During the eighteenth century, one of the most important educational experiences was the so-called Grand Tour, a journey throughout continental Europe intended to bring the traveller into contact with the leading cultural centers and artistic figures of that time. Open to virtually anyone who could afford it, dilettante and professional alike, it allowed the person taking the Tour an opportunity both to learn firsthand from the leading figures of the period and to achieve a well-rounded education not otherwise available within a more limited framework of one's own town or intellectual circle.