The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tutor or family member) when they had come of age (about 21 years old)
The practice is referenced in Jane aAusten novels and similar literature, but the Napoleanic Wars put a stop to the practice for some time.
I’d like to read some accounts about what it was like, or adjacent literature. Really anything detailed about English people traveling Europe during the early 1800s. Especially if a woman happened to be on the journey, which I understand was popular in the years just after Napoleon’s defeat, to visit battle sites.
by DoubleDragonsAllDown
3 Comments
Here’s a long one. Author was already an established travelogue writer in the 1840s before publishing this work:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16999/16999-h/16999-h.htm#FNanchor_9_9
A good overview of this tradition and its influence on the English cultural life can be found in ‘The Grand Tour’ by Mike Rendell.
Persian Letters by Montesquieu is great satire featuring two fictional Persian men on a grand tour. I can’t remember if it features Englishmen… it’s been a while since I read it (and I was particularly focused on the parts about the women in a harem).