Travel was tougher in the 19th century, but that didn't stop millions of people
from visiting foreign countries. From the dock to the destination,
this is what traveling abroad in the 19th century was really like.
For those interested in crossing an ocean to experience what life was like on the other side,
your travel options were pretty limited. If you wanted to cross the Atlantic or the Pacific,
you needed to travel by ship, but even that wasn't a reliable option
for some years. It wasn't until 1818 that the now famous Black Ball Line
came into existence as the first regularly scheduled ocean liner.
In the late-1830s, the first passenger steam liners became popular, and, by the 1840s,
two companies dominated: Great Western Railway from Britain and the Cunard Line from America.
The Great Western Railway Company had two steamships: the Great Western and the Great
Britain — but they weren't terribly reliable. In contrast, the Cunard Line had four ships and was
much more successful. Cunard faced off against the Collins Line in the 1850s, but by the 1860s,
Great Western led the pack and would remain there through the rest of the century.
By the last decades of the 19th century, luxury liners made ocean travel elegant and classy.
Chances are, if you wanted to cross the Atlantic in the 1800s, you probably rode on the Black Ball,
Cunard, Collins, or Great Western Railway Line. These were primitive
ships compared to the ones operating today, but they were the only way to go.
For today's world traveler, their passport is likely one of their most
treasured possessions. Without it, it's nearly impossible to leave the
country through an airport or on a commercial ship, and getting back home is even trickier.
Yet, in the 19th century, passports were optional for most Americans. The only time they
were actually required for travel was for a brief period immediately following the outbreak of the
Civil War in 1861. And prior to 1856, individual states and judicial authorities were allowed
to issue passports of their own, which weren't legally required for entry into any U.S. port.
Back then, the government issued them to groups rather than individuals. One male from the group
would apply, and his application would provide information for any travelers who might be joining
him. It wasn't until well into the 20th century that passports were required for travel abroad.
Travel abroad in the 19th century was more widespread and affordable than you might
think. Even though they were mostly optional, more than half a million Americans were issued
passports from 1810 to 1909, and that doesn't include the thousands that may have been issued
by states prior to 1856. And passports weren't reserved for the rich and wealthy.
In fact, many middle-class households made trips to foreign lands. Most of
these travelers were men, but quite a few were also accompanied by women. In addition,
many ocean liners offered cheaper "Third Class" fares. They were uncomfortable,
but they allowed those who were less well-off to explore the world. Unlike the ocean liners,
the first cruise ships came into existence towards the end of the
19th century, and these were largely marketed to the wealthy and elite.
Even today, travelers need to be wary of their safety abroad. But in the 19th century,
foreign travel was even more dangerous than you think. Nineteenth century ocean liners
were nowhere near as reliable as modern ships, and traveling on the open ocean could be harrowing.
This was before the days of radio communication and GPS,
so if your ship got into trouble in the middle of the ocean and had to signal for help,
you were lucky if somebody received the distress call and got to you in time. In addition,
once you arrived in the country, you had to contend with unscrupulous locals looking to
take advantage. One of the most notoriously dangerous places for tourists was 1820s Italy,
where bandits would rob travelers throughout the country — especially in rural areas.
1840s Spain wasn't much better, with robbers extorting money through impromptu
toll collecting and general thievery. Even travel to the United States wasn't
always safe. Train robbers made rail travel a dangerous proposition. It may
have been a simpler time, but you still had to keep your guard up.
Back in the 19th century, people traveled abroad for a litany of reasons. Some were emigrating
to a new country, others were visiting their homelands, and many traveled for business or
education. But one of the most popular reasons to travel was to improve one's health. Today,
people travel to foreign countries seeking superior or cheaper medical services,
and many 19th-century tourists also had their eyes on bettering their health.
"In those days people didn't even know about germs. They didn't know why they
got sick. They didn't know what spread diseases."
Many places advertised medical cures for those with illnesses. These ranged
from gout to arthritis to just about any ailment you can think of. Around the world,
health resorts sprung up catering to health tourists,
and they distributed pamphlets boasting about the benefits of their cures.
Even royalty bought into the hype. King Edward VII was known for traveling abroad
to help with his illnesses. There were guides to various health resorts, letting readers know
where to go for which ailments. Considering the state of medical knowledge back then,
it's unlikely most of these health resorts offered much of anything aside
from relaxation and good service, but that didn't stop tourists from trying them out.
Even back in the 19th century, people relied on travel guides to help them navigate while
overseas. Today, travelers often look to sources like Lonely Planet or Frommers,
which weren't options back then. But there were some reputable guides — most notably
that of Francis Coghlan. Coghlan's Guides for Travelers, as they were called, provided travel
information for many areas throughout the world, primarily Europe. Tourists could pick
up a copy of Coghlan's guides and get tons of valuable information about their destination.
Coghlan supplied travelers with information on Italy, Germany, France, and England,
among other countries. And Coghlan also wrote maps, as well as translations between German,
French, and English. Some of these guides were illustrated, and they
provided helpful information for tourists, as evidenced by the title of the French guide:
A Guide to France, Explaining Every Form and Expense from London to Paris.
