Victorian lady traveller

Tips for the Victorian lady traveller- journey into the past

Ready to conquer the world? You can’t do better than seize your parasol, a pair of kid gloves and a somewhat overfilled trunk for your garments. Tucked under your arm, you’ll need this travelogue of hints and tips for the intrepid traveller, available for your convenience at only 2d 5s. Victorian lady travel tips were all the rage in 1889 and who wouldn’t want to walk in the footsteps of Isabella Bird?


Some practical hints and advice upon the wide subject of wanderings abroad may be useful and welcome to those whose experiences are less varied than those of their sisters.

apartments rooms where to rent how to accommodation abroad vintage tarvel

The best way of ensuring comfort in your temporary abode will be to speak to friends and well-heeled acquaintances. As any woman of the world may know, the exterior may not match the interior. Should this not be possible, the Victorian lady traveller is advised to write to the postmaster or stationmaster of their intended destination with a stamped evelope addressed to the woman explorer.

Victorian lady travel tips - woman on camel 1880
CC- State Library Queensland 1 166831 Unidentified woman on a camel, circa 1880

Landladies may be perfectly honest and should be considered so till they prove themselves unworthy of the trust.

Among the fascinating array of extras that will be charged in lodgings include; fires, boot cleaning and the cruet stand (!) and fashionable travellers are cautioned never to get into a strange bed without being sure that it’s well aired, for fear of congruent diseases.

Victorian lady travel tips- bathing at the beach

Take heed that travelling baths are highly convenient receptacles for packing a lady’s belongings and ladies are assumed to carry their own bath with them for whenever it might be necessary. All lodgers know to check their leftovers, as if the staff claim their meals have been eaten up to the last morsel the remaining treats may have been collared by hungry serving staff.

With these advices in hand, femmes can be certain for an engaging journey to the lengths of the known world. Stay tuned for more Victorian Lady travel tips in the Vintage Wayfaring series. Which Victorian lady travellers inspire you?

Sources: Hints to Lady Travellers At Home and Abroad- Lillias Campbell Davidson 1889, find more inspiring female travellers of the past behind the link.

Victorian lady travel tips and trick- Vintage Wayfaring Series
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Cover image credit: ‘Parasol’ CC Paul Townsend @ Flickr and CC-BY-2.0 John Hoey @Flickr

Danni Lawson

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