As the first society to enjoy disposable wealth and leisure time, the British led the way in holidaymaking. Spa visits that began as prescribed treatments for ill-health evolved during the eighteenth century into holidays that were meant to be enjoyed. Beginning as a pursuit available only to the wealthy, innovations in transport and the growth of resort towns meant that by the end of the nineteenth century people from all classes were able to enjoy a trip to the seaside. And whilst the splendours of Georgian London were available only to the wealthiest of travellers, the Great Exhibition of 1851 was a massive stimulus to the development of travel and tourism. Almost every factory, pub, church or workplace organized a savings and travel club so their members could visit. These could include mass bookings of train tickets, accommodation and excursions to other places of interest - effectively inventing the package holiday.A whole new literature emerged to cater to the needs of tourists. Travel during the eighteenth century was only available to the wealthiest people, so guides were produced for their benefit alone.

With the advent of steamships, cheap travel along the Thames became possible, extending the circle of those able to travel to the coast and leading to some of the earliest specialist guide books being produced. From the 1830s the railways revolutionized tourism, opening it up to the lower classes and allowing travel to destinations further afield. By the mid nineteenth century a major rail network connected all the major industrial cities. Stations built in coastal towns meant that mass travel to the seaside was possible, creating both mass tourism across all classes and bringing growth and prosperity to seaside towns and the building of new resorts.This four-volume primary resource collection brings together texts on the various forms of transport used by tourists, the destinations they visited, the role of entertainments and accommodation and how these things affected the way that tourism evolved over two centuries. Case studies of spa resorts and seaside towns are presented in detail and analyzed within the wider context of social history. Documents include book excerpts, journal articles, railway guides, parliamentary acts, letters, guide books, handbills, pamphlets and diaries. The collection will be of interest to social and economic historians as well as those researching print culture and the history of tourism.