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260 Grand Tour
century. A tour could last from anywhere between
two to eight years.
The Grand Tour is an example of long-term
continuity in tourism history. In some sense, it
was a re-emergent form of cultural tourism from
the ancient world where wealthy Romans, for
instance, would visit the glories of Greece and
Egypt. Furthermore, the route patterns and
facilities of the Grand Tour built upon the
infrastructure provided for pilgrims and other
travellers since the Middle Ages.
The majority of tourists on the Grand Tour
were the young male offspring of the affluent. In
Britain, they came from the ranks of the landed
classes, whose estates and other sources of wealth
provided the time and money for extensive travel.
The educated middle classes would provide the
tutors to the young tourists, while the working
classes provided their accompanying servants. By
the early nineteenth century, the middle classes
were increasingly becoming Grand Tourists themselves,
sometimes accompanied by their families. At
this stage the tour had reduced in length, often
lasting for no more than a few months.
The underlying causes of the Grand Tour can
be traced to the changing cultural relations
between different parts of Europe which evolved
from the sixteenth century onwards. Classical
antiquity and the Renaissance formed the centre
of the culture of educated elites in Britain, France
and Germany, and this stimulated the desire to visit
Italy in particular. Allied to this were developments
in philosophy and science, which emphasised the
importance of travel in the quest for knowledge.
To these educational and cultural motives must
also be added that of health, and the appeal of the
warm south for curing real or imagined ailments.
Distinct spatial and temporal patterns of travel
were created. Some of these patterns remained
little changed, while others were modified by taste
and travel conditions. A dominant route pattern
was that which ran through France via Paris, to the
RhoÃne Valley, thence crossing the Alps to Turin or
going by sea from Marseilles to Italy. Within Italy,
an enduring pattern connected Florence, Rome,
Naples and Venice, combining visits to antiquities
and the Renaissance heritage with the delights of
cosmopolitan culture. North of the Alps, there was
a circuit of the courts of Germany or a return
journey via the Rhine. Route patterns could be
modified by changing aesthetic tastes. The picturesque
and romantic movements of the later
eighteenth century encouraged more tourists to
include scenic tours of Switzerland and the
medieval towns of central Italy in their itineraries.
There were few major changes in travel
conditions during the period of the Grand Tour,
and it is unlikely that the coming of the railways
was significant for ending its significance. The
railway network was still in its infancy in Europe
when the tour declined as a major institution.
Tourists from Britain departed for the Grand
Tour either in April±May or late August±September.
This was either at the end of the fashionable
season or timed to cross the Alps before the winter.
Journeys were also timed to be in Rome at
Christmas and Easter and Venice for Ascensiontide.
Travel in Italy was generally during the winter
months, avoiding the summer heat in Rome and
Naples. Thus, distinct visitor seasons were created
in these centres �see seasonality). In terms of
length of stay, Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples and
Paris generally dominated the time spent in
particular places, with visits of several months
being common.
An embryonic tourism industry supported the
needs of the visitors. In many instances, of course,
the tourists simply formed part of the general
clientele for transport and accommodation, but
in some centres their numbers and wealth created
particular responses. For example, the Piazza di
Spagna area of Rome formed the main centre for
visitor apartments in that city, while Florence
gained a reputation for the quality of its tourism
accommodation by the later eighteenth century.
Tour guides to attractions could be found in
many centres, as could a souvenir industry. By the
1820s, a number of entrepreneurs �see culture
broker) were providing inclusive packages of
transport, lodgings and food for visitors to Switzerland.
Information and advice could be obtained
from the diplomatic and banking network around
the continent.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the
Grand Tour had largely faded. The elite moved on
to new areas such as Greece and the Near East or
to exclusive resorts within Europe. Yet, the
cultural centres of the continent continue to draw