Gore Family with George, third Earl Cowper, c. 1775.

In addition, many accounts wrote of the sexual freedom that came with being on the continent and away from society at home. Travel abroad also provided the only opportunity to view certain works of art and potentially the only chance to hear certain music.

The antiques market also thrived as lots of Britons, in particular, took priceless antiquities from abroad back with them, or commissioned copies to be made. One of the most famous of these collectors was the 2nd Earl of Petworth, who gathered or commissioned some 200 paintings and 70 statues and busts – mainly copies of Greek originals or Greco-Roman pieces – between 1750 and 1760.

It was also fashionable to have your portrait painted towards the end of the trip. Pompeo Batoni painted over 175 portraits of travellers in Rome during the 18th century.

Others would also undertake formal study in universities, or write detailed diaries or accounts of their experiences. One of the most famous of these accounts is that of US author and humourist Mark Twain, whose satirical account of his Grand Tour in Innocents Abroad became both his best selling work in his own lifetime and one of the best-selling travel books of the age.

Why did the popularity of the Grand Tour decline?

A Thomas Cook flyer from 1922 advertising cruises down the Nile. This mode of tourism has been immortalised in works such as Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie.

The popularity of the Grand Tour declined for a number of reasons. The Napoleonic Wars from 1803-1815 marked the end of the heyday of the Grand Tour, since the conflict made travel difficult at best and dangerous at worst.

The Grand Tour finally came to an end with the advent of accessible rail and steamship travel as a result of Thomas Cook’s ‘Cook’s Tour’, a byword of early mass tourism, which started in the 1870s. Cook first made mass tourism popular in Italy, with his train tickets allowing travel over a number of days and destinations. He also introduced travel-specific currencies and coupons which could be exchanged at hotels, banks and ticket agencies which made travelling easier and also stabilised the new Italian currency, the lira.

As a result of the sudden potential for mass tourism, the Grand Tour’s heyday as a rare experience reserved for the wealthy came to a close.

Can you go on a Grand Tour today?

Echoes of the Grand Tour exist today in a variety of forms. For a budget, multi-destination travel experience, interrailing is your best bet; much like Thomas Cook’s early train tickets, travel is permitted along many routes and tickets are valid for a certain number of days or stops.

For a more upmarket experience, cruising is a popular choice, transporting tourists to a number of different destinations where you can disembark to enjoy the local culture and cuisine.

Though the days of wealthy nobles enjoying exclusive travel around continental Europe and dancing with European royalty might be over, the cultural and artistic imprint of a bygone Grand Tour era is very much alive.

To plan your own Grand Tour of Europe, take a look at History Hit’s guides to the most unmissable heritage sites in Paris , Austria and, of course, Italy .

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Print Collector/Getty Images 

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• M.A., Geography, California State University - Northridge
• B.A., Geography, University of California - Davis

The French Revolution marked the end of a spectacular period of travel and enlightenment for European youth, particularly from England. Young English elites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often spent two to four years touring around Europe in an effort to broaden their horizons and learn about language , architecture , geography, and culture in an experience known as the Grand Tour.

The Grand Tour, which didn't come to an end until the close of the eighteenth century, began in the sixteenth century and gained popularity during the seventeenth century. Read to find out what started this event and what the typical Tour entailed.

Origins of the Grand Tour

Privileged young graduates of sixteenth-century Europe pioneered a trend wherein they traveled across the continent in search of art and cultural experiences upon their graduation. This practice, which grew to be wildly popular, became known as the Grand Tour, a term introduced by Richard Lassels in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy . Specialty guidebooks, tour guides, and other aspects of the tourist industry were developed during this time to meet the needs of wealthy 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors as they explored the European continent.

These young, classically-educated Tourists were affluent enough to fund multiple years abroad for themselves and they took full advantage of this. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England in order to communicate with and learn from people they met in other countries. Some Tourists sought to continue their education and broaden their horizons while abroad, some were just after fun and leisurely travels, but most desired a combination of both.

Navigating Europe

A typical journey through Europe was long and winding with many stops along the way. London was commonly used as a starting point and the Tour was usually kicked off with a difficult trip across the English Channel.

Crossing the English Channel

The most common route across the English Channel, La Manche, was made from Dover to Calais, France—this is now the path of the Channel Tunnel. A trip from Dover across the Channel to Calais and finally into Paris customarily took three days. After all, crossing the wide channel was and is not easy. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Tourists risked seasickness, illness, and even shipwreck on this first leg of travel.

Compulsory Stops

Grand Tourists were primarily interested in visiting cities that were considered major centers of culture at the time, so Paris, Rome, and Venice were not to be missed. Florence and Naples were also popular destinations but were regarded as more optional than the aforementioned cities.

The average Grand Tourist traveled from city to city, usually spending weeks in smaller cities and up to several months in the three major ones. Paris, France was the most popular stop of the Grand Tour for its cultural, architectural, and political influence. It was also popular because most young British elite already spoke French, a prominent language in classical literature and other studies, and travel through and to this city was relatively easy. For many English citizens, Paris was the most impressive place visited.

Getting to Italy

From Paris, many Tourists proceeded across the Alps or took a boat on the Mediterranean Sea to get to Italy, another essential stopping point. For those who made their way across the Alps, Turin was the first Italian city they'd come to and some remained here while others simply passed through on their way to Rome or Venice.

Rome was initially the southernmost point of travel. However, when excavations of Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748) began, these two sites were added as major destinations on the Grand Tour.

Features of the Grand Tour

The vast majority of Tourists took part in similar activities during their exploration with art at the center of it all. Once a Tourist arrived at a destination, they would seek housing and settle in for anywhere from weeks to months, even years. Though certainly not an overly trying experience for most, the Grand Tour presented a unique set of challenges for travelers to overcome.

While the original purpose of the Grand Tour was educational, a great deal of time was spent on much more frivolous pursuits. Among these were drinking, gambling, and intimate encounters—some Tourists regarded their travels as an opportunity to indulge in promiscuity with little consequence. Journals and sketches that were supposed to be completed during the Tour were left blank more often than not.

Visiting French and Italian royalty as well as British diplomats was a common recreation during the Tour. The young men and women that participated wanted to return home with stories to tell and meeting famous or otherwise influential people made for great stories.

The study and collection of art became almost a nonoptional engagement for Grand Tourists. Many returned home with bounties of paintings, antiques, and handmade items from various countries. Those that could afford to purchase lavish souvenirs did so in the extreme.

Arriving in Paris, one of the first destinations for most, a Tourist would usually rent an apartment for several weeks or months. Day trips from Paris to the French countryside or to Versailles (the home of the French monarchy) were common for less wealthy travelers that couldn't pay for longer outings.

The homes of envoys were often utilized as hotels and food pantries. This annoyed envoys but there wasn't much they could do about such inconveniences caused by their citizens. Nice apartments tended to be accessible only in major cities, with harsh and dirty inns the only options in smaller ones.

Trials and Challenges

A Tourist would not carry much money on their person during their expeditions due to the risk of highway robberies. Instead, letters of credit from reputable London banks were presented at major cities of the Grand Tour in order to make purchases. In this way, tourists spent a great deal of money abroad.

Because these expenditures were made outside of England and therefore did not bolster England's economy, some English politicians were very much against the institution of the Grand Tour and did not approve of this rite of passage. This played minimally into the average person's decision to travel.

Returning to England

Upon returning to England, tourists were meant to be ready to assume the responsibilities of an aristocrat. The Grand Tour was ultimately worthwhile as it has been credited with spurring dramatic developments in British architecture and culture, but many viewed it as a waste of time during this period because many Tourists did not come home more mature than when they had left.

The French Revolution in 1789 halted the Grand Tour—in the early nineteenth century, railroads forever changed the face of tourism and foreign travel.

• Burk, Kathleen. "The Grand Tour of Europe". Gresham College, 6 Apr. 2005.
• Knowles, Rachel. “The Grand Tour.”   Regency History , 30 Apr. 2013.
• Sorabella, Jean. “The Grand Tour.”   Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History , The Met Museum, Oct. 2003.
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What Was the Grand Tour and Where Did People Go?

