![Montmartre hill with Basilique du Sacre-Coeur in Paris.](http://web.archive.org./web/20201110211134im_/https://www.traveller.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/q/p/8/d/image.related.TravellerThumbnail.300x200.h1qn5f.png/1600041629194.jpg)
'Paris? It is the ugliest town in the universe': What 18th-century tourists thought of Europe's great cities
The first British tourists were young, mostly male, 17th, 18th and 19th century elites who embarked on long trips around the continent once they had come of age (around 21 years).