grand tour and travel

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!

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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

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

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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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18th Century Grand Tour of Europe

The Travels of European Twenty-Somethings

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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 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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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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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)

Related Essays

• American Neoclassical Sculptors Abroad
• Baroque Rome
• The Idea and Invention of the Villa
• Neoclassicism
• The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity
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• James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
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• Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• France, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Great Britain and Ireland, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 A.D.
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• Rome and Southern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• The United States, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• 16th Century A.D.
• 17th Century A.D.
• 18th Century A.D.
• 19th Century A.D.
• Ancient Roman Art
• Baroque Art
• Central Europe
• Central Italy
• Classical Ruins
• Great Britain and Ireland
• Greek and Roman Mythology
• The Netherlands
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Artist or Maker

• Adam, Robert
• Batoni, Pompeo
• Cozens, John Robert
• Desprez, Louis Jean
• Mengs, Anton Raphael
• Natoire, Charles Joseph
• Panini, Giovanni Paolo
• Permoser, Balthasar
• Piranesi, Francesco
• Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
• Rigaud, Jacques
• Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista
• Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico
• Wedgwood, Josiah
• Wilson, Richard

Online Features

• Connections: “Flux” by Annie Labatt
• Connections: “Genoa” by Xavier Salomon

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Top 10 books about the Grand Tour

Adding finish to young aristocrats’ education in centuries past, and recorded by Goethe, Sterne and others, these alluring journeys had a very dark side

T he Grand Tour was one of the defining educational experiences of the 18th century, a kind of travelling finishing school, comprising aristocratic visits to ancient cultural sites, princely art galleries, and exclusive Enlightenment soirees. Typically, British “tourists” (the word dates from 1772) visited France, Germany and Italy. Some, like Byron, even went on to Greece and Turkey for headier pursuits. It was a year of sightseeing, hobnobbing and sex before returning home with good memories – and possibly syphilis. But this was strictly an elite experience. It was very much not for the oiks.

My new novel tells the story of two brothers dispatched on to the Grand Tour in the 1760s to make fashionable new friends. Instead they meet the magnificently savage Lavelle, who destroys their plans. There is plenty of sex and culture in the book, but as a writer, I am more interested in the other side of history, the history of outsiders.

The Grand Tour is the ultimate story of insiders: rich, white Europeans go on an exclusive jolly before commencing a life of power and privilege. We can all imagine a certain blond-haired chap having done it as a youth. Writing my novel, I was asking: is there an outsider history of the Grand Tour? Does the other even exist in the Enlightenment, which spoke of freedom, but from the most elite vantage point?

1. The British Abroad: The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century by Jeremy Black (1992) If you want a readable introduction to the subject, this is it. It covers everything from the harsh realities of life on the road, the still-perilous journeys, that discovery of sex and suddenly running out of money 1,000 miles from home. It also shows how unforeseen events (the French Revolution) could suddenly change everything. Should you too be living through a time where unforeseen events have suddenly changed everything, I recommend it.

2. Of Travel by Sir Francis Bacon (1625) Gleaned from his own journeys around France, Italy and Spain, polymath genius Bacon recommends travellers should keep a journal, meet locals, get them to show you around, visit many famous sights, and regard travel as an illuminating experience. It is amazing to think these were new ideas then, but as with so much of modern life, Bacon had to show us first.

3. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett (1751) Frankly, Peregrine Pickle is a pain in the arse. The Grand Tour is only part of this story – the hero only gets as far as France before turning back – but he is cantankerous, offensive and hilarious right across his travels, not least in poisonous pen portraits of literary enemies such as Henry Fielding. George Orwell hated the book, deriding its snobbish, elitist impulses. But then again, Orwell was proudly, openly homophobic.

4. Travels through France and Italy by Tobias Smollett (1766) Despite Peregrine Pickle’s awfulness, you still want to like Smollett because of the circumstances in which he wrote his hugely influential Grand Tour travelogue: grief-stricken, fleeing the death of his only child. But the same wonderfully awful Smollett who insulted and berated through that book now picks stupid, pointless real-life fights all the way across France. He hates his travel companions and is dubiously withering about Catholic southern Europe. But his wicked – in the real sense – humour and perceptive eye make this glorious, shameless, appalling fun.

5. A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy by Laurence Sterne (1768) Written in response to Smollett’s travelogue, it was allegedly inspired when the two writers met. Sterne so disliked Smollett that he created the odious, fabulously named Smelfungus, whom his own alter ego, Yorick, meets en route. Wandering aimlessly around France, Yorick is more interested in sex than culture. In so doing, Sterne cleverly reminds us of a big part of the Tour’s appeal for young British people: sex.

