Interrailing: the modern Grand Tour?

Gentlemen on the Grand Tour (National Trust, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

How has the centuries-old coming-of-age tradition of young, wealthy Brits making their way across Europe been transformed for the modern age?

Travel as we know it is a relatively modern concept. It hasn’t always been this easy to get anywhere on the face of the planet within a matter of hours. Even the furthest reaches of the globe are never more than a day’s travel away. With the advent of trains, planes and automobiles, tourism is more popular and accessible than ever. Travel has come a long way since Marco Polo’s journey along the Silk Road, mediaeval Christian pilgrimages to sites of religious importance, and Christopher Columbus’ voyage across the Atlantic to the New World. We can perhaps credit the notorious ‘Grand Tour’, with its origins in the 17th Century, as the forefather of the modern manifestation of tourism, with even the word ‘tourism’ itself tracing its roots to this kind of travel. A lot has changed, but this article will look towards the continuity of our customs and ask whether the tradition of the Grand Tour lives on today in the ubiquitous Interrail trip. 

The Grand Tour came into fashion around the late 17th century and continued well on into the 19th until the flourishing popularity and affordability of train travel overcame this slower, more traditional journey. Primarily a trip practised by wealthy young English nobles, it was however also practised by other wealthy Protestant youths of Northern Europe, and later by Gilded Age nouveau riche Americans. It was a sort of coming-of-age ritual undertaken once the youth in question had reached 21, and consisted of a standard itinerary through France, Germany and Italy accompanied by a cicerone (a sort of guide and tutor). It became a standard part of an aristocratic education as it emphasised the importance of the Classical world and the Renaissance. In a world long before the internet, this was many people’s only opportunity to see the marvels of antiquity and upper-class European society: world-renowned Renaissance paintings; live classical music and opera performances; the statues and ruins of magnificent Rome. It was a kind of secularised pilgrimage; instead of trekking to Rome for its religious value as the centre of the Catholic world and seat of the Papacy, one would make the journey for a cultural education, to become a well-rounded, liberal and learned individual. 

The Tour was seen to be the final step in completing a liberal education, the contrasting perspectives that one is exposed to during foreign travel coming into conflict and correcting or augmenting the limited worldview that emerges from an education in the rigid British schooling system. This journey would be what turned a man into a gentleman. It’s easy to romanticise this leisurely, educative trip as a lost tradition of a bygone age. But what if it wasn’t entirely lost to the past? What if there still existed a coming-of-age tradition undertaken by teenagers coming towards the end of their education, that consisted of travelling across the continent and back, stopping off in its grand cities and taking in the magnificent sights of a romanticised Europe?

Eurostar Train (Oxyman, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It seems to me that the Interrailing trip we all know and love can trace its roots rather clearly back to its grandfather the Grand Tour. In principle, it is the same basic idea. A teenager on the cusp of adulthood shakes off the chains of their parents’ dominion and grasps their newfound freedom by the horns by doing the most daring thing a free man can do - travel abroad. For many, both the Grand Tour and an Interrailing trip would be the first time the teenager in question had been abroad without their parents. It is this growth into freedom and independence that grants the two trips their ‘coming-of-age’ value, their cultural capital as a sort of rite of passage. And yet, the trip really isn’t all that adventurous. It clings to the comfort of a ‘civilised’ Europe, visiting the same destinations British tourists have been visiting for centuries, and today’s youngsters flit around so rapidly on Europe’s world-renowned modern high-speed rail network that there’s hardly time for any danger while travelling. But then again neither was the Grand Tour that adventurous, the gentlemen accompanied by an adult chaperone everywhere they went, expecting to be educated in the ways of high culture. And yet the trip still retains some aura of daring adventurousness, as young people learn how to survive on their own in a foreign land, how to compromise with the wants and whims of others, and how to deal with conflict in an often stressful, high-paced environment.