Freelance Travel and Music Writer

Nowadays, it’s so easy to pack a bag and hop on a flight or interrail across Europe’s railway at your own leisure. But what if it was known as a right of passage, made no easier by the fact that there was no such modern luxury? Welcome to the Grand Tour – and we’re not talking about Jeremy Clarkson’s TV series …

What was the grand tour all about.

The Grand Tour was a trip of Europe, typically undertaken by young men, which begun in the 17th century and went through to the mid-19th. Women over the age of 21 would occasionally partake, providing they were accompanied by a chaperone from their family. The Grand Tour was seen as an educational trip across Europe, usually starting in Dover, and would see young, wealthy travellers search for arts and culture. Though travelling was not as easy back then, mostly thanks to no rail routes like today, those on The Grand Tour would often have a healthy supply of funds in order to enjoy themselves freely.

What did travellers get up to?

Of course, in the 17th century, there was no such thing as the internet, making discovering things while sat on the other side of the world near impossible. Cultural integration was not yet fully-fledged and nothing like we experience today, so the only way to understand different ways of life was to experience them yourself. Hence why so many people set off for the Grand Tour – the ultimate trip across Europe!

Typical routes taken on the Grand Tour

Travellers (occompanied by a tutor) would often start around the South East region and head in to France, where a coach would often be rented should the party be wealthy enough. Occasionally, the coaches would need to be disassembled in order to cross difficult terrain such as the Alps.

Once passing through Calais and Paris, a typical journey would include a stop-off in Switzerland before crossing the Alps in to Northern Italy. Here’s where the wealth really comes in to play – as luggage and methods of transport would need to be dismantled and carried manually – as really rich travellers would often employ servants to carry everything for them.

Of course, Italy is a highly cultural country and famous for its art and historic buildings, so travellers would spend longer here. Turin, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Venice would be amongst the cities visited, generally enticing those in to extended stays.

On the return leg, travellers would visit Germany and occasionally Austria, including study time at universities such as Munich, before heading to Holland and Flanders, ahead of crossing the Channel back to Dover.

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What was the Grand Tour?

Find out about the travel phenomenon that became popular amongst the young nobility of England

Art, antiquity and architecture: the Grand Tour provided an opportunity to discover the cultural wonders of Europe and beyond.  

Popular throughout the 18th century, this extended journey was seen as a rite of passage for mainly young, aristocratic English men. 

As well as marvelling at artistic masterpieces, Grand Tourists brought back souvenirs to commemorate and display their journeys at home. 

One exceptional example forms the subject of a new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Canaletto’s Venice Revisited brings together 24 of Canaletto’s Venetian views, commissioned in 1731 by Lord John Russell following his visit to Venice. 

Find out more about this travel phenomenon – and uncover its rich cultural legacy. 

Canaletto's Venice Revisited

The origins of the Grand Tour

The development of the Grand Tour dates back to the 16th century. 

One of the earliest Grand Tourists was the architect Inigo Jones , who embarked on a tour of Italy in 1613-14 with his patron Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel. 

Jones visited cities such as Parma, Venice and Rome. However, it was Naples that proved the high point of his travels.  

Jones was particularly fascinated by the San Paolo Maggiore, describing the church as “one of the best things that I have ever seen.” 

Jones’s time in Italy shaped his architectural style. In 1616, Jones was commissioned to design the Queen’s House in Greenwich for Queen Anne of Denmark , the wife of King James I. Completed in around 1636, the house was the first classical building in England. 

The expression ‘Grand Tour’ itself comes from 17th century travel writer and Roman Catholic priest Richard Lassels, who used it in his guidebook The Voyage of Italy, published in 1670. 

By the 18th century, the Grand Tour had reached its zenith. Despite Anglo-French wars in 1689-97 and 1702-13, this was a time of relative stability in Europe, which made travelling across the continent easier. 

The Grand Tour route

For young English aristocrats, embarking on the Grand Tour was seen as an important rite of passage. 

Accompanied by a tutor, a Grand Tourist’s route typically involved taking a ship across the English Channel before travelling in a carriage through France, stopping at Paris and other major cities. 

Italy was also a popular destination thanks to the art and architecture of places such as Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan and Naples. More adventurous travellers ventured to Sicily or even sailed across to Greece. The average Grand Tour lasted for at least a year. 

As Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich explains, this extended journey marked the culmination of a Grand Tourist’s education.  

“The Grand Tourists would have received an education that was grounded in the Classics,” she says. “During their travels to the continent, they would have seen classical ruins and read Latin and Greek texts. The Grand Tour was also an opportunity to take in more recent culture, such as Renaissance paintings, and see contemporary artists at work.” 

As well as educational opportunities, the Grand Tour was linked with independence. Places such as Venice were popular with pleasure seekers, boasting gambling houses and occasions for drinking and partying.  

“On the Grand Tour, there’s a sense that travellers are gaining some of their independence and having a lesson in the ways of the world,” Gazzard explains. “For visitors to Venice, there were opportunities to behave beyond the social norms, with the masquerade and the carnival.” 

Art and the Grand Tour 

Bound up with the idea of independence was the need to collect souvenirs, which the Grand Tourists could display in their homes.  

“The ownership of property was tied to status, so creating a material legacy was really important for the Grand Tourists in order to solidify their social standing amongst their peers,” says Gazzard. “They were looking to spend money and buy mementos to prove they went on the trip.” 

The works of artists such as those of the 18th century view painter Giovanni Antonio Canal (known as Canaletto ) were especially popular with Grand Tourists. Prized for their detail, Canaletto’s artworks captured the landmarks and scenes of everyday Venetian life, from festive scenes to bustling traffic on the Grand Canal . 

In 1731, Lord John Russell, the future 4th Duke of Bedford, commissioned Canaletto to create 24 Venetian views following his visit to the city. 

Lord John Russell is known to have paid at least £188 for the set – over five times the annual earnings of a skilled tradesperson at the time.  

“Canaletto’s work was portable and collectible,” says Gazzard. “He adopted a smaller size for his canvases so they could be rolled up and shipped easily.” 

These detailed works, now part of the world famous collection at Woburn Abbey, form the centrepiece of Canaletto’s Venice Revisited at the National Maritime Museum . 

Who was Canaletto?

The legacy of the Grand Tour 

The start of the French Revolution in 1789 marked the end of the Grand Tour. However, its legacy is still keenly felt. 

The desire to explore and learn about different places and cultures through travel continues to endure. The legacy of the Grand Tour can also be seen in the artworks and objects that adorn the walls of stately homes and museums, and the many cultural influences that travellers brought back to Britain. 

Canaletto's Venice Revisited

Main image:  The Piazza San Marco looking towards the Basilica San Marco and the Campanile by Canaletto . From the Woburn Abbey Collection . Canaletto painting in body copy:  Regatta on Grand Canal  by Canaletto  From the Woburn Abbey Collection

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

The grand tour.

Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons

Piazza San Marco

Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)

Autre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la Tournelle

Jacques Rigaud

Imaginary View of Venice, houses at left with figures on terraces, a domed church at center in the background, boats and boat-sheds below, and a seated man observing from a wall at right in the foreground, from 'Views' (Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate da Antonio Canal)

The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Vue de la Grande Façade du Vieux Louvre

View of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the Janiculum

Richard Wilson

Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768)

Anton Raphael Mengs

Modern Rome

Giovanni Paolo Panini

Ancient Rome

Portrait of a Young Man

Pompeo Batoni

Gardens of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli

Charles Joseph Natoire

Veduta dell'Anfiteatro Flavio detto il Colosseo, from: 'Vedute di Roma' (Views of Rome)

View of the Villa Lante on the Janiculum in Rome

John Robert Cozens

The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo

Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez

Dining room from Lansdowne House

After a design by Robert Adam

The Burial of Punchinello

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

Portland vase

Josiah Wedgwood and Sons

Jean Sorabella Independent Scholar

October 2003

Beginning in the late sixteenth century, it became fashionable for young aristocrats to visit Paris, Venice, Florence, and above all Rome, as the culmination of their classical education. Thus was born the idea of the Grand Tour, a practice that introduced Englishmen, Germans, Scandinavians, and also Americans to the art and culture of France and Italy for the next 300 years. Travel was arduous and costly throughout the period, possible only for a privileged class—the same that produced gentleman scientists, authors, antiquaries, and patrons of the arts.

