In the first part of Kevin McCloud's Grand Tour, his journey follows the very first wave of Grand Tourists from France, across the Mediterranean and into northern Italy.
This week, Kevin is heading south on the trail of the next wave of Grand Tourists, to the great Renaissance cities of Florence and Rome. He's searching for art and architecture that would assault the senses, and which would inspire the rebuilding of London after one of the greatest disasters in its history: the Great Fire.
Kevin McCloud continues his journey across Europe exploring the lasting legacy of the Grand Tour on Britain. In this episode, Kevin follows in the footsteps of Robert Adam, the most influential neoclassical architect of the 18th century.
In the final leg of his journey, Kevin travels to Greece, following in the footsteps of James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, two of the first grand tourists to journey as far as Greece. Then ruled by the Turks, it was a fierce and inhospitable place but it held the source of classical architecture: the Parthenon. From here Kevin takes a helicopter to a remote island where he abseils down into the caves that Byron journeyed to. Exploring these caves and the majestic Alps inspired the grand tourists to think about the architecture of nature, and on their return home they inspired romanticism and neo-Gothic structures such as the Houses of Parliament, where Kevin ends his journey and reflects on his experiences.
