A condensed history of travel and tourism
The history of travel
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Humans have been finding new ways to travel since time began. Sometimes it was to search for food. At other times it was to conquer new territories or enjoy a week in the sun. These days, it’s the world’s billionaires competing to see who can be the first into space.
Click through the gallery to see the events and people that have shaped the history of travel and tourism from 3000 BC to the present day...
The first travellers
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/a43f8522-e9f4-416c-b435-68ccf4ea54f0-Egyptians sailing up the Nile.jpg)
Alexander the Great
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Roman roads
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The Romans were an innovative bunch when it came to infrastructure. Road-building began in 300 BC and by the 2nd century BC, the empire’s network was complete. They linked Rome with 113 provinces and many more towns and ports, with 248,548 miles (400,000 km) of road.
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Early religious pilgrimages
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/3c540bfd-1dbb-447e-a059-e5caf76d96b7-Quran.jpg)
Hypatia of Alexandria and the astrolabe
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/467dcabd-ca13-483c-a970-62b229be4e16-Hypatia of Alexandria.jpg)
Travel and war: the Vikings
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With more movement around the world also came war. Of course the Vikings weren’t the first to plunder the lands they journeyed to, but the Scandinavian warriors became among the most infamous pillagers from 830 BC.
These are the surprising places that the Vikings travelled to
The Crusades
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/07d3cb3d-ce32-4f8b-add8-66746fe3d06f-Crusades.jpg)
The Silk Road
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/5a919369-5efe-4871-9808-b3aa4917e9d3-Caravanserai.jpg)
Western travels to Asia, Africa and the Americas
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/ee1287c3-9187-4b5f-bd72-08a72ace3db1-Christopher Columbus.jpg)
Consequences of conquest: trade and slavery
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/8f5e4936-6b44-4e88-987c-19998696e88e-Slave auction sketch.jpg)
Transport powered by hot air and steam
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Charles Darwin
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English naturalist Charles Darwin’s voyages around the world have become some of the most famous. His study of animals and birds would later form his theory of evolution and literary masterpiece, On the Origin of Species.
Thomas Cook and the beginning of mass tourism
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/0b030d81-d05d-4429-b740-489508ab3176-Thomas Cook.jpg)
Around the world in 72 days
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/38e87872-1069-4836-a0ef-09af42cac62f-Around the world in 80 days.jpg)
Thanks to improved transport by the end of the 19th century, it was possible to travel all the way around the world. In 1873, author Jules Verne wrote fantasy adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days, charting a seemingly impossible globe-trotting journey. Just 16 years later in 1889, American journalist Elizabeth Cochran set the world record for travelling around the world in 72 days.
The first flights
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/15a2dc95-a2de-46a6-9f72-a700a6ea170f-Wright brothers.jpg)
In 1903, American bicycle manufacturers Wilbur and Orville Wright made aviation history. They carried out the world's first ever sustained flight in North Carolina before presenting their aircraft to the press five years later in 1908. They paved the way for air travel as we know it today.
How air travel has changed in every decade from the 1920s to today
Reaching the North and South poles
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/3fe83545-7dda-4485-a753-164a6a8f6151-Roald Amundsen.jpg)
Holidays to the Med
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/bf58220b-0352-49c7-9bdc-5d742f2767d5-French Riviera.jpg)
The advent of commercial air travel
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/1d032dce-4374-480c-ae0e-211a2c023886-Boeing 707.jpg)
Flying was previously the preserve of the rich but the launch of the Boeing 707 in 1958 opened up air travel to the masses. Compared with the first attempt at the commercial jetliner in 1952, the 707 was faster and carried five times as many people. The size and efficiency of the Boeing 747, launched in 1970, decreased fares even further.
Concorde: travelling at twice the speed of sound
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/b5b8ac3f-ee1c-4d2a-9502-269047b669be-Concorde.jpg)
First man on the moon
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/c453354a-40c5-4093-9ff1-f6e645c5bb58-Moon landing.jpg)
The future of travel
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As travel on Earth has become more accessible and affordable, space tourism looks set to be the future. Companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin (pictured), founded by Sir Richard Branson and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos respectively, have begun offering suborbital flights, giving passengers a few minutes in space and the chance to experience microgravity. Elon Musk’s enterprise, SpaceX, is the only space tourism company so far to send private civilians into orbit and onto the International Space Station (ISS). With each passenger reportedly paying US$55m (£43m) for the privilege, a week on the IIS remains out of reach for most of us… but for how long?
Now discover the unbelievable ways travel is set to change in the future
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