The Objectives of the Grand Tour The Grand Tourist was typically a young man with a thorough grounding in Greek and Latin literature as well as some leisure time, some means, and some interest in art. The German traveler Johann Joachim Winckelmann pioneered the field of art history with his comprehensive study of Greek and Roman sculpture ; he was portrayed by his friend Anton Raphael Mengs at the beginning of his long residence in Rome ( 48.141 ). Most Grand Tourists, however, stayed for briefer periods and set out with less scholarly intentions, accompanied by a teacher or guardian, and expected to return home with souvenirs of their travels as well as an understanding of art and architecture formed by exposure to great masterpieces.

London was a frequent starting point for Grand Tourists, and Paris a compulsory destination; many traveled to the Netherlands, some to Switzerland and Germany, and a very few adventurers to Spain, Greece, or Turkey. The essential place to visit, however, was Italy. The British traveler Charles Thompson spoke for many Grand Tourists when in 1744 he described himself as “being impatiently desirous of viewing a country so famous in history, which once gave laws to the world; which is at present the greatest school of music and painting, contains the noblest productions of statuary and architecture, and abounds with cabinets of rarities , and collections of all kinds of antiquities.” Within Italy, the great focus was Rome, whose ancient ruins and more recent achievements were shown to every Grand Tourist. Panini’s Ancient Rome ( 52.63.1 ) and Modern Rome ( 52.63.2 ) represent the sights most prized, including celebrated Greco-Roman statues and views of famous ruins, fountains, and churches. Since there were few museums anywhere in Europe before the close of the eighteenth century, Grand Tourists often saw paintings and sculptures by gaining admission to private collections, and many were eager to acquire examples of Greco-Roman and Italian art for their own collections. In England, where architecture was increasingly seen as an aristocratic pursuit, noblemen often applied what they learned from the villas of Palladio in the Veneto and the evocative ruins of Rome to their own country houses and gardens .

The Grand Tour and the Arts Many artists benefited from the patronage of Grand Tourists eager to procure mementos of their travels. Pompeo Batoni painted portraits of aristocrats in Rome surrounded by classical staffage ( 03.37.1 ), and many travelers bought Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s prints of Roman views, including ancient structures like the Colosseum ( 59.570.426 ) and more recent monuments like the Piazza del Popolo ( 37.45.3[49] ), the dazzling Baroque entryway to Rome. Some Grand Tourists invited artists from home to accompany them throughout their travels, making views specific to their own itineraries; the British artist Richard Wilson, for example, made drawings of Italian places while traveling with the earl of Dartmouth in the mid-eighteenth century ( 1972.118.294 ).

Classical taste and an interest in exotic customs shaped travelers’ itineraries as well as their reactions. Gothic buildings , not much esteemed before the late eighteenth century, were seldom cause for long excursions, while monuments of Greco-Roman antiquity, the Italian Renaissance, and the classical Baroque tradition received praise and admiration. Jacques Rigaud’s views of Paris were well suited to the interests of Grand Tourists, displaying, for example, the architectural grandeur of the Louvre, still a royal palace, and the bustle of life along the Seine ( 53.600.1191 ;  53.600.1175 ). Canaletto’s views of Venice ( 1973.634 ;  1988.162 ) were much prized, and other works appealed to Northern travelers’ interest in exceptional fêtes and customs: Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo ‘s Burial of Punchinello ( 1975.1.473 ), for instance, is peopled with characters from the Venetian carnival, and a print by Francesco Piranesi and Louis Jean Desprez depicts the Girandola, a spectacular fireworks display held at the Castel Sant’Angelo ( 69.510 ).

The Grand Tour and Neoclassical Taste The Grand Tour gave concrete form to northern Europeans’ ideas about the Greco-Roman world and helped foster Neoclassical ideals . The most ambitious tourists visited excavations at such sites as Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Tivoli, and purchased antiquities to decorate their homes. The third duke of Beaufort brought from Rome the third-century work named the Badminton Sarcophagus ( 55.11.5 ) after the house where he proudly installed it in Gloucestershire. The dining rooms of Robert Adam’s interiors typically incorporated classical statuary; the nine lifesized figures set in niches in the Lansdowne dining room ( 32.12 ) were among the many antiquities acquired by the second earl of Shelburne, whose collecting activities accelerated after 1771, when he visited Italy and met Gavin Hamilton, a noted antiquary and one of the first dealers to take an interest in Attic ceramics, then known as “Etruscan vases.” Early entrepreneurs recognized opportunities created by the culture of the Grand Tour: when the second duchess of Portland obtained a Roman cameo glass vase in a much-publicized sale, Josiah Wedgwood profited from the manufacture of jasper reproductions ( 94.4.172 ).

Sorabella, Jean. “The Grand Tour.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grtr/hd_grtr.htm (October 2003)

Further Reading

Black, Jeremy. The British and the Grand Tour . London: Croom Helm, 1985.

Black, Jeremy. Italy and the Grand Tour . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Black, Jeremy. France and the Grand Tour . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Haskell, Francis, and Nicholas Penny. Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500–1900 . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.

Wilton, Andrew, and Ilaria Bignamini, eds. The Grand Tour: The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century . Exhibition catalogue. London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 1996.

Additional Essays by Jean Sorabella

• Sorabella, Jean. “ Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe .” (April 2011)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Portraiture in Renaissance and Baroque Europe .” (August 2007)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Venetian Color and Florentine Design .” (October 2002)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Art of the Roman Provinces, 1–500 A.D. .” (May 2010)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Nude in Baroque and Later Art .” (January 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Nude in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance .” (January 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Nude in Western Art and Its Beginnings in Antiquity .” (January 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe .” (originally published October 2001, last revised March 2013)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Interior Design in England, 1600–1800 .” (October 2003)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Vikings (780–1100) .” (October 2002)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Painting the Life of Christ in Medieval and Renaissance Italy .” (June 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Birth and Infancy of Christ in Italian Painting .” (June 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Crucifixion and Passion of Christ in Italian Painting .” (June 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Carolingian Art .” (December 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Ottonian Art .” (September 2008)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Ballet .” (October 2004)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ Baroque Rome .” (October 2003)
• Sorabella, Jean. “ The Opera .” (October 2004)

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The lavish Grand Tours of history — and how they shaped the way we travel today

It was a rite of passage for young, upper-class Englishmen with virtually unlimited money to burn — a hedonistic "Grand Tour" far from home, unfolding over two or three or even four years.

Designed to teach them about art, history and culture, it was a kind of finishing school that would ready them for life in the powerful ruling elite.

Unsurprisingly, sex, gambling, drinking, and lavish parties also found their way into the mix.

For many historians, these travellers of the 17th and 18th centuries represent the first modern tourists.

They fuelled a passion for adventure and paved the way for the type of travel we know (and miss) today.

The ultimate destinations

The Grand Tour began in about 1660 and reached its zenith between 1748 and 1789.

It was typically undertaken by men aged between 18 and 25 — the sons of the aristocracy.

First, they braved the English Channel to reach Belgium or France. There, many purchased a carriage for the onward journey.

They were accompanied by a guide, known as a "bear-leader", who tutored them in art, music, literature and history.

If they were wealthy enough, their entourage included a troop of servants.

While there was no fixed route, most tours included the great cities of Europe — Paris, Geneva, Berlin — and a lengthy sojourn in Italy.

"A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see," English author Samuel Johnson remarked in 1776.

