grand tour house definition

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: a rite of passage for Europe’s elite

Wealthy Europeans of the 17th and 18th centuries often embarked on a Grand Tour, just like Colin Bridgerton in the latest series of Netflix’s sumptuous Regency-era drama Bridgerton . But what was it, and why was it such a cultural phenomenon?

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During the late 16th century, a cultural phenomenon emerged among Europe’s elite: the Grand Tour.

Essentially a long excursion around the continent’s ancient locations, the Grand Tour would endure for over three centuries and become a rite of passage for (typically) young male aristocrats, capping off an education steeped in reverence for the Classical world.

Its zenith was during the 18th century, whereupon it gradually waned throughout the 19th century.

How did the Grand Tour get its name?

Richard Lassels, a Roman Catholic priest, coined the term ‘Grand Tour’ in his 1670 travelogue, The Voyage of Ital y – although the tradition began decades earlier.

Who went on the Grand Tour?

The archetypal Grand Tourist was a young man of means and leisure, well-versed in Greek and Latin literature and possessing a keen interest in art.

Accompanied by a tutor, British Grand Tourists often travelled by horse-drawn coach for days, before arriving in Dover and waiting for favourable weather conditions in which to cross the English Channel.

Inigo Jones, the celebrated architect, embarked on one of the earliest recorded tours in 1613–14. His experiences in Italy influenced his aesthetic, evident in projects like the Queen’s House in Greenwich, and revolutionised the trajectory of British architecture.

Cities of the Grand Tour: what was the route?

Alighting at Le Havre in France, Grand Tourists usually converged with their peers from other countries in Paris .

The onward journey south would either entail traversing the alpine Mount Cenis Pass or going via the sea from Marseilles.

Italy, with its rich artistic and architectural heritage, was the ultimate destination. Cities like Venice, Florence , Rome and Naples captivated visitors with their famed histories, artistic treasures and ancient ruins.

Itineraries could vary, with destinations evolving over time to include places like Herculaneum , Pompeii , Sicily and Athens .

Take your own Grand Tour with History’s greatest cities

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What did Grand Tourists hope to gain from the experience?

As the odyssey unfolded, the impressionable travellers – in many cases, the future governing class of their respective homelands – were also expected to acquire a knowledge of Europe’s political, philosophical and economic trends.

But the Grand Tour was not only a scholarly undertaking: it was also an assertion of independence and status. Stopovers like Venice, with its gambling houses and revelry, dazzled pleasure seekers.

Guides, known as ‘cicerones’, accompanied many Grand Tourists, offering both cultural insights and chaperoning, while popular artworks by the likes of Canaletto and Piranesi were snapped up as desirable souvenirs of the Continent’s resonant vistas and landmarks.

For many young Europeans, the Grand Tour was more than an excursion; it was a mission undertaken in pursuit of national service, so as to enrich their country’s culture and standing.

Surviving letters and diaries provide invaluable glimpses into the experiences of Grand Tourists, revealing their impression of European culture – something that was often reflected in the lasting impact it had on the design of their estates back home.

When did the Grand Tour decline?

By the late 18th century, the tradition of the Grand Tour was interrupted by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars , only to resume following Napoleon ’s downfall in 1815.

The advent of railways in the mid-19th century began to democratise travel as a leisure pursuit, making it more accessible and marketable to the burgeoning middle class, bringing the era of the Grand Tour to an end.

Danny Bird is the Staff Writer at BBC History Magazine. Danny Bird is the Staff Writer at BBC History Magazine and previously held the same role on BBC History Revealed. He joined the brand in 2022. Fascinated with the past since childhood, Danny completed his History BA at the University of Sheffield, developing a special interest in the Spanish Civil War and the Paris Commune. He subsequently gained his History MA from University College London, studying at its School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

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Definition of grand tour

Examples of grand tour in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grand tour.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1678, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near grand tour

grand total

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Cite this Entry

“Grand tour.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grand%20tour. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.

