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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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Austrian Empire was the dominant power of Central Europe . From the 18th century, it became a forerunner in arts and sciences.
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.
More distant destinations such as Madrid , Seville , Saint Petersburg and Jerusalem became more accessible in later years.
Topic: History
A drive for enlightenment was at the heart of the Grand Tour — but plenty of questionable behaviour also crept in. ( Getty: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images )
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 original holiday selfie? Grand Tourists like Francis Basset commissioned portraits of themselves to take home as souvenirs. ( Wikimedia Commons )
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.
The canals of Venice were high on the must-see list for many Grand Tourists. ( Getty: DeAgostini )
"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.
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."
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.
This drawing by George Keate, circa 1755, is titled "Manner of passing Mont Cenis". ( The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) )
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 Grand Tour route taken by English novelist William Thomas Beckford, from London to Belgium, through Holland, Germany, Austria and Italy. ( Wikimedia Commons )
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."
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.
Mary Wollstonecraft (whose daughter Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein) argued that women should receive the same education as men. ( Painting by John Opie, c 1797. Public domain. )
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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Grand tours project team.
Feb / 17 / 2021
A Grand Tour. What comes to mind when you think about a Grand Tour? For me, it’s a cycling grand tour. But back in the day…. a long time ago, a grand tour was a just as arduous voyage across the European continent for young men of the upper and aristocratic classes.
Unlike today, the aim was to allow the young men to pursue their interests outside their society norms, to meet with similar families of social standing, to spread their oats, to pilfer antiquities from ancient sites, and to have a portrait painted before they returned home to take up roles in the family and society. Often it would take a couple of years or so, and require retinues of servants, mentors and invariably, large trains of luggage.
Above: Grand Tour tourist carried over the alps in a sedan chair
Nowadays, it could not be more different! You do not need to be aristocratic, the aim is to travel lightly because who has servants these day! And rather than rely on ships, horses and carriages (yes this was before the era of trains) one only needs their trusty steed – a bike…and a bike computer! Of course, a good friend driving a support vehicle is an advantage.
Above: Colle delle Finestre, Giro d´Italia 2018
Today riding on an epic journey, crossing and discovering “new worlds” or riding one of the 3 Grand Tours is possible – either #Ride Every Kilometre or choose to dabble in the experience, especially in the mountain stages. It's an opportunity to see parts of Italy, France and Spain that you wouldn’t normally go to.
But there are other places in Europe that can qualify as a grand tour. There are other races that can be ridden and followed, as well as personal journeys through several regions and countries, with friends and family, exploring the best kept secrets of amazing European countries. Like the princely voyages of the past, these are journeys that can educate, introduce you to a wide cross section of people – both comrade cyclists but also locals. Perhaps it's an opportunity to practise some remnant language lessons from school years on the local population!!
Above: Grimsel Pass, Switzerland Explorer Tour
Grand Tours are about escapism, an experience and soon a memory never to be forgotten.
Above: Lofoten Islands, Tour of Norway.
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):
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.
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
From Venice
From Florence
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.
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.
More related articles.
Author Webpage
The main purpose of this chapter is to consider the impact of the Grand Tour on those members of the British and Irish elite who travelled on the Continent. Did the Tour and tourism more generally make travellers more British, or more conscious of their place within Europe? The evidence presented suggests that it did both; assertions of British pride were not necessarily incompatible with learning French and Italian, enjoying local food and wine, appreciating the music and theatre encountered on the Continent, admiring the art, antiquities, and architecture, and mixing with local elites. National sentiments seem to have lived happily alongside a sense of belonging to a truly European high culture.
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Gokce Dyson 28 November 2022 min Read
Carl Spitzweg, Englishmen in Campania , ca. 1835, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany.
Art Travels
Nowadays, it is very common to take a gap year before or after university studies to travel and expand your horizons. Dedicating a year or two before committing to a full-time job means you can experience different cultures, learn languages, and enjoy having a bit of fun before settling down. Back in the day, with similar objectives, many noblemen embarked on a journey across Europe before entering adulthood. It was called the Grand Tour.
The Grand Tour evolved between the 17th and 18th centuries as a custom of a traditional trip. The purpose of the Grand Tour was to provide male members of upper-class families with a formative experience. The term was first used by the Catholic priest and travel writer Richard Lassels in his guidebook The Voyage of Italy . The book came out in 1670 and described young lords traveling to Italy to see art, architecture, and antiquity. Lassels completed the Grand Tour five times during his lifetime.