6. Sultry Climates: Travel and Sex Since the Grand Tour by Ian Littlewood (2001) Speaking of which, this very entertaining book explores the Grand Tour more fully as an opportunity for sex of every variety, frowned upon back home. It also considers the influence of the Tour on how we’ve holidayed ever since. Are you a Connoisseur, a Pilgrim or a Rebel? This book shows you how the Grand Tour shaped how you travel.

7. Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1816) Where the British snigger and satirise, the Germans bring poetry. Italian Journey is a lovely work suffused with Goethe’s sincere, lush Romanticism – genuinely new after the hard-eyed satires of the 18th century. Ruminations on art, culture, history, climate, even geology hover beautifully, while Goethe shows how Italy seemed to the Grand Tourist – a great civilisation simultaneously alive and in ruins. Which is all great: but still white, male, elite business as usual.

8. Ladies of the Grand Tour by Brian Dolan (1992) Women rarely feature much in writing about the Tour but Dolan’s survey captures its liberating – sometimes revolutionary – impact on British women, celebrating them as writers, thinkers and observers. It finds interesting links between travel and radicalism for that first generation of women we now see as feminists, for example, Mary Wollstonecraft .

9. Mary Shelley’s History of a Six Weeks’ Tour (1817) Speaking of whom, you could probably make a good argument for the influence of the Tour on Shelley’s Frankenstein, but Mary Wollstonecraft’s daughter also wrote an account of her own experience of the Grand Tour. Today, it’s a fascinating document of a politically radical young woman venturing off on her own adventures, claiming a female voice in an otherwise male space. And what a voice – insightful, polemical, literary – and all written when she was just 20. Marvellous.

10. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) But while the upper classes had such fun on the Tour, many people in the 18th century were on far darker journeys. Equiano’s autobiographical masterpiece travels from his childhood in (what is now) Nigeria to slavery in the Caribbean and freedom – and fame in Britain as a leading black activist. His book thus becomes a horrifically clever inversion of the classic Grand Tour narrative, boldly smashing open the vanity of so much of the Enlightenment.

In my book, Lavelle casts a withering eye over the self-regard of the Enlightenment. He retains his ire most of all for the adored Voltaire, who was also an antisemite who sucked up to autocrats. “The world is rotten,” Lavelle says. “Lovers of books, do you think they do not rape their maids? And philosophers, do they not whip their slaves?” Equiano teaches us the truth of 18th-century Europe as much as Voltaire, Sterne and Smollett. It is he, the outsider, who tells the truth of history, every bit as much as – or more than – its privileged heroes.

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore is published by Cornerstone. To order a copy, go to guardianbookshop.com .

• Laurence Sterne
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Mary Shelley

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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

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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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The Grand Tour - JPL Travel Poster

NASA's Voyager mission took advantage of a once-every-175-year alignment of the outer planets for a grand tour of the solar system. The twin spacecraft revealed details about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – using each planet's gravity to send them on to the next destination. Voyager set the stage for such ambitious orbiter missions as Galileo to Jupiter and Cassini to Saturn. Today both Voyager spacecraft continue to return valuable science from the far reaches of our solar system.

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The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission

Claudia Looi

Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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The 6 Best Grand Canyon Bus Tours From Las Vegas

W hile the Strip is certainly one of Las Vegas' most famous features, it's not all the city has to offer. A trip to Las Vegas wouldn't be complete without experiencing the awe-inspiring natural wonders just outside of it, such as the Grand Canyon. Tourists and locals alike will enjoy a break from the bright lights and bustling city on a bus tour to the Grand Canyon. As one of the largest natural canyons on Earth, the Grand Canyon is more than 270 miles long, meaning there are multiple destinations to explore; the most popular are the South and West Rims.

We've rounded up the top options for Grand Canyon bus tours from Las Vegas, whether you seek an adventurous ride or a more tranquil sightseeing experience.

Best Overall: Grand Canyon West Rim Bus/Helicopter & Landing Tour with Optional Skywalk

Tour operator: Canyon Tours

Price: From $358 per person

Duration: About 10 hours

Visitors can experience the ultimate Grand Canyon bus tour paired with an unforgettable helicopter ride down to the floor of the canyon. The adventure begins on an air-conditioned tour bus that departs from the Vegas Strip and carries passengers to the West Rim. From there, passengers will board a helicopter that descends 4,000 feet, landing on the floor of the canyon. Visitors can explore the canyon floor before reboarding the motorcoach and continuing onto Grand Canyon West, which is home to Guano Point, Eagle Point and Hualapai Ranch. You'll also have the option to brave the world-famous glass Skywalk for sweeping views (and an additional fee).

