Discussion: In the footsteps of Thomas Cook

You have all heard about Thomas Cook, the man who organized the very first package tour in the world. But do you know how his business started? Leicester was the place where everything begun, but where did he travel? Read our summary of his first trips and the places he visited. You might even want to go and try the places yourself!

• 1. Loughborough
  Loughborough was the first destination of Thomas Cook package tours. The first trip was made in 1841 and there were as much as 570 passengers on the train. The distance from Leicester was only 11 miles. Nowadays the Loughborough station is on the Midland Main Line and links to London, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds. A fun addition to your trip to Loughborough could be a ride from Loughborough to Derby with a genuine steam train!
• 2. Liverpool
  In 1845 Thomas Cook made arrangements for a party to travel from Leicester to Liverpool. Nowadays Liverpool is famous of its two football clubs: Liverpool F.C. and Everton. You can also find a World Heritage Site from the city. In total, there are six different locations on the site, but the area as a whole is called The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City.
• 3. London
  After touring Scotland, Thomas Cook went bankrupt because of his lack of commercial skills. However he succeeded again in 1851 when he arranged for over 165,000 people to go to the Great Exhibition in London. Exhibition took place in Hyde Park and it was the first in a series of World Fair exhibitions of culture and industry.
• 4. Calais
  In 1855 Cook arranged his first excursion abroad to Calais. The trip's goal was the Exposition Universelle, the second World's Fair exhibition. The exhibition was held in Champs-Elysées which is propably the best known avenue in Paris with beautiful parks and of course Arc de Triomphe. Nowadays the Champs-Élysées stage is the last stage of the Tour de France competition.
• 5. Geneva
  In 1863 Thomas Cook visited Geneva for the first time. First trip was made for information gathering only, but he had 60 people traveling with him. By the end of the year 1863 Cook had taken about 500 tourists to Switzerland. He started co-operation with the Paris, Lyons and Mediterranean Railway and after this he extended his arrangements across the Alps.

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