Rome was considered the ultimate destination, but Venice, Florence, Milan and Naples were also high on the list.

A drive for education and enlightenment was at the heart of the tour.

The Grand Tourists looked at art, admired monuments, visited historical sites, and studied classical architecture. They mingled with the elite social classes.

Behaving badly

They were students with practically unlimited budgets, and often very little supervision.

European history expert Eric Zuelow says this meant they were "apt to behave in a rather different way with rather different interests than the Grand Tour was designed to instil in them".

"So what they tended to do was to go and drink a lot, to gamble, to frequent [sex workers]," he tells ABC RN's Rear Vision .

"They tended not to learn much in the way of languages, not to learn much in the way of culture, but to have a lot of fun.

"And that created, I would argue, really one of the first instances of the notion of tourists as being lesser creatures and travellers being something much better.

"The first tourists, the Grand Tourists, did not behave all that well. And tourists have held that stigma ever since."

It wasn ' t all smooth sailing

In the days of the Grand Tour, travel wasn't for the faint-hearted.

There are many reports of the young men becoming ill from travel sickness, rough seas and foreign foods.

Disease was another threat — during his Grand Tour, writer John Evelyn nearly died of smallpox in Geneva.

Thieves were highly active, so many Grand Tourists didn't carry cash, instead taking the equivalent of travellers' cheques.

Roads were rough and full of potholes, and the carriages could only journey about 20 kilometres a day. Some parts of the trip were undertaken by foot.

"So they could be weeks just getting from one place to another," says historian Susan Barton.

Crossing the Alps was a particular challenge.

Some Grand Tourists hired a sedan chair to be carried, literally, over the mountain passes.

The "chairmen of Mont Cenis" became known throughout the Alps for their strength and dexterity.

The rise of 'self-illusory hedonistic consumption'

These early travellers carried guidebooks, which advised them of what to see, hear and do.

They were told to show their wealth at every turn, to garner respect.

As time went by, those making the Grand Tour also became shoppers. They wanted to buy things they could later show off.

"What was happening at this time was a development of what one scholar called 'self-illusory hedonistic consumption', which is a really fancy term for spending money because buying things will make you better," Professor Zuelow says.

"The Grand Tour, with its original educational roots, merged with that self-illusory, hedonistic idea, creating a consumable."

The young tourists would return to England with bulging luggage — marble statues from Rome, colourful glassware from Venice, pumice stone from Naples.

They brought back paintings depicting the Colosseum in Rome, the canals in Venice, the Parthenon in Athens.

They'd also commission portraits of themselves, and a mini industry sprung up around this.

It wasn't just to remind themselves of all they had seen and done. It was so other people would also know.

The souvenirs were displayed with great pride in the family's estates and manor houses.

"And later some of those things ended up in museums," Dr Barton says.

"So in a way they were creating the future 20th century tourism where people were visiting country houses as part of their leisure."

Not all Britons — and not all men

Although Britons far outnumbered all others, Professor Zuelow notes that they weren't the only Grand Tourists.

Peter the Great, the Russian Tsar, famously made the trip, as did German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and King Gustav III of Sweden.

And it also wasn't just men.

Professor Zuelow says English women such as author Mary Wollstonecraft and socialite Lady Mary Wortley Montagu spent extensive time in Europe, enjoying new freedoms and the chance for an education not available to them back home.

Travel for leisure and the Grand Tour's legacy

By 1815, the Grand Tour was disappearing.

Professor Zuelow says part of the reason for this is obvious: the French Revolution, followed closely by the Napoleonic Wars, swept across Europe starting in 1789 and extended until 1815.

"When the fighting stopped, many visitors returned — even if only to see the damages of war — but this was no longer the old Grand Tour," he writes in his book, A History of Modern Travel.

After 1815, travel to Europe slowly opened up for much wider social groups.

"So rather than just the aristocracy, we've got middle class people starting to travel, but it was still quite a lengthy process," Dr Barton says.

The legacy of the Grand Tour lives on to this day.

It still influences the destinations we visit, and has shaped the ideas of culture and sophistication that surround the act of travel.

It shaped the notion that there's something to be gained from venturing overseas, that there's a lot on offer if you can leave home to find it.

"Prior to the Grand Tour, there wasn't a lot of travel for leisure," Professor Zuelow says.

"Medieval pilgrims have been put forward as possible tourists but they were travelling for religious purposes. And although they had a lot of fun along the way, it really was about getting into Heaven."

Many of the Grand Tourists wrote about their adventures, fuelling a new level of wanderlust in society.

The trips were the stuff of fantasy, and others wanted to follow.

It was a first step in the direction of mass tourism, and the kind of travel we know today.

"I define it really as travelling for the purpose of travelling, travelling for fun, travelling for enjoyment, feeling that travel is going to make you healthier and happier and a better person," Professor Zuelow says.

To hear more about the history of travel, the impact of technology on tourism, and the future may hold, listen to ABC Radio National's Rear Vision podcast .

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The Grand Tour of Europe Revisited

A shorter Grand Tour for Today's Vacation-short Tourist

"Young English elites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often spent two to four years traveling around Europe in an effort to broaden their horizons and learn about language, architecture, geography, and culture in an experience known as the Grand Tour" writes Matt Rosenberg in his excellent article, Grand Tour of Europe.

While the whole idea of the three year Grand Tour sounds nice to me, it doesn't sit well with the average boss in the 21st century. Not to mention the fact that broadening one's horizons seems to be a goal that's lost its significance in these troubled times.

So where's a person to go in Europe these days to get a flavor of "the continent?" Below you'll find some of my recommendations for a two to three week visit of Europe for today's on-the-go traveler.

The original Grand Tour started in London and crossed the channel to Paris. It visited big cities because that's where the culture was. (Not to mention the big tourist hotels.) The Tour would move on to Rome or Venice, with side excursions to Florence and the ancient cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum. Public transport, such as it was at the time, was used.

There are few reasons to deviate from these guidelines today. If you only have a short vacation time you will be more comfortable staying at a single hotel for three or four days rather then moving around every day. (Search for the "grand tour" on the web and you'll see offers of tours visiting a major city each and every day. I can't imagine what travelers get out of these sorts of tours--other then major travel vertigo I mean.)

There is enough to do in any of Europe's major cities to spend the whole two to three weeks in any one of them, as long as you are interested in a wide variety of activities and you like to explore and celebrate the differences between cultures.

So, let's base the New Grand Tour on the older framework, and modify it for modern travel tastes (and to take advantage of quicker travel times today.) Using an open jaws ticket that'll allow us to enter Europe in London and leave out of Rome, we'll take airplanes or trains to get between cities. (You really don't want any part of a car in London, Paris, or Rome and you can't even have one in Venice, so don't think of it at this point--we'll discuss the best way to add a car to the Tour on page 2.)

So let's see how an agenda for the aforementioned tour works out (links go to travel planning maps and essentials, if available):

• London 3 days
• Paris 3 days (plus a side trip to Versailles)
• Venice 2 days
• Florence 2 days
• Rome 4 days

That's two weeks. Notice that the itinerary doesn't include Pompeii. That's because you can visit Pompeii as a day trip from Rome. It's a moderately long one, taking two hours to Naples and then a 35 minute ride on the Circumvesuviana commuter train line to Pompeii. It's even shorter to Herculaneum. ( Pompeii guide )

Feel free to juggle these destinations and durations around. Perhaps you'll want to eliminate London, giving you more time in the rest of Europe. Or you can make your way through Germany instead of going through France on your way to Italy. I might think of another Tuscan town between Venice and Rome if I had to travel in July or August, since Florence always seems overrun with tourists at that time. Your choice.

And you don't have to take the train. Europe is currently awash in cheap airlines to travel between cities these days. For Information on these cheap airfares and other transportation options, see the links in the linkbox below. Just remember that the time you save will often be eaten up by getting to and from the airport. Trains generally drop you in the center of cities.