Local tip: Grand Canyon West is located on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, which is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribal Nation. In the tribe's traditions, the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River are considered living, spiritual entities. When visiting Grand Canyon West, travelers are immersed in the rich culture and history of the Hualapai Nation.

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Best West Rim Tour: Grand Canyon West Rim Bus Tour with Lunch, Hoover Dam Stop and Skywalk

Tour operator: Grand Canyon Destinations

Price: From $99 per person

Duration: About 11 hours

Located in Peach Springs, Arizona, the West Rim is only a few hours from Las Vegas. This tour will show you the best that the West Rim has to offer, including the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk bridge (for an added fee). After being picked up from select Vegas hotels and traveling three hours on an air-conditioned bus, passengers get to spend up to four hours exploring the West Rim. A must-see lookout point at the West Rim is Guano Point, from which you can hike to Highpoint Hike and get a view of the Colorado River.

A lunch box, snacks and plenty of water are included with the tour. One unique feature of this outing is that you get to stop at the Hoover Dam for a photo during the bus journey (but keep in mind this stop is available seasonally). You can also choose from several upgrades, including a Skywalk admission ticket, a helicopter ride or a boat excursion.

Local tip: Because it's closer to the Las Vegas desert, this side of the Grand Canyon is the warmest year-round, with hot and dry summers, mild shoulder seasons, and occasional snowfall in the winter.

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Best Budget: Grand Canyon South Rim Bus Tour from Las Vegas

Price: From $84 per person

Duration: About 15 to 16 hours

A South Rim bus tour offers a quieter, more historic sightseeing experience. The South Rim is one of the most popular parts of Grand Canyon National Park . Guests can see the wide variety of flora and fauna native to the area. This bus tour – which takes around four hours to get to the South Rim's Mather Point from Vegas – gives visitors the opportunity to walk along Bright Angel Trail; it leads to Bright Angel Lodge, located in the Village Historic District.

You can also stock up on snacks and souvenirs at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, since the tour only includes a box lunch and water. Or, upgrade your excursion with the guided walking tour add-on. Another historic part of the tour is the scenic drive along the famous Route 66, one of the first U.S. highways.

Local tip: Located farther from Vegas, the South Rim is cooler, with rainy and snowy winters, and more moderate temperatures in spring, summer and fall.

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Best South Rim Tour: Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Tour from Las Vegas with Lunch

Tour operator: National Park Express

Price: From $119 per person

Duration: About 13 hours

This guided bus tour includes lunch, bottled water and a granola bar to snack on during the day, as well as admission to some of the most popular Grand Canyon destinations, like Mather Point and Bright Angel Point. You'll get about three hours total at the Grand Canyon. Plus, you can select your own pickup location from several Las Vegas-area hotels and be dropped off at one of three locations (Excalibur, Horseshoe or Treasure Island).

Local tip: Visitors who are looking to experience the wildlife native to the area often choose the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is home to more animal species than the West Rim, such as coyotes and bighorn sheep.

Button Enhancement : Travel - Best Grand Canyon Bus Tours from Las Vegas - Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Tour from Las Vegas with Lunch (viator)

Best All-Inclusive: Grand Canyon West Rim Bus Tour & Hoover Dam Photo Stop with Optional Skywalk

Tour operator: Comedy on Deck Tours

Price: From $149 per adult

Duration: About 10.5 hours

This full-day Grand Canyon tour run by Comedy on Deck Tours gives guests several options to customize their experience, such as a VIP Skywalk tour. But there is also a great base package. Guests are treated to not one but two sit-down meals from local restaurants: a freshly prepared breakfast and a barbecue lunch with an incredible view of the canyon. Additionally, this all-inclusive tour also stops at the Hoover Dam on the way to the Grand Canyon, so guests get to experience two national landmarks for the price of one. The professional comedian who doubles as tour guide makes for an even more fun experience.

Local tip: The West Rim is typically less crowded than the South Rim, so it may be a good option for your Grand Canyon destination if you're hoping to avoid all the tourist congestion.