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Meaning of grand tour in English

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• break-journey
• circumnavigation

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an animal that produces eggs and uses the heat of the sun to keep its blood warm

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Architectural Thoughts On: The Grand Tour

Sex, lies and copperplate – the tradition of the grand tour, and how it brought European knowledge, culture and style to Britain

Words by Roísín HANLON

The Grand Tour could be described as a sort of gap year for the Renaissance. At its most popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common for aristocratic families to send their children – generally their sons – travelling around Europe for months or even years. The trip was ostensibly about seeing the classics in situ – ruins, sculpture, paintings, murals. As well as the architectural greats – Florence for the Duomo and Palazzo Pitti, Rome for the Coliseum and the Vatican. But as well as the educational aim there was a hope that the trip would be an opportunity for the young men to mature and come of age. 

Typically a young man – in his late teens or twenties – would be sent travelling with all expenses paid by his parents, and an older companion. In theory this companion or ‘bearleader’ would make travel arrangements, act as a travel guide and teacher and generally look after their charge. Realistically, these guides were employed by the family, and so relied upon their young charge for food and keep, meaning they generally had little to no control. These young men were, for the most part aristocrats with a full wallet – they could do whatever they wanted and had a seemingly free-pass to do so.  

The hope was that travellers would interact with other Europeans, broadening their cultural horizons. Though often commonly held stereotypes were heightened, one guide advised ‘The French courteous, Spanish lovely, Italians amorous, Germans clownish.’ Grand tourists had a reputation for debauchery. There were more opportunities to drink, to gamble, and to meet new people than home. Many writers noted that women on the continent were more bold, more direct and much more liberated, than women in Britain at the time. A blind eye was certainly turned at home to some of the ‘wilder’ activities of young men on these trips, and it was generally seen as a good thing that it was happening on the continent – and so far away from the rest of high society.

‘The trip was ostensibly about seeing the classics in situ – ruins, sculpture, paintings, murals. As well as the architectural greats – Florence for the Duomo and Palazzo Pitti, Rome for the Coliseum and the Vatican.’ 

For some, the experience was truly one of cultural exchange. Jonathan Richardson was one such traveller who wrote a book detailing every painting, sculpture and drawing that he thought worth seeing along the Grand Tour, with notes and opinions on each one. He is obviously a traveller who was moved greatly by the works he saw – confessing to spending 10 hours in one sculpture gallery alone, completely engrossed by ‘such a fleshy softness’ carved in the marble. Although unimpressed by Correggio’s Madonna he wrote ‘But the beauty! The morbidezza! The thought and expression! Good God!’

There was little information in Britain to learn about the classic arts and culture. So when young people returned from their travels with painting, sketches, and engravings of the things they had seen it would be something rarely seen in England before. 

Some of those who undertook the tour then took the ideas that inspired them and created works here in the UK. Inigo Jones travelled extensively in Europe and designed many buildings which are now British landmarks, including Queen’s House at Greenwich and Covent Garden. Sculpture, painting, fashion and literature were all swayed by the influence of the returning Grand Tourers. In terms of architecture, the style that developed was Neo-classicism, and this is maybe one of our most prolific styles. 

It is easy to overlook how influential this rite of passage was on British culture. The rediscovery of classical architecture was largely due to the Grand Tour, some of the western world’s most famous landmarks are designed on classical principles, they are as far reaching as the United States Capitol Building. In the 19th century, trains and the start of travel agencies such as Thomas Cook meant that the grand tour routes became more widely accessible, and so lost some of its elitism. As time went by, the idea of traveling to the continent for an educational trip became more common. And this month our editors carried on this grand tradition – boldly traveling to Florence, to bring back all the Italians have to teach us poor plebs stuck back home. RH

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Definition of grand tour noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• Steve took us on a grand tour of the house and garden.

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• (also Grand Tour ) a visit to the main cities of Europe made by rich young British or American people as part of their education in the past Culture Especially in the 18th century, a tour of Europe was regarded as part of the education of a wealthy young man. The tour sometimes took several years and usually included visits to Paris, the Alps, Florence and Rome.

Nearby words

• the Grand Union Canal