With the gradual introduction of railway systems throughout the Middle East and North Africa from the mid-19th century onwards, the progress of travellers in the region was revolutionised and helped set the scene for the onset of modern tourism.

Before the mid-19th century, travellers setting out on journeys to the East had no access to guidebooks to help them prepare for their journey, but relied on individual travelogues written by those who had visited before them. These authors in general mixed facts with fanciful imaginations, but nevertheless gave readers a useful flavour of what to expect.

This early French publication about Egypt, comprehensively researched and written by scientists and scholars working in the country in the wake of Napoleon’s invasion in 1798, did much to stoke Europeans’ initial fascination with the country and their desire to visit its fabled sites and cities for themselves.

Important visitors, such as aristocrats or other members of European high society, tended to be accommodated in the diplomatic missions or embassies of their countries during their sojourn to the East.

On rare occasions, prominent Europeans chose to settle permanently in the region. Lady Hester Stanhope’s isolated home, an abandoned monastery on a hill top near Joun, Lebanon, attracted visitors from all over the world who were eager to meet the fascinating archaeologist and adventurer.

Accommodation specifically set up to cater for foreign tourists first appeared in the region in the second half of the 19th century. Madame Josephine’s lodging house in the Pera district of Constantinople was among the earliest hotels to cater for a Western clientele that included Germans, Russians, French, British and even Americans.

Travellers with all sorts of motives and objectives aimed for Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, or at least passed through the city on their way to the Levant and beyond. The author of this book, a former French ambassador, had plenty to tell those who planned to visit.

Traditional lodgings in the Middle East and North Africa were not designed for foreign tourists and catered largely for local needs. Some travellers stopped at khans and caravanserais, designed as such to provide shelter for merchants. All guests required their own carpet as a bed and a coat as a blanket.

Early European visitors to the East relied first and foremost on ships routed either down the Danube and across the Black Sea, or across the Mediterranean. Before the introduction of steamers, progress was dependent on the weather and, thus, many travellers would wait for weeks or even months for favourable winds.

Many European visitors to the region arrived with recommendations to contact accommodating, reliable and helpful compatriots during their visit to the East. Many headed straight to those quarters of the city reserved for foreign communities, such as the Pera district in Constantinople or the Frankish quarter in Cairo.

Away from cities and towns, early European travellers to the East relied on whatever accommodation was available. Those crossing desert regions relied on tents – like the Scottish painter David Roberts who crossed the Sinai with the help of Bedouin guides from the Awlad Said in the 1830s.

In the 19th century, Beirut was one of the most important arrival points for Western tourists. In the city, some khans were specially designated for travellers, but comfort was still very basic. The first lodgings in the region, designed to meet the standards of comfort expected by Western tourists, sprung up in the 1840s.