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Best for Families: Grand Canyon South Rim Bus Tour

Price: $85 per person

Duration: About 14 hours

Although there are plenty of kid-approved activities in Las Vegas itself, a day trip to the Grand Canyon is a must-see for any family vacation. This South Rim bus tour from Canyon Tours offers a full day of activities that kids of all ages will enjoy.

Not only will youngsters marvel at the beauty of the canyon, but they can also have an interactive experience at the IMAX theater, which plays a film that takes you into the center of the canyon. Visitor centers throughout the park also offer free activities that allow children 4 and older to earn an official Junior Ranger badge and learn about nature, history and park preservation.

Local tip: The South Rim is divided into different viewpoint areas that visitors can explore. One of the most popular viewpoints is Hermit Road, which is ideal for families with children.

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Why Trust U.S. News Travel

Taylore Fox is a Las Vegas local who has two decades' worth of experience living in and exploring the city. As an experienced writer, reader, researcher and learner, she believes there is always something new to learn and explore, even in one's own hometown.

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Moscow Metro Tour

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Description

Moscow metro private tours.

• 2-hour tour $87:  10 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with hotel pick-up and drop-off
• 3-hour tour $137:  20 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with Russian lunch in beautifully-decorated Metro Diner + hotel pick-up and drop off. 
• Metro pass is included in the price of both tours.

Highlight of Metro Tour

• Visit 10 must-see stations of Moscow metro on 2-hr tour and 20 Metro stations on 3-hr tour, including grand Komsomolskaya station with its distinctive Baroque décor, aristocratic Mayakovskaya station with Soviet mosaics, legendary Revolution Square station with 72 bronze sculptures and more!
• Explore Museum of Moscow Metro and learn a ton of technical and historical facts;
• Listen to the secrets about the Metro-2, a secret line supposedly used by the government and KGB;
• Experience a selection of most striking features of Moscow Metro hidden from most tourists and even locals;
• Discover the underground treasure of Russian Soviet past – from mosaics to bronzes, paintings, marble arches, stained glass and even paleontological elements;
• Learn fun stories and myths about Coffee Ring, Zodiac signs of Moscow Metro and more;
• Admire Soviet-era architecture of pre- and post- World War II perious;
• Enjoy panoramic views of Sparrow Hills from Luzhniki Metro Bridge – MetroMost, the only station of Moscow Metro located over water and the highest station above ground level;
• If lucky, catch a unique «Aquarelle Train» – a wheeled picture gallery, brightly painted with images of peony, chrysanthemums, daisies, sunflowers and each car unit is unique;
• Become an expert at navigating the legendary Moscow Metro system;
• Have fun time with a very friendly local;
• + Atmospheric Metro lunch in Moscow’s the only Metro Diner (included in a 3-hr tour)

Hotel Pick-up

Metro stations:.

Komsomolskaya

Novoslobodskaya

Prospekt Mira

Belorusskaya

Mayakovskaya

Novokuznetskaya

Revolution Square

Sparrow Hills

+ for 3-hour tour

Victory Park

Slavic Boulevard

Vystavochnaya

Dostoevskaya

Elektrozavodskaya

Partizanskaya

Museum of Moscow Metro

• Drop-off  at your hotel, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills or any place you wish
• + Russian lunch  in Metro Diner with artistic metro-style interior for 3-hour tour

Fun facts from our Moscow Metro Tours:

From the very first days of its existence, the Moscow Metro was the object of civil defense, used as a bomb shelter, and designed as a defense for a possible attack on the Soviet Union.

At a depth of 50 to 120 meters lies the second, the coded system of Metro-2 of Moscow subway, which is equipped with everything you need, from food storage to the nuclear button.

According to some sources, the total length of Metro-2 reaches over 150 kilometers.

The Museum was opened on Sportivnaya metro station on November 6, 1967. It features the most interesting models of trains and stations.

Coffee Ring

The first scheme of Moscow Metro looked like a bunch of separate lines. Listen to a myth about Joseph Stalin and the main brown line of Moscow Metro.

Zodiac Metro

According to some astrologers, each of the 12 stops of the Moscow Ring Line corresponds to a particular sign of the zodiac and divides the city into astrological sector.

Astrologers believe that being in a particular zadiac sector of Moscow for a long time, you attract certain energy and events into your life.

Paleontological finds 

Red marble walls of some of the Metro stations hide in themselves petrified inhabitants of ancient seas. Try and find some!

• Every day each car in  Moscow metro passes  more than 600 km, which is the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
• Moscow subway system is the  5th in the intensity  of use (after the subways of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai).
• The interval in the movement of trains in rush hour is  90 seconds .

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

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