The American Travellers' Guides

PREFACE

TO THE THIRTEENTH YEAR'S ISSUE OF "HARPER'S HAND-BOOK FOR TRAVELERS IN EUROPE AND THE EAST."

THE remarkable success of "Harper's Hand-book," first published in 1862, has fully realized the expectations of both author and publishers, the instance being very rare where a traveler has crossed the Atlantic without a copy in his possession or in that of one of his party. The reason of this great success is very evident; it is not compiled from hearsay and books which are out of date, and of no possible use to the traveler, but prepared by the author every year from his personal experience up to the moment of going to press, his time in Europe being wholly devoted to that purpose. The greater portion of these volumes is entirely new, and distinct from the last year's edition, while the residue has been revised and corrected up to the present moment.

To travel without a guide-book in any part of Europe is utterly impossible; a man without one being like a ship at sea without a compass-dragged round the country by a courier, and touching only at such points as it is the courier's interest to touch. You should purchase guide-books or remain at home.

The great objection to foreign guide-books is their number. To make the tour of Europe (even a short one of a few months), the traveler has formerly been compelled to purchase some twenty-five or thirty volumes (if published in the English language), at a cost of sixty or seventy dollars, and suffer the inconvenience of carrying some twenty-five pounds of extra baggage, and over one hundred volumes (if in the French language), one house alone in Paris publishing one hundred and twenty volumes. As the majority of American travelers do not remain over six months on the Continent, they dislike to be compelled to carry about a small library, when with the aid of Bradshaw's valuable "Continental Railway Guide" and the present volumes all their wants may be supplied.

The intention of the author of "Harper's Hand-book” is to give a distinct and clear outline, or skeleton tour, through the principal cities and leading places of interest in France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Switzerland, Tyrol, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Great Britain, and Ireland; to give the modes and cost of traveling the different routes by land and water, and which lines are to be preferred; the precautions to be taken to insure comfort and security; names and charges of the leading hotels; the most responsible houses from

which to make purchases; all the items in reference to the transportation of baggage, and the innumerable number of small charges which tend to swell the account of traveling expenses. By a careful attention to the tariff in such cases, the traveler will find himself the gainer by fifty per cent.

The author also intends to give the names of the principal works of art by the leading masters in all the different European galleries, with the fees expected by the custodians. In short, he intends to place before the traveler a good net-work of historical and other facts, pointing out where the reader may obtain fuller information if he desire it...

Of course it is impossible for perfect accuracy to be obtained in a work of this description; for while the author is watching the completion of the beautiful mosque of Mehemet Ali in Cairo, or the exquisite restorations that are being made at the Alhambra in Granada, a new bridge may be erected at St. Petersburg, or a new hotel opened at Constantinople; but to keep the information contained herein as nearly accurate as possible, the author, in addition to having made arrangements in the different cities to keep him acquainted with any important changes that may be made, requests that all mistakes or omissions noticed by travelers may be transmitted to 13 Avenue de l'Impératrice, Paris, for which he will be extremely thankful.

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