Read on if you've got more time or you're looking to tack on a car tour of the countryside to the Grand Tour.

I've got three weeks. Give me some Grand Tour expansion possibilities with or without a car.

Where can you go if you have three weeks and wanted to extend your journey from the same basic Grand Tour?

Other cities easily accessible along the route (cities in parenthesis are cities not along the route but within 5 hours train ride):

From London

• (Glasgow, Edinburgh Scotland)
• Amsterdam , the Netherlands
• Brussels, Belgium
• Lyon (Food Capital)
• Dijon (Burgundy)
• Avignon (in Provence )
• Cities in Switzerland (Basel is easiest, Geneva , Lucern , Bern )

From Venice

• (Salzberg, Vienna , Austria)
• (Munich , Germany)
• Padua (an easy day trip from Venice)
• Bologna (Food Capital)

From Florence

• Orvieto, Lucca, Pistoia and other places in Tuscany and Umbria regions
• ( The Amalfi coast )
• Top 10 Rome Day Trips

What can I do with a car?

You can rent a car for as many days as you'd like. Paris is pretty easy to navigate out of (avoid the rush hours), so I'd recommend the car there. Italian trains are cheaper than the rest of Europe and the lines pretty extensive, so a car will be less of a bargain. Still, a car offers you the promise of a countryside excursion that you can't always get on the train, like a stop in Chianti wine country.

Other Options along the Grand Tour

Hotels often offer tours with companies that pick you up at the hotel. In Paris you might tour some castles of the Loire or go wine tasting in the Champagne region . In Rome you might visit Villa d'este , Pompeii , or Hadrian's Villa. Check at your hotel desk.

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• 1 Understand
• 2 Get around
• 3.1 United Kingdom
• 3.2 Benelux
• 3.4 Switzerland
• 3.6 Austria
• 3.7 Germany
• 3.8 Other destinations

In early modern Europe , the Grand Tour was an educational journey undertaken by an elite of young men, and in some cases women, who could be sponsored by wealthy parents, or other benefactors.

Understand [ edit ]

The Grand Tour became customary among British noblemen in the 17th century, following the end of the Thirty Years War , the English Civil War , and associated wars. With the Westphalian Treaty, peace became the rule, rather than the exception, in Europe. While the tourists were guided by a cicerone , the wealthiest could travel with a staff of servants. Tourists had opportunities to learn languages such as French and Italian , see works of European art (and have themselves portrayed by a painter), listen to European classical music , and see classical architecture . They could also practice gentlemen's sports , such as horse riding and fencing.

While the Tour was not a religious voyage in itself, tourists from Catholic families visited the Vatican , while the Protestants often saw locations of the Protestant Reformation , such as Geneva and Lausanne .

The Grand Tour coined the word tourist . As roads improved during the 18th century, the Grand Tour became more common (including young women), and the trips became longer. The tradition declined in the 19th century, as steam powered ships and railways made travelling more mundane, and other destinations became more popular; modern nationalism and imperialism encouraged Europeans to seek out nature and culture within their own countries, or to explore overseas colonies and dominions.

A similar tradition for artisans without wealth or noble birth was the journeyman years , when they travelled around Europe, usually on foot, to practice their craft, typically for three years or x years and x days. This custom, with the surrounding ceremonies, is still alive in Germany .

A much less elitist but somewhat related concept is "doing Europe" as many young North Americans put it - a short trip of Europe making pit stops at the most postcard-worthy highlights, but few things in between. Young Europeans themselves might spend a summer seeing much of the continent on European rail passes , while the rise of no-frills aviation has made trips around Europe accessible to ever more people.

Get around [ edit ]

The typical tourists rode a horse cart around Europe. While roads improved during the centuries, travel remained slow, expensive and risky, until the advent of railroads in the 19th century. Today of course the situation has vastly changed with Europe home to some of the best railroads, cheapest airlines and best maintained roads in the world. There is no reason besides masochism to take a horse cart these days, and on many roads it would not actually be street-legal. High speed rail has replaced many of the sleeper trains that used to be a mainstay of Interrailers of days past in the area this article covers, enabling you to breakfast in Paris, take a coffee in Frankfurt and be in Berlin by dinnertime or the equivalent on other itineraries – at rates that people in the 18th century would have had a duel over. Road tolls range from the substantial in places like France to the nominal to zero in places like Germany , and while their purpose is no longer to pay the patrols against highwaymen, streets are safer than they have been in decades if not centuries.

Crossing the Alps was a daunting task, and it often influenced the itineraries taken. Some even disassembled or sold their carriage ahead of the crossing. Today the crossing can be done in a few hours on a train or plane, but going by car in the summer, the passes and tunnels are still rather prone to congestion. There are well maintained paths with centuries of history crossing the Alps, offering breathtaking views in exchange for strenuous hikes. Legendary mountain-passes like the St. Gotthard or the Brenner have been tunnelled under or are in the process of being tunnelled under. Sometimes there is a tunnel dating to the 19th or early 20th century, which is now being replaced or supplemented by a "base tunnel" at a lower level. Even the UNESCO World Heritage listed Semmering Railway is in the process of having a base tunnel built underneath, with the once important alpine crossing relegated to a touristic and local line.

Go [ edit ]

United Kingdom [ edit ]

Benelux [ edit ].

Some tourists arrived in 51.233 2.916667 5 Ostend .

There are ferries from the British Mainland to points in the Netherlands and Belgium, but you can also take Eurostar directly to 50.84643 4.3517 6 Brussels .

France [ edit ]

British tourists arrived to the Kingdom of France in 50.95 1.85 7 Calais or 49.49 0.1 8 Le Havre .

While 48.856 2.351 9 Paris was a world-renowned centre for the arts, the city was notoriously filthy (both literally and figuratively) before the Haussmann renovation in the 19th century.

Switzerland [ edit ]

Before the first rail tunnels, most travellers avoided crossing the Alps . 46.2 6.15 10 Geneva and 46.51 6.63 11 Lausanne were important for the origin of the Protestant Reformation , and a traditional stop for tourists of that faith. Apart from that, Switzerland was seen as something of an uncultured backwater until well into the 19th century, and its well known political stability was still some ways off. The German word for coup d'etat "Putsch" originated in early modern Switzerland, after all.

• 47.5667 7.6 12 Basel

Italy [ edit ]

The Italian peninsula was the core of the lost Roman Empire , with heritage back to the Ancient Greek colonies as well. In the Italian Renaissance , some Italian city-states amassed wealth and power, and became a powerhouse for art, music, and fashion, in which the Italian language became the lingua franca . While the Italian "Golden Age" had ended in the 16th century, and foreign empires came to dominate Italy until it was unified in the 19th century, Italy remained as a centre for ancient history and the fine arts (especially European classical music ), and an important destination for tourists.

• 45.0667 7.7 13 Turin
• 45.46416 9.190278 14 Milan
• 45.4167 11.8667 15 Padua
• 44.5075 11.351389 16 Bologna is home to Europe's oldest university.
• 45.438611 12.326667 17 Venice was infamously decadent in these centuries.
• 43.7833 11.25 18 Florence was ruled by the Medici banking family, who were also patrons of the high arts. Its local dialect was the lingua franca of the entire peninsula, and was selected as the basis for modern standard Italian following unification.
• 43.7167 10.4 19 Pisa mostly known today for its leaning tower
• 41.9 12.483333 20 Rome was important; both as a caretaker of its ancient history, and, especially for Catholic tourists, as the seat of the Pope.
• 40.845 14.258333 21 Naples was an important city in the world of classical music
• Naples , Herculaneum , and 40.75 14.5 22 Pompeii
• The Greek ruins in 40.419667 15.005028 23 Paestum were the end of the line for many tourists.

A few adventurous tourists extended the tour to Sicily , Malta , or Greece , which was then under Ottoman rule. For this and other reasons, some of the tourists that made it beyond Naples skipped the voyage across to Greece and substituted it by taking their time among the ancient Greek ruins in Southern Italy , " Magna Graecia ", instead.