Overseas travel was definitely an adventure in the 19th century. Not only did you have to be
wary of thieves and bandits, but the threat of war was very real in many areas. What's more,
word traveled back then, but not nearly as fast as it does today,
and travel took an exceptional amount of time. That meant that you could take
off when everything was hunky-dory, only to land in a foreign country in a state of war.
Travelers to America in the early-1860s had to be mindful of the ongoing Civil War. In the
early years of the century, the Napoleonic Wars were raging on in parts of Europe, which surely
cast a dark cloud over tourist enthusiasm. In the 1820s, anyone looking to visit the
ruins of Ancient Greece had to think twice about walking into the middle of the Greek Revolution.
It's likely that riders of the Orient Express in the 1850s found the
Ottoman Empire a bit uninviting due to its fight against the Russians during
the Crimean War. And these are just a few of the conflicts travelers had to be cautious of.
The last place you want to find yourself while on vacation is in the middle of a battlefield.
In the 19th century, plenty of wealthy young European men set off on the Grand Tour. This
wasn't a formal expedition with a specific set of regulations and destinations. It was an
informal tour of Europe meant to broaden one's horizons through art, politics, and culture.
"This was an amazing tour of Europe where they
were really immersing themselves in what they'd been studying on paper."
Most Grand Tourers would start in Britain and make their way to their first stop:
Paris. The beginning legs of the tour usually consisted of France and Italy,
and later would also include the island of Sicily, as well as Greece. Travel wasn't easy or cheap,
and this wasn't exactly a weekend trip. Some tours took almost a decade. Railways came into
vogue midway through the century, and before that, most tourers traveled by horseback or carriage.
The Grand Tour was reserved for the truly wealthy and elite. It
was seen as beneficial in creating a man of class who was knowledgeable about world
affairs, with tutors escorting many young men on their tours. It wasn't
until travel became more affordable that the aristocracy's Grand Tour tradition died out.
Thomas Cook began leading people on excursions throughout England in the 1840s. In the 1850s,
Cook started to expand into other European countries,
and Thomas Cook & Son, the first international travel agency, was born.
Cook opened a storefront in 1865, and the following year — after the Civil War had
ended — he traveled to America on his company's inaugural tour across the Atlantic. Later,
Cook would take people to Egypt and Palestine. He even distributed an early form of traveler's
checks to his customers. Just prior to his death, his son John Mason Cook took over the company,
and it continued to grow throughout the century and into the 1900s.
Incredibly, Thomas Cook & Son managed to make it through the new millennium, closing up shop in
2019 after more than 175 years in the business. Thomas Cook & Son wasn't an option for most
travelers in the 1800s, but for those who could afford it, it was a once in a lifetime experience.
In 1875, the Oregon Steamship Company started offering cruises to Alaska,
but they quickly faced stiff competition. San Francisco's Pacific Coast Steamship Company moved
in on Oregon's turf in 1881. At first, taking an Alaskan cruise was only for the wealthy,
and Pacific Coast specifically marketed their tours to "pleasure travelers." However,
economy fares soon became available, and tourism greatly increased.
Cannons announced each ship's arrival,
where tourists gazed out at miles and miles of untouched wilderness. Within a few years,
thousands were taking the Pacific Coast line each year at the cost of $15–$30.
Passengers occasionally witnessed some pretty interesting events,
like when one of the ships was found to be smuggling opium. By the mid-1890s,
tourists were flocking to Alaska in big numbers, but not on pleasure cruises.
"Suddenly, these people are coming off a
boat dragging sacks and bags and cases filled with gold."
The Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of new visitors to Alaska,
relegating pleasure tourism to second place. Alaskan cruise lines quickly recovered,
and even today offer some of the most popular itineraries in the business.
One of the biggest drivers of international tourism in the 19th century was religion.
Thomas Cook's agency took thousands of Christians to the Middle East to
visit Egypt and Palestine. Even royalty traveled to the area.
In addition to Cook's tours and Christian pilgrimage to the Middle East, Muslims made
the annual Hajj throughout the 19th century. The Hajj is a religious pilgrimage to Mecca,
Saudi Arabia, that Muslims are to undertake every year if they are able. This custom began hundreds
of years earlier, and by the 19th century, it attracted huge numbers. Groups of up to
50,000 pilgrims traveled together on the Hajj to Mecca in the 1800s.
Though at times European rulers who controlled territory along ancient Hajj
viewed the pilgrimage as dangerous because of its potential to spread diseases like cholera,
they recognized its importance and eventually began to embrace it. Some
governments even helped subsidize the Hajj for pilgrims. By the end of the 19th century,
the Hajj was even more popular, and it continues to be so today.
For nearly a century, one of the most famous rail lines in the entire world
was the legendary Orient Express. The Express was a luxury train that originated in Paris,
France, and traveled the length of continental Europe. It reached all the way to what was
then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, Turkey.
"It's the beginning of a revolution in travel. Across Europe in palaces on rails."
The Orient Express defined luxury at the time, and passengers on board were
in for exquisitely decorated interiors and excellent food, among other niceties. The
trip took more than three days and wasn't limited to commoners. Even kings, czars,
and presidents took the Orient Express during its heyday. Secret agents also
apparently used the Express as a way to gather information and for convenient
travel. The Orient Express lasted into the 20th century, finally ceasing operations in 1977.