The Grand Tour was a European travel itinerary that flourished from about 1660 until the arrival of mass rail transit in the 1820s. It was popular amongst young British upper-class men and served as an educational rite of passage for the wealthy. Similar trips were made by the wealthy of other Northern European nations. Its primary value lay in the exposure both to the cultural artefacts of antiquity and the Renaissance and to the aristocratic and fashionable society of the European continent. A grand tour could last from several months to several years.

Travel itinerary

The most common itinerary of the Grand Tour^[1] began in Dover, England, and crossed the English Channel to Calais in France. From there the tourist, usually accompanied by a tutor (known colloquially as a bear-leader) and if wealthy enough a league of servants, acquired a coach—which would be resold on completion—and other travel and transportation necessities, such as a French-speaking guide, and set off for Paris. In Paris the traveller might undertake lessons in French, dancing, fencing and riding. The appeal of Paris lay in the sophisticated language and manners of high French society, including courtly behavior and fashion. Ostensibly this served the purpose of preparing the young British nobleman for a leadership position at home, often government-related or diplomatic in nature.

From Paris he would typically go to Geneva and experience Switzerland for a while. Then a difficult crossing over the Alps into Northern Italy (such as at St. Bernard Pass), which included dismantling the carriage and luggage, and if wealthy enough he might be carried over the hard terrain by servants. Once in Northern Italy the tourist might spend a few months in Florence and Pisa studying Renaissance art, then move on to Bologna and Venice to do the same. From Venice it was on to Rome to study the classical ruins, with perhaps a visit to Naples for music, and to appreciate the recently discovered archaeological sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii and for the adventurous thrilling ascent of Mount Vesuvius. Later in the period the more adventurous, especially if provided with a yacht, might attempt the Greek ruins of Sicily or Greece itself. But Naples, or later Paestum a little further south, was the usual terminus; from here it was back north through the Alps to the German speaking parts of Europe. The traveller might stop first in Innsbruck before visiting Berlin, Dresden, Vienna and Potsdam, with perhaps some study time at the universities in Munich or Heidelberg. Then it was on to Holland and Flanders, with more gallery-going and art appreciation, before returning across the channel to England.

History

The idea of traveling for the sake of curiosity and learning was a developing idea in the 18th century. With John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) it was argued, and widely accepted, that knowledge comes entirely from the external senses, that what one knows comes from the physical stimuli to which one has been exposed, thus, one could "use up" the environment, taking from it all it offers, requiring a change of place. Travel, therefore, was an obligation for the person who wanted to further develop his or her mind and so expand his or her knowledge of the world. The typical 18th century sentiment was that of the studious observer traveling through foreign lands reporting his or her findings on human nature for those unfortunate to have stayed home. Traveling observation became a duty, an obligation to society at large to increase its welfare. The Grand Tour flourished in this mindset.^[2]

The Grand Tour not only provided a liberal education but allowed those who could afford it the opportunity to buy things otherwise unavailable at home, and it thus increased participants' prestige and standing. Grand Tourists would return with crates of art, books, pictures, sculpture, and items of culture, which would be displayed in libraries, cabinets, gardens, and drawing rooms; The Grand Tour became a symbol of wealth and freedom. Artists who especially thrived on Grand Tourists included Pompeo Batoni the portraitist, and the vedutisti such as Canaletto, Pannini and Guardi. The less well-off could return with an album of Piranesi etchings.

Critics of the Grand Tour derided its lack of adventure. "The tour of Europe is a paltry thing", said one 18th century critic, "a tame, uniform, unvaried prospect".^[3] The Grand Tour was said to re-enforce the old preconceptions and prejudices about national characteristics, as Jean Gailhard's Compleat Gentleman (1678) observes: "French courteous. Spanish lordly. Italian amorous. German clownish."^[3]

After the arrival of mass transit, around 1825, the Grand Tour custom continued, but it was of a qualitative difference -cheaper to undertake, safer, easier, open to anyone. During much of the 19th century, most educated young men of privilege undertook the Grand Tour. Later, it became fashionable for young women; a trip to Italy, with a spinster aunt chaperon, was part of the upper-class woman's education, as in E.M. Forster's novel A Room with a View.

Thomas Coryat's travel book Coryat's Crudities (1611) was an early influence on the Grand Tour. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the term (perhaps its introduction to English) was by Richard Lassels in his book An Italian Voyage (1670). Some contemporary sociologists view the Grand Tour as the prototype for modern tourism.

See also

• Tourism
• Pop-culture tourism
• Gap year, the Grand Tour as practiced by British school leavers before they go up to University
• A La Ronde, an 18th century house built in Devon, England by two ladies on their return from the Grand Tour

Notes

References

• Elizabeth Bohls and Ian Duncan, ed. (2005). Travel Writing 1700-1830 : An Anthology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-284051-7
• James Buzzard (2002), "The Grand Tour and after (1660-1840)", in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. ISBN 0-521-78140-X
• Paul Fussell (1987), "The Eighteenth Century and the Grand Tour", in The Norton Book of Travel, ISBN 0-393-02481-4

External links

• The Grand Tour
• Grand Tour online at the Getty Museum
• "Grand Tour" an exhibition project of the Swedish artist Matts Leiderstam
• Voyagers and Voyeurs - Travellers in 19th century France, an anthology

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