The Brits love, not only just getting away from their front door as it were, but travelling abroad. Tourists offers interesting insight into when and how it all began and how it has evolved and the changes in habits, including how we use beaches over the centuries. It has curious facts of things that people may not think of or know, about where people were travelling to, even in the last century or two and about when and how guidebooks came into being and became firmly part of the tourism mix of what people felt they need/needed and how they influenced and interested people, sparking their imaginations and how thoughts can become reality. You also learn about some spa treatments, some of which would be considered rather unusual for today, but not so in the period they were created and used for the tourism industry. You see how many behaviours have changed over the years and how the attitude towards leisure time has too.

It is splendidly presented inside with a mixture of facts and photos, making it rather pleasant to read.

A fascinating book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is such an interesting book and I'm so glad I read it on holiday! Covering British tourism to continental Europe from the nineteenth century onwards, this is the perfect read for anyone who loves history, Europe and holidays – aka three of my very favourite things. This was a book I did not know I needed, and it was the kind of history book that I could read for much, much longer and in loads more depth. I learned so much while reading this – about the history of guidebooks and how Iceland was actually a tourist destination way back in the mid 1800s and how the Spanish package holiday became a thing and SO much more. Lucy Lethbridge (who also wrote one of my fave histories, Servants) raises some really meaty issues that I've been thinking a lot about on my recent holiday: how tourism both takes from and gives to the local community, and how the tourist experience is all about grasping for something that is being eroded in the very act of grasping. Tourists is interrogative and probing whilst also being full of some really fun facts, and it's really interesting learning about how tourism really hasn't changed since the early nineteenth century: people are complaining about just the same sort of things and fellow tourists as they did back then. Anyway, in case you can't tell, this is a big recommend from me! Loved it.

This was a brilliant non-fiction book documenting the history of tourism, something a lot of the world partakes in but sees its rise in the 1800s and the move away from the 'grand tours' lauded over by the elite. Lethbridge, has written a book that is not too overwhelming and flows superbly well and was obviously extremely well researched! Definitely, a good read!

A fascinating, entertaining, and well researched social history of tourism. I learned a lot and I was fascinated by what i read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a brilliant and very fascinating insight into tourism in history. The author did an amazing job at creating such and informative and very interesting book that flowed so well. I had to read this book in one sitting as I was enjoying it that much everything else could wait. I loved comparing the tourism back in the day to modern times this made many of the stories in this book rather comical to read. It was so fascinating to learn how tourism developed I especially enjoyed the section on the introduction of spa type treatments some where rather strange. I was quite shocked more didn't die abroad with the stories about drinking water. There was so many interesting developments that I learnt so much about the changes in tourism. I especially loved reading about the use of beaches and the changes from avoiding the sun to sun worshippers. I just loved this book so much it actually has a rating of 4.5 stars. There were some great pictures in the book to break up the text. I just would of loved to see more to get to that 5th stars. As the pictures add and extra element to the reading experience and break up the text. I just couldn't get enough about the tales from the increasing use of travel journals. It was great having a list of what people were taking on holiday. I really can't recommend this book enough especially those who love to learn about travel history. 

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this very interesting and enjoyable history that had me hooked so bad I didn't want the book to end. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this amazing author. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/tourists-by-lucy-lethbridge-bloombury-publishing-4-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365. The links for my retail reviews are on my blog

What an interesting read! I’ve never stopped to think about why we go on holiday, it’s just what everyone does! It was great to explore how travel has evolved over time and the social expectations.

Interesting idea and fascinating introduction but just too much detail for the regular reader. For history or sociology scholars this will be of great interest but of less to the popular reader.

This was an interesting and in depth look into the history of tourism in Great Britain. It was mostly a very historical and factual book, ideal for university students, whereas I was looking for a more light insight.

In the early 1800s, a new social phenomenon was born in Britain. The exploration of Europe, previously the preserve of the wealthy and aristocratic, began to be taken up by the British middle classes. The era of the lofty Grand Tour was over; here instead was the advent of tourism as we know it today..

Non-fiction writer Lucy Lethbridge is a journalist and author, specialising in popular history books for adults and children.She has written numerous books, as well as writing articles for the Observer, the Sunday Telegraph, the Independent on Sunday, the Times Literary Supplement, Art News, and Art+Auction.

This title was incredibly well researched and gave a richly detailed account of the history of tourism in Britain since the 1800s . However the blurb on Netgalley made it sound like it was a series of portraits of the British abroad who were unused to foreign food and hot climates and endlessly searched for a cup of tea which appealed to me as a lighthearted look at British culture and behaviours which it was not.Unfortunately it was not what it said on the tin so was not the book I was attracted to. However it would be an extremely useful tool for those studying hospitality or those who were more interested in the historical detail. I would certainly pick up another book from this author if I was looking for ore in depth exploration of topic.