Austria [ edit ]

The Austrian Empire was the dominant power of Central Europe . From the 18th century, it became a forerunner in arts and sciences.

• 47.2667 11.3833 24 Innsbruck was an important stop, as the Brenner Pass was one of few passages through the Alps
• 48.208 16.373 25 Vienna was the capital of the Austrian Empire , and arguably the most important city for European classical music .

Germany [ edit ]

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Germany was a patchwork of small states. While none of them had the prestige of an Imperial capital, some were patrons of art, philosophy and science.

• 48.1333 11.5833 26 Munich was the capital of Bavaria , one of the largest Germanophonic states and a kingdom from the early 19th century. Bavaria's most famous monarch, Ludwig II, has left a few castles in the surrounding areas that draw millions of tourists to this day.
• The university of 49.4122 8.71 27 Heidelberg , founded in 1386, attracted many of Europe's greatest scholars. The town would later attract many American soldiers stationed in the area
• 51.051 13.738 28 Dresden thanks to the lavish spending of August the Strong and his son, Dresden boasted a wealth of architectural and artistic marvel, most of which has been restored from considerable war damage.
• 52.51794 13.38873 29 Berlin was the capital of Brandenburg/Prussia, which was seen as a backwater until at least the 18th century, in part because the ruling house spent more on military than on arts or architecture. The city grew as it became the capital of the German Empire in 1871.
• 52.4 13.0667 30 Potsdam a residence of Brandenburg/Prussia, it offers more surviving Prussian glory than Berlin.
• 50.9833 11.3167 31 Weimar was a patron of the arts and residence of Goethe and Schiller during their most productive phase. To this day it is a favourite for school excursions in Germany, though in part because the KZ Buchenwald in close proximity offers a stark reminder of the worst sides of Germany (see Holocaust remembrance ).

Other destinations [ edit ]

More distant destinations such as Madrid , Seville , Saint Petersburg and Jerusalem became more accessible in later years.

See also [ edit ]

• Studying abroad

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The Grand Tour

Englishmen abroad.

At its height, from around 1660–1820, the Grand Tour was considered to be the best way to complete a gentleman’s education. After leaving school or university, young noblemen from northern Europe left for France to start the tour.

After acquiring a coach in Calais, they would ride on to Paris – their first major stop. From there they would head south to Italy or Spain, carting all their possessions and servants with them.

Their most popular destinations were the great towns and cities of the Renaissance, along with the remains of ancient Roman and Greek civilisation.

Their souvenirs were rather more durable than holiday snaps, replica Eiffel Towers or t-shirts – they filled crates with paintings, sculptures and fine clothes.

Travel was somewhat more of an ordeal than today (even accounting for the worst airport queues and hold-ups). However rich these young men were, there was no hot shower after a day on the road, no credit card to get them out of a tight spot, and no mobile phone to ring people for help.

Furthermore transport was slow. Instead of taking a 12-month trip, some went away for many years. Most went for at least two, spending months in essential spots along the way.

The plan was to set young noblemen up to manage their estates, furnish their houses and prepare for conversation in polite society. But did the Grand Tour turn them into gentlemen? Sometimes a taste for vice got in the way.

Next:  A moral education  

The Grand Tour- the most important time in the history of tourism?

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

The Grand Tour isn’t only a TV show about cars, in actual fact, The Grand Tour is a very important part of the history of travel and tourism (and I expect this was the rationale for the name of the show ‘The Grand Tour too!). In this article I am going to teach you what The Grand Tour was, why it was so important to tourism and where the popular Grand Tour destinations were. Ready to learn more? Read on…

What is the Grand Tour?

Why is the grand tour important to tourism, the grand tour- paris, the grand tour- france onwards, the grand tour- heading north, the grand tour in the media, further reading.

The Grand Tour was the name of a traditional trip through Europe, undertaken by Upper Class boys as they were coming of age. It was mostly the British nobility and landed gentry who went on a Grand Tour, but this did extend to other wealthy Europeans and, later, South and North Americans as well as Filipinos. 

According to The National Trust , the term ‘Grand Tour’ was coined by the Catholic priest and travel writer Richard Lassels (c.1603-68), who used it in his influential guidebook The Voyage of Italy (published 1670) to describe young lords travelling abroad to learn about art, architecture and antiquity.

The Grand Tour was a form of travel from around 1550-1850. It was at its most popular during the 18th century, and was said to be the way to end a boy’s education – making them a man. Often, these adolescent boys would be accompanied by tutors who would make the scenes in front of them come to life. It was more of a hands-on education, much like how we have field trips today. The Grand Tour, however, was much more lengthy.

This rite of passage was a very important point in the timeline of the history of tourism – but why?

The Grand Tour is important to the overall history of tourism because it represented travel for educational and recreational purposes rather than, for example, trade or military reasons. It contributed greatly to the cultural, social, architectural, gastronomic, political and artistic evolution of the home country’s of these travellers – especially when, as time went on, it became accessible to not only gentry but artists, collectors, designers and more. These people would take influence from the things they saw abroad. Buildings in Britain would follow architectural styles the designer had seen in Italy , for example.

It is also so important because it was during this large timeframe that the term ‘tourist’ was first properly used. Without it, the history of tourism as we know it would look massively different. People were travelling en masse (although not in groups, per se, as this was before proper public transport existed), visiting new destinations and bringing back stories of their trips. As mentioned, The Grand Tour expanded from being purely a British upper class thing to being something taken by the working class, as well as nobility from other countries. It was highly influential.

The Grand Tour paved the way for the ongoing popularity of museums – as it was clear that people who travelled to different countries often had an interest in learning about the history and culture . It proved there was a need for lodgings for people visiting from out of town; it encouraged the growth of restaurants so visitors could try the local cuisines and so on. Essentially, it was the start of what we now know as tourism because it had such a large and visible influence.

Grand Tour destinations

There was no set itinerary for a Grand Tour. It was up to the individual, and often influenced by their interests or finances. However, most people followed the same vague outline at least. Paris and Rome were firm favourites along with much of the rest of Italy, but a typical itinerary might have looked something like this – if travelling from Britain, that is…

One would start their trip properly in Dover, on the south coast of England. This remains a popular transport hub for people travelling out of the country. From here, our Grand tourist would head by boat across the channel to Ostend in Belgium or either Calais or Le Havre in France depending on their preference. Here, the tourist and their tutor (and servants, if they had any) would decide on the next move.

Often this would be to purchase a coach to transport them from place to place. This would generally be sold on again when it was time to get back on another boat – although some travellers would dismantle theirs and take it with them on their trip.

The first major stop on anyone’s Grand Tour was Paris. The capital of France and the city of love and romance, as well as baked goods, beautiful artwork and breathtaking views, Paris was an obvious choice. Grand Tourists would often hire a French speaking guide to accompany them throughout the entirety of the trip, because it was Europe’s dominant language at the time. Paris was an ideal place to acquire some to join you on a Grand Tour!

Pairs held a world of opportunities, too. Fencing tutorials, dance lessons, French language tutorships, riding practice and so much more. On top of this was the sophistication of the French high society, which would help to polish the traveller’s manners for his eventual return to England.

After getting to know Paris, one would make the journey across to Switzerland to visit either Lusanne or Geneva. This would be only a short stop, however, in order to prepare for an often-difficult journey across the Alps. The really wealthy Grand Tourists would be carried across by their servants, but generally everyone struggled together.

Awaiting them on the other side of the Alps, of course, was Italy. This is typically where our Grand Tourists would spend the most time, visiting different cities and generally exploring over the course of quite a few months. Turin and Milan would be early stops, followed by an extensive stay in Florence. Home to a larger Anglo-Italian diasporic community, Florence was an excellent part of a Grand Tour and one which allowed for a lot of fun and socialising. From here there would be shorter trips to Pisa, Padua, Bologna and Venice – the latter being a high point for many.