In England, for example, the general view held by the aristocrats was that foreign travel completed the education of an English gentleman. However, some people were also quite skeptical about the tour. They feared the amount of money spent to make the Grand Tour possible could ruin the young nobility.
Although the Grand Tour was largely associated with English travelers, they were far from being the only ones on the road. On the contrary, wealthy families in France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark also saw traveling as an ideal way to finish the education of their societies’ future leaders.
The traditional route of the Grand Tour usually began in Dover, England. Grand tourists would cross the English Channel to Le Havre in France. Upon arrival in Paris , the young men tended to hire a French-speaking guide as French was the dominant language of the elite during the 17th and 18th centuries. In Paris, they spent some time taking lessons in fencing, riding, and perhaps dancing. There, they became accustomed to the sophisticated manners of French society in courtly behavior and fashion. Paris was a crucial step in preparing for their positions to be fulfilled in government or diplomacy waiting back in England.
From there, tourists would buy transport, and if they were prosperous enough, they would hire a tutor to accompany them. The travelers would then get back on the road and cross the Alps, carried in a chair at Mont Cenis before moving on to Turin.
Italy was exceedingly the most traveled country on the Grand Tour. A Grand tourist’s list of must-see cities in Italy included Florence , Venice , and Naples . And then, there was Rome . Each Italian city offered immense importance in experiencing art and architecture, and Rome had it all.
Once arriving in Italy, noblemen traveled to Florence followed by Venice, Rome, and Naples. Florence was popular for its Renaissance art, magnificent country villas, and beautiful gardens. Young aristocrats were able to gain entry to private collections where they could observe the legacy of the Medici family. Venice , on the other hand, was the party city. There was, however, a second reason to visit Venice. During their travels, grand tourists often commissioned art to take back home with them. Wealthy ones brought sketch artists along with them. Others purchased ready-made artworks instead. Giovanni Battista Piranesi created numerous prints and sketches depicting the ancient ruins in Rome. The works of the Venetian artist were popular among noblemen.
Rome was considered the ultimate stop during the Grand Tour. The city had a harmonious mixture of past and present. One could experience modern-day Baroque art and architecture and ancient ruins , dating back thousands of years at the same time. It was lauded as home to Michelangelo’s and Bernini’s most prized works. Gentlemen visited spots like the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and Porta del Popolo. William Beckford described his feelings in a letter when he was on his Grand Tour:
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.
The next stop on the route was Naples. When Italian authorities began excavations in Herculaneum and Pompeii in the 1730s, grand tourists flocked there to delve into the mysteries of the ancient past. Naples became a popular retreat for the British who wanted to enjoy the coastal sun. Travelers such as J. W. Goethe praised the city’s 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. J. W. Goethe, Google Arts& Culture .
Returning home, young gentlemen crossed the Alps to the German-speaking parts of Europe and visited Innsbruck, Vienna , Dresden, and Berlin . From there, they stopped in Holland and Flanders before returning to England.
With the introduction of steam railways in Europe around 1825, travel became safer, cheaper, and easier to undertake. The Grand Tour custom continued; however, it was not limited to the members of wealthy families. During the 19th century, many educated men had undertaken the Grand Tour. It also became more popular for women to travel across Europe with chaperones. A Room with A View, written by English novelist E. M. Forster, tells the story of a young woman who embarks on a journey to Italy in the 1900s.
Grand tourists would return with crates full of books, oil paintings, medals, coins, and antique artifacts to be displayed in libraries, cabinets, drawing rooms, and galleries built for that purpose. The marble sarcophagus shown above was brought back from Italy to England by the third duke of Beaufort who found this item during his Grand Tour stop in Pompeii. Impressed by the European art academies on his Grand Tour, Joshua Reynolds founded the Royal Academy of Arts in London upon his return in 1768. The Grand Tour inspired many travelers to take a greater interest in ancient art. The British School in Rome was established to learn more about the Roman ruins and it still exists today.
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Based in Canterbury, Gokce holds a bachelor's degree in History and Archaeological Studies and a master's degree in Museum and Gallery Studies. She firmly believes that art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. If Gokce is not tucked into a cosy corner with a medieval history book, she can be found spending her evenings doing jigsaw puzzles.