With regards to learning, both trips purport a certain educational value, with Interrailing promising a widening of world views, a strengthening of life skills and adult independence, and an immersive experience of cultures across Europe, including museum and gallery visits, but also many, many bar and pub trips to practise speaking to the locals, or more likely just other Interrailers. However, the Grand Tour’s purpose was perhaps a bit more explicitly educational with tourists being expected to study, take lessons in languages and high society, acquire artefacts, examine archaeological sites, ancient ruins and artistic masterpieces. I don’t think they’d be particularly pleased with the present-day outings to Europe’s vibrant clubbing scenes or the excessive daily drinking that come hand in hand with an Interrailing holiday. Another differing aspect of the modern-day Interrail trip is its increased accessibility. Whereas the Grand Tour was reserved exclusively for the male upper crust of society, today’s travels are more affordable than ever, with the most popular Interrail pass coming in at €223 for 5 days of travel within a month, and crucially, members of all genders can take part too!

The Grand Tour consisted of a set itinerary, beginning at the port of Dover, down through Belgium, France, Switzerland and into the choice destination of the time - Italy, where Venice, Rome and Naples were all on the schedule. On the return journey, one might have crossed the Alps into the German-speaking world and finished up in Holland before making the crossing back to the homeland. While the Interrail trip doesn’t necessarily have a concrete, designated route, many youngsters choose to frequent the same cities every year. From my experience, the classic route seems to be down to Paris, across into Germany, through Austria and Slovakia (Lake Bled seems to be a key stop here), before ending up in Budapest, Hungary. Despite this, many slightly more innovative travellers (like me and my friends) decide to craft their own routes to take the road less travelled by, and consequently feel self-satisfied with their pioneering uniqueness. But the appeal of the route into Eastern Europe is clear: you can experience the cultural centres of Paris, Vienna and Budapest, the natural beauty of Lake Bled, the world-famous clubbing scene of Berlin, and all the while the pints and train tickets get cheaper and cheaper the further east you go. 

Literary accounts of gentlemen’s travels across Europe were common throughout the heyday of the Grand Tour, with even Mark Twain writing his satire The Innocents Abroad when he undertook a sort of pleasure trip around the Mediterranean on board the USS Quaker City. Another famous account would be William Thomas Beckford’s Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incidents, a collection of letters written throughout his travels in Europe. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking that you haven’t heard of any books written about Interrailing holidays, and I would be inclined to agree with you. But the modern age has moved away from travel writing and on to travel vlogging. Simply search Interrail (or Eurail as it is now known in the United States) into YouTube and you’ll be affronted with hundreds, if not thousands of videos documenting exciting journeys and handing out crucial advice. It seems to be a particularly popular enterprise amongst the British ‘study-tubers’ such as UnJadedJade and Jack Edwards. As ever, we still feel particularly entitled to document and publish our momentous life experiences travelling around Europe into the big wide world. 

So then, next time you’re hopping between Europe’s marvellous cities on a high-speed train, spare a moment’s thought for the wealthy gentlemen (and admittedly a few ladies) that came before you, learning about the cultures and the worlds of the ancients and the Renaissance, as you might still be doing today. Think about the legacy of travel in general, and how lucky we are to live in such an interconnected world where all of Europe is but a hop, skip and a jump away. But equally, think about the pleasures of slow travel; the pleasure of being a flaneur, strolling around cities and soaking in the views and the people; the pleasures of train travel instead of flying as you gawp at the picturesque scenery that hurtles by; and think about how incredible it must have been for these inexperienced young men to have been voyaging across the plains in only horse-drawn-carriages, how they must have felt like explorers, adventurers, pioneers, as they crossed the mighty Alps into Italy, the homeland of the ancients. Finally, think about how your Interrail journey may well be retracing the very same steps between the very same cities that some rich boy trekked between a good few centuries ago, accompanied by his trusty cicerone, just as today you are accompanied by your perhaps not so trusty 18-year-old friends.