But this didn’t conclude the Italian part of a Grand Tour at all. Venice gave way to Rome – particularly for the study of the ancient ruins here as well as the artwork of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque time periods. From Rome some of the more curious travellers went to Naples, where there was a big music scene, and even (after the mid 18-th century, of course) to Pompeii and Herculaneum to see the recent discoveries. Later still, some of the most adventurous Grand Tourists headed to Siciliy to see even more archaeological sites, Greece for the sunshine and culture, and Malta for its history. For the most part, however, Naples or Rome were the usual end to an Italian adventure.

From Italy, most Grand Tourists would head back across the Alps to parts of Europe which were more dominated by the Germanic language. This included Vienna, Innsbruck, Dresden, Potsdam and Berlin – all beautiful cities with distinctive architecture and beautiful culture nuances. Some would even study at the universities in Heidelberg or Munich to round off their trip. Finally were flying visits to Holland or Flanders, before travelling back across the channel and returning to England full of the warm wonders of European travel and education.

By looking at this route, it almost seems reminiscent of an itinerary. And this is true, and is another reason why the Grand Tour is so important to tourism – it was the blueprint for many itineraries travellers and tourists still use today.

There are few pieces of media which actually depict someone going off on a Grand Tour – but we can see references to it, and influence from it, in many media stories. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, in fact, was said to be conceived during her own Grand Tour; the doctor in the story is born in Naples and travels throughout Europe.

There are various non-fiction books which make great reference to the Grand Tour, such as Francis Bacon’s Of Travel – a guide which is still relevant today – and some books which were more of a hybrid between fiction and non-fiction. These include Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad and Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s Italian Journey.

We can’t forget, of course, the TV show which takes its name from this early tourist phenomenon. The Grand Tour is a British motoring TV series, featuring Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson. Initially, it centred around car reviews and timed laps, motoring challenges and races, studio segments, and celebrity guests – with the ‘studio’ being a large portable tent. They filmed in different locations across the globe, hence the name. In a BBC article before the show was first launched, Clarkson said that the name brought to mind the tradition of Grand Tours, and reflected how the show would be filmed in different countries.

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The Grand Tour

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The Grand Tour , Mike Rendell, Shire Publications, 2022, 64p, £8-99. ISBN 978-1-78402-695-4. 

‘The Grand Tour’ became a major rite of passage for many young aristocrats and was at its peak in the mid-18th century, when Europe experienced a rare three decades of relative peace. It was inspired by Catholic priest and travel writer, Richard Lassels’ 1670 publication, The Voyage of Italy, with this present book focusing on its heyday before the French Wars diverted similar travellers elsewhere. Superficially there are similarities with today’s ‘gap year’ travels with the opportunity to experience different cultures, discover classical art and architecture, and for some, to ‘party, party, party’. But the Grand Tour required significant financial resource, something only the most privileged might aspire to enjoy. While some tours were conducted in a few months, many extended over several years. 

Mike Rendell guides us through the typical itinerary: across the Channel to Paris, travelling through France via Lyon and either across the Alps at Mont Cenis to Turin, or to Italy by sea from Marseilles; then on to Venice, ideally for the carnival; to Florence where the Uffizi Gallery was the highlight; to Rome, preferably for Holy Week; followed by Naples. It wasn’t all plain sailing. A forerunner of the modern passport had to be acquired. Sea journeys were perilous. Many roads were in poor condition. Alpine crossings were hazardous. There were custom posts to negotiate. Self-sufficiency in local currency and in medical supplies to be arranged. And the ever-present threat of encountering robbers made carrying a pistol a prudent precaution. On the fun side, for the well-connected there were endless, banquets, entertainments, shops, elaborate fashions, art galleries, antiquities and churches to enjoy. 

Mike Rendell’s brisk, conversational style makes for an easy read. He introduces us to some of the best-known collectors, such Hans Sloane, as well as to the souvenir wares popular with Grand Tourists. There is a chapter on artists who undertook the Grand Tour, J.M.W. Turner and Joseph Wright among them, while, in architecture, the impact of continental designs on the country house designs of William Kent, James Wyatt, and Robert Adam is clear. 

The Grand Tour is productively illustrated and there are good suggestions for further reading and links to online resources. 

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Travelling for culture: the Grand Tour

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In the eighteenth century and into the early part of the nineteenth, considerable numbers of aristocratic men (and occasionally women) travelled across Europe in pursuit of education, social advancement and entertainment, on what was known as the Grand Tour. A central objective was to gain exposure to the cultures of classical antiquity, particularly in Italy. In this free course, you’ll explore some of the different kinds of cultural encounters that fed into the Grand Tour, and will explore the role that they play in our study of Art History, English Literature, Creative Writing and Classical Studies today.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course  A112  Cultures .

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand some of the key characteristics of the Grand Tour as a cultural practice in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe
• appreciate why the ancient world was so significant for modern visitors of this era
• analyse a range of different texts and images, both ancient and modern
• reflect how how these texts and images can prompt new creative activity, and put this into practice.

First Published: 01/08/2022

Updated: 01/08/2022

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Tuesday 30 april 2013, the grand tour.

“There is a divine, lately passed through Paris, bear-leading some sprig of the nobility. They are bound for Italy.” 

“...a needy divine…who has the good fortune to be in charge of a young gentleman making the Grand Tour.” 1

A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see. 2

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

14 comments:

Recently picked up a copy of Piozzi's 'Observations and reflections made in the course of a journey through France, Italy, and Germany' (vol. II, London, 1789) in a car boot sale for £4.00 two years go. A bit battered, but a great find!

Wow! The wonder of car boot sales - what a great find. :)

Wonderful post. I tweeted.

Great post about a subject I'm researching for the novel I'm writing. Thank you!

Glad you found it useful. Wouldn't it be nice to go on a Grand Tour? For research purposes of course!

or maybe just to sow some wild oats, we need to save the environment afterall!

Wonderful article, very well researched. I just found this website and am enjoying it very much. In addition I bought your novel! I've had difficulty finding historical fiction that's historically accurate, so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy A Perfect Match. The sequel is written and with my beta reader and I'm hoping will be published in the autumn.

very very helpful article. really helped me with my assignment on The Grand Tour for my Graduation program. very simple words used to explain no jargon used. thank you so much

may i please learn about the grand tour being linked to Switzerland please

If a gentleman had come of age during the Napoleonic Wars, would his Tour be delayed until they had ended, or would he never go on one?

The heyday of the Grand Tour came to an end with the Napoleonic Wars. People flocked to the continent during the rare times of peace but travel was difficult at other times.

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EDITORIAL FEATURE

The Art That Made Grand Tourists Flock to Italy

There were many reasons that travelers decided to embark on the Grand Tour of Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, but the primary one was to see the artistic gems of Ancient and Renaissance Italy. As many still do today in fact.

As well as visiting history’s greatest treasures, Grand Tourists were also in the business of commissioning new art during their travels. Oftentimes, wealthy Grand Tourists would bring professional sketch artists along with them, whose whole purpose was to create souvenirs to take home. If this was not possible, Grand Tourists would have artworks made for them in Italy. A Venetian sketch artist who was widely popular during the Grand Tour was Giovanni Battista Piranesi , whose prints are still passed down through noble families today. And some more creative tourists would sketch Italian scenes themselves. After all, learning the arts first hand was, in essence, central to a formative intellectual voyage like this one.

From Rome to Venice, embark on a virtual tour of Italy’s art hotspots, to discover the art the Grand Tourists pursued, as well as the art they produced.

Rome: The Capital of the World A Grand Tourist’s base itinerary for Italy included must-see cities like Venice, Florence, Naples and sometimes Sicily. And then, of course, there’s Rome . Each Italian city offered immense historic importance in Greco-Roman antiquity, Renaissance art and culture or Baroque architecture. But Rome had it all.

Rome was considered the ultimate stop during the Grand Tour, as it was both a portal back in time thousands of years, as well as a modern-day marvel of Baroque art and architecture. It was lauded as the land of Cicero, the birthplace of Julius Caesar, and home to some of Michelangelo’s most prized works.