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In the eighteenth century, the Grand Tour was an obligatory part of a young nobleman’s artistic, intellectual and sentimental education.
The ‘Grand Tour’, that extended journey to Italy undertaken mainly by British but also French and German aristocrats in the eighteenth century, is not only the stuff of legend, but meant as many different things as there were tourists; each came back with a particular and personal view of the experience.
The Grand Tour evolved during the seventeenth century to become a formative experience for the leaders of British society. Princes, nobles, aristocrats, landed gentry, and politicians—with courtiers, retinues, scholars, tutors, advisors and servants—all made the journey across France. Crossing the Alps at Mont Cenis (usually carried in a chair), they descended into Italy at Turin, or, taking a felucca from Marseilles, they landed at Genoa.
Italy was seen as the cradle of Western civilisation, the source and home of all that was reckoned to be significant historically, aesthetically, politically, religiously and, above all, for collecting: antique sculpture, Old Master paintings, furniture, textiles, objets de vertu, jewellery, contemporary sculpture and painting.
In the latter category, most highly prized were portraits of the tourists themselves by masters such as Pompeo Batoni and ‘vedute’, views of the sites visited as presented in Canaletto’s paintings or Piranesi’s prints. Moreover, Italy was the textbook for students of architecture, with ancient and modern buildings not only to be studied but imitated back home. The British stately home is almost by definition the result of the Grand Tour in both its architecture and its contents.
Earlier this year, the ‘Italy Observed’ exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York showcased a fine selection of Italian vedute, from paintings of Venetian life by Luca Carlevaris to a Neapolitan album of gouache drawings documenting the eruption of Vesuvius in 1794 to sketches and watercolours of Italian antiquities, capturing the artist’s romantic attraction to Italy and its irresistible Roman heritage.
The places to visit included most of the sites still popular with less grand tourists today: Florence, with untold riches held by the Grand-Ducal Medicis in their several city palaces, as well as works of art in the churches and monasteries; Venice, which combined artistic and mercantile wealth; Genoa, which had artistic links with Britain due to the visits of Rubens and Van Dyck whose works adorned that city; and Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, an outpost of the Habsburg empire with a glamorous court and the place where in the later part of the eighteenth century Sir William Hamilton and his wife, Emma—later to achieve fame as Nelson’s lover—held cultural sway.
Later in the century the archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum put these on the tourist trail, as sites for the study of the ancient world, sources for yet more riches to be brought home, and templates for decoration and decorative art works in the Neo-classical style that emerged partly as a result of these finds. At the same time, Southern Italy and Sicily were added to the Tour as interest grew in classical Greek architecture, the temples at Paestum and Segesta being among the finest examples.
Above all others, the destination of the Grand Tour was Rome—the crossroads of the ancient and the Christian worlds—and the place that epitomised Western civilisation. The site of the vestiges of the Roman Republic and Empire, those sources of European law and administration, and of the noble examples of pagan virtue and rectitude that inspired the classical ideals of the Augustan gentleman, Rome was also the heart of European Christianity: for Catholics the very heart of the religion; for Protestants, although historically important if doctrinally suspect or downright repugnant, a power to be known and reckoned with.
However, the Grand Tourists were not pilgrims, but came with other motives—often mixed, but principally to drink from the source of civilisation, to undertake a Bildungsreise, the journey of a life time (often lasting several years), an experience that would form an aristocrat’s life-long attitudes, tastes, intellectual habits and manners. It was also a major shopping expedition intended to provide the nobility with objects to furnish their newly built Neo-classical houses.
Grand Tourists can be seen in works of art such as the portraits of Lord Mountstuart and John Talbot painted respectively by Jean-Étienne Liotard in 1763 and Pompeo Batoni, ten years later. Talbot is shown as the consummate Grand Tourist: elegant, poised, nonchalant, surrounded by the signs of his Roman sojourn—a broken capital at his feet, a Grecian urn at his elbow and the Ludovisi Ares in the background.
Tourists who had not done their homework before setting off were ably assisted by their tutors, the ubiquitous and often ill-used ‘bear leaders’, who were also meant to oversee their charges’ moral integrity, a fruitless task more often honoured in the breach.
