Grand Tour

Arrival in the city of art, in the region's political and moral capital, Florence, did not always coincide with the first stage of the visit to Tuscany, although it remained the most important destination for everyone. Once they reached Italy, in fact, travelers who did not choose to go to Florence via Bologna were presented with several options.

One of the most frequently used alternatives was the sea passage, especially the one which took travelers to the port of Livorno. One example among many is the journey made by the abbé Gaultier (of which his great-nephew Rogeron wrote an account), who arrived in Tuscany (1796) by taking a felucca from Genoa-Lerici to Livorno. Three days were devoted to visiting Livorno, three to Pisa, again reached by water, and many more to Florence, where he arrived by coach. Another and no less common option was to pass through a town traditionally considered of “minor” importance, Viareggio, which could be reached by sea (and sometimes by land as well, although always from Liguria) more rapidly than the port known to the British as Leghorn. For example Bergeret (1773), who arrived in Tuscany from Genoa, landed at Viareggio, as did Duclos three years later, on his first visit to the region.

Others preferred to make the journey by land, setting out from Liguria (Genoa was very often the point of arrival in Italy for travelers) and entering Tuscany through Viareggio, Lucca or Pisa.

A rarer means, but one that was still used occasionally, was to travel by river.