Having only heard stories of masterpieces like the Sistine Chapel, tourists understood that the only way to truly experience Italian art and culture was to see this city in person.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Baroque masterpieces left their mark across Rome, making extraordinary art commonplace in areas such as Piazza Navona and the Spanish Steps. Tourists were drawn to spots like the Arch of Titus, the Colosseum and Porta del Popolo.

“Shall I ever forget the sensations I experienced upon slowly descending the hills, and crossing the bridge over the Tiber; when I entered an avenue between terraces and ornamented gates of villas, which leads to the Porto del Popolo…” – William Beckford, letter from the Grand Tour, 1780

Venice: The Floating City of Wealth and Art Venice is often seen as one of the most intriguing and magical cities in the world, and it was no different for the Grand Tourists. It was a must on any Grand Tour itinerary, largely thanks to the wealth the city had built itself from merchant trading and a strong navy. These were admirable qualities to an 18th-century British traveler.

Its reputation may be what brought tourists to Venice, but Venetian Renaissance art and culture is what kept them coming back.

Tourists visited Venice to see paintings by the great Titian , Giovanni Bellini , Jacopo Bassano and, of course, they wanted a Giovanni Battista Piranesi sketch to take back home with them.

One well-known cityscape artist was Canaletto . His acute attention to detail set him above the rest, capturing a lifelike scene that made tourists feel like they were almost taking a real slice of the city home with them.

Pompeii & Naples: Ancient Ruins, Sun & Light There were some Grand Tourists who championed lesser visited cities, oftentimes taking a direct journey to Naples – the land of sun, culture, opera buffa and a few of Caravaggio’s greats. Naples became more of a popular stop in the latter part of the Grand Tour, becoming something of a winter retreat for British tourists, with travelers like J.W. Goethe praising its glories.

“Naples is a Paradise: everyone lives in a state of intoxicated self-forgetfulness, myself included. I seem to be a completely different person whom I hardly recognize. Yesterday I thought to myself: Either you were mad before, or you are mad now.” – Goethe

Places like Pompeii and Herculaneum only added to the appeal of traveling further south in Italy, in search of the ruins that tied the present day to its historic roots. When Italian authorities began excavations of Herculaneum in 1738, and then later at Pompeii in 1748, tourists had even more reason to delve into the mysteries of an ancient past... and enjoy a bit of the coastal sun along the way.

Florence: British Nobility Meets the High Renaissance Known as the birthplace of the Renaissance , early Grand Tourists rarely skipped a stop to Florence , which, simply put, was a haven for art – no doubt thanks to its ornate grandeur in architecture, with examples including the Florence Cathedral and, of course, Filippo Brunelleschi’s Dome.

But there was one attraction which almost perfectly coincided with the new arrival of tourism to Italy – Cosimo I de’ Medici's idea to gain magisterial control of a series of Florentine “offices”, better known in Italian as the “uffizi”. These administrative offices were soon to become both administrative and tribunal, with a gallery on the second floor so that newly acquired art could be properly enjoyed.

The Uffizi Gallery as we know it was not open to the public until 1765, but some fortunate Grand Tourists (who for the most part were nobility or of high social status themselves) were privy to a viewing of works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo .

Upon seeing the Uffizi collection , Thomas Beckford, a noted art collector, said…

“…I fell into a delightful delirium which none but souls like us experience, and unable to check my rapture flew madly from bust to bust and cabinet to cabinet like a butterfly bewildered in a universe of flowers…’’

The Uffizi Galleries still remain one of the highlights of Florence.

Learn more about The Grand Tour:

- How Tourism Hasn’t Changed Since The Grand Tour - 9 Books and Films Inspired by the Grand Tour - The Grand Tour of Italy

5 Fascinating Historical Tours of Europe You Need To Plan For

V isiting ancient sites in Europe is a unique and rewarding experience that can transport you to a different time and place. Each site has its own story and history lovers can immerse themselves in the continent’s diverse and cultural heritage. From the Ancient Theater of Philippopolis in Bulgaria to the Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, Europe is home to many ancient sites that offer visitors a glimpse into the past.

Exploring the ruins of ancient cities, admiring intricate carvings and paintings, and marveling at the advanced construction techniques used by ancient civilizations are just some things you can expect to experience. Many of these sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and require advanced tickets, so planning ahead is essential.

Overall, visiting ancient sites in Europe is a fascinating journey through time that can leave you with a deep appreciation for the achievements of our ancestors and a renewed sense of wonder about the world around us.

1. Ancient Theater Of Philippopolis, Bulgaria

The Ancient Theater of Philippopolis , situated in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, is a fascinating historical site. This open-air theater dates back to the 2nd century AD and could seat 7,000 spectators.

The theater has been beautifully preserved and the intricate details of its architecture are a testament to the skills of its ancient builders. Visitors can still see the stage, orchestra, and seating areas, which give a glimpse into the grandeur of the performances that took place here.

The theater has panoramic views of the city of Plovdiv. It is a lovely spot to enjoy a performance or take in the scenery. The Ancient Theater of Philippopolis is a gratifying place for anyone who appreciates ancient architecture and culture.

2. Brú Na Bóinne, Ireland

Brú na Bóinne is a Neolithic site on the River Boyne in eastern Ireland . The area is home to three prehistoric passage tombs constructed in 3,200 BC. The tombs — known as Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth — are among the most important Neolithic sites in the world. The collection of Megalithic art is the largest in western Europe.

The tombs were constructed using large stones and the intricate carvings and designs on them show the builders’ skills.

When visiting Brú na Bóinne, you can take a guided tour to explore the tombs and learn about their history and significance. Pre-booking tickets is a must for this interactive site.

3. Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Malta

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum in Paola, Malta, is an underground burial chamber from 2,500 BC. This ancient structure is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most intact prehistoric sites in the world. The chamber was discovered in 1902 when builders excavated it for a new housing development.

The hypogeum showcases advanced construction techniques used by the ancient Maltese. The walls and ceilings of the chamber are adorned with intricate carvings and paintings depicting human figures, animals, and geometric patterns. The chamber’s acoustics are also remarkable, with sounds echoing and reverberating throughout the space. The hypogeum requires advanced tickets for a set time of day. Only eight small group tours are conducted each day.

4. Butrint National Archaeological Park, Albania

Butrint National Archaeological Park is a stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Albania. This ancient city has a rich history that dates back to the Greeks and Romans, and it is considered one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Balkans. The park has impressive ruins, including a Roman amphitheater, a Byzantine basilica, and a Venetian castle .

You can explore the site on foot and enjoy views of the surrounding landscape while admiring the ancient architecture and intricate mosaics. The park is home to diverse flora and fauna, making it an excellent destination for nature lovers. Overall, Butrint National Archaeological Park will satisfy history lovers, culture buffs, and natural beauty enthusiasts.

5. Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

Göbekli Tepe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Turkey’s Mount Germuş. Many consider Göbekli Tepe one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 21st century. The site dates to the 10th millennium BC. It is believed to be one of the earliest examples of a human-made religious structure.

Göbekli Tepe consists of a series of stone structures created by ancient hunter-gatherers. They depict various animals and symbols. The site is surrounded by a large number of stone pillars that are adorned with intricate carvings and reliefs.

The significance of Göbekli Tepe lies in the fact that it challenges our understanding of early human civilization and suggests that humans were capable of more complex social and cultural structures than previously thought.

Visiting ancient European sites is a unique opportunity to explore the continent’s history and cultural heritage. These sites provide a window into our ancestors’ lives, beliefs, and achievements, allowing us to better understand our shared human experience.

The rewards of visiting these sites are immeasurable, from the intricate architecture of the Ancient Theater of Philippopolis to the stunning Megalithic art at Brú na Bóinne. They offer a chance to connect with the past, appreciate the present, and inspire the future. You can visit some of these sites from home with a virtual tour .

This article originally appeared on TravelAwaits