In fact, the Grand Tourists’ less high-minded behaviour and interests were frequently remarked on—pointedly, in one instance by Alexander Pope who satirised the twin aspects of the Grand Tourist’s agenda: ‘… he sauntered Europe round, / And gather’d ev’ry Vice on Christian ground; / Saw ev’ry Court, heard ev’ry King declare / His royal Sense of Op’ra’s or the Fair; / The Stews and Palace equally explor’d / Intrigu’d with glory, and with spirit whor’d.’
But the Grand Tourist whose budget did not stretch to having a personal tutor was responsible for the invention of what has become an indispensable item of tourism: the guidebook, with foldout maps and panoramic views marked with the not-to-be-missed monuments and sites.
The beautiful red chalk drawing of an antique monument in a landscape by Marie-Joseph Peyre from about 1753-85 is an example that serves as reminder that many Grand Tourists were taught, on the spot, to draw, sketch and paint. The Grand Tourists’ collecting activities promoted the revival of ancient art forms, creating a taste for architecture and sculpture in a Neo-classical or Greek style, and in the manufacture of objects such as Wedgwood cameo wares.
The publication in 1755 of Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks influenced European taste for the next half-century. Greek sculpture was (as it still is) known almost exclusively through Roman copies, and the striving for the cool, serene and noble sentiments that art seemed to embody is exemplified most of all by the work of Antonio Canova, represented by his marble statue of Apollo crowning himself.
Ancient carved gemstones and cameos, cameo casts, contemporary gemstones carved in the manner of ancient ones, prints, and a painting by Canaletto, The Arch of Constantine with the Colosseum in the background, show how works of art served as souvenirs and aide-memoires for returning visitors. Ultimately, their patronage and spending was the driving force behind Neo-classicism, the international style that wedded the principles of ancient art to modern individual inventiveness.
Collecting of an entirely different sort and on an entirely different scale marked the end of the Grand Tour and of aristocratic classical taste. Napoleon’s invasion of Italy signaled the beginning of the end of the aristocratic age for which Italy was both the goal and the source.
See also: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Years in Vienna
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The Renaissance – Setting Popular Travel in Motion
As the renaissance spread through-out Europe, bringing with it a new artistic and academic focus, it became fashionable for young aristocrats to visit the great master pieces of the classical era as part of their classical education, (mainly Roman art and architecture.) This became known as the Grand Tour.
A Trending Itinerary
During the 16 th and 18 th centuries a standard itinerary was popularized. While detours included many European destinations, the grand tour typically started in London and included Paris, but focused mainly on Italy, especially Rome. Few visited as far as Greece, which was still under Turkish rule. The grand tourists visited famous ruins, architecture, fountains and churches. Admission to Greco-Roman statues and paintings included both private collections and museums. Travel guides were available for the grand tour and the tour typically lasted for many months and sometimes years. Besides visiting art and architecture, a grand tourist could also listen to music, visit theaters, be tutored in languages, fencing, dancing, riding and other popular activities. The grand tour was often seen as a rite of passage and was considered a symbol of status.
Souvenirs and postcards
Determine which path is right for you
Grand tourists returned to display items otherwise unavailable at home. Popular souvenirs included art, books, sculptures, clothes, glass, coins and other cultural gems. Micro-mosaic became popular and often depicted famous landmarks. It could be worn as jewelry or be sent home in the form of small pictures to friends and family as a fore-runner to the modern post-card. Cityscape and landscape paintings or vedute became immensely popular during the time of the grand tour and provided “snap-shots” the tourist could bring back and present as a visual tale of their travels. Etchings of the grand tour also became very popular. Some grand tourists commissioned their own artists to accompany their travels.
Tour Guides
While it was common practice to hire a personal tour guide for the grand tour, printed travelogues or itineraries became popular to both travelers and non-travelers. Published accounts and letters of personal experiences gave insight to what the grand tour could offer for the populace of the time, but they also help illuminate the historic trend for us in modern times.
By Jessica Lang, Multimedia Team Specialist, Travel Planners International
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Absolutely yes! Would recommend this tour, I had an absolute ball. I feel so lucky with the group we got. Everyone got along considering the number of different personalities (ages 18-33). I personally wouldn't go back to Italy, but it was beautiful. Switzerland was... Read more of I had the best time!
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A c. 1760 painting of James Grant, John Mytton, Thomas Robinson and Thomas Wynne on the Grand Tour by Nathaniel Dance-Holland. The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tutor or family member ...
grand tour, multiyear journey, typically running through France and Italy. It was undertaken by aristocratic or wealthy young men from northern Europe, especially England, to complete their education. The term was coined in 1670 by priest and writer Richard Lassels in his Voyage of Italy, but the practice probably began some 100 years earlier ...
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.
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 ...
18th Century Grand Tour of Europe. The Travels of European Twenty-Somethings. Venice was not to be missed on the Grand Tour. Grand Canal circa 1740 painting by Canaletto. 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 ...
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 ...
History of the Grand Tour. In the early years of the 18th and 19th centuries it was fashionable, for wealthy British families, to send their son and heir on a tour of Europe. A trip that was designed to introduce the young ' milord ' to the art, history and culture of Italy. The British educational system was based on Latin and Greek ...
During the late 16th century, a cultural phenomenon emerged among Europe's elite: the Grand Tour. Essentially a long excursion around the continent's ancient locations, the Grand Tour would endure for over three centuries and become a rite of passage for (typically) young male aristocrats, capping off an education steeped in reverence for ...
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 ...
What is the Grand Tour? Long before Contiki Tour busses started carting tourists around Europe at breakneck speed — beginning in the late sixteenth century to be exact — young aristocrats from England, Germany, Scandinavia, and America started travelling to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome as a way to round out their classical educations.
grand tour. grand tour. A standard part of the education of the English aristocracy between the Restoration and the outbreak of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars in 1789, though since it could take two or three years, it was extremely expensive and only a few could afford it. It therefore tended to be limited to elder sons.
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 ...
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". Listen ...
A Grand Tour. What comes to mind when you think about a Grand Tour? For me, it's a cycling grand tour. But back in the day…. a long time ago, a grand tour was a just as arduous voyage across the European continent for young men of the upper and aristocratic classes.
Path of the Grand Tour of Europe Revisited. James Martin. "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 ...
Cultural Trip Around Europe. In fine art, the term "Grand Tour" refers to the fashionable European trip undertaken by cultural and socially conscious tourists, to the great centres of classical, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, sculpture and painting: notably, Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam and Antwerp.
A leading historian of eighteenth-century Europe has written that 'The English certainly, and the British probably, had a clear sense of national identity…Their experiences on the Grand Tour only served to intensify that identity.' 17 But the Tour also inspired the British and Irish elite to think more broadly.
Impressed by the European art academies on his Grand Tour, Joshua Reynolds founded the Royal Academy of Arts in London upon his return in 1768. The Grand Tour inspired many travelers to take a greater interest in ancient art. The British School in Rome was established to learn more about the Roman ruins and it still exists today.
Arts & Collections. In the eighteenth century, the Grand Tour was an obligatory part of a young nobleman's artistic, intellectual and sentimental education. The 'Grand Tour', that extended journey to Italy undertaken mainly by British but also French and German aristocrats in the eighteenth century, is not only the stuff of legend, but ...
Crossing the channel and into continental Europe, British tourists in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries were among a new wave of pleasure travellers. A great number of people who lived in properties that are now in the care of English Heritage embarked on a Grand Tour during this time. Here we share some of their stories and how the Grand Tour impacted their lives.
During the 16 th and 18 th centuries a standard itinerary was popularized. While detours included many European destinations, the grand tour typically started in London and included Paris, but focused mainly on Italy, especially Rome. Few visited as far as Greece, which was still under Turkish rule. The grand tourists visited famous ruins ...
The treasures of Europe's best destinations await on a grand tour through Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Cruise Amsterdam's canals and step into the world's most beautiful square in Brussels. Explore intertwining cultures and charming old cities, with stops in Luxembourg, Strasbourg, and Basel. Indulge in Bavarian specialties in Münich and ...
Sep 12 - Oct 11. Plus. $5,859. With culture, history, nightlife, and museums, this one-month trip to Europe leaves no stone unturned. Book Grand Tour of Europe now!
Book a Grand Tour today. Famed for its iconic Dalmatian coast, picturesque islands and fascinating history, Croatia is one of Europe's 'must see' destinations. Book a Grand Tour today. Skip to main content 01283 742300 01283 742300. Monday - Friday: 09:00 - 18:00. Saturday: 09:00 - 17:00. Sunday: 10:00 - 16:00 ...