About Me

Double parked with Sangiovese and limoncello in Bologna.

Hi! I’m Courtney, and I’m so pleased you found my little slice of the internet!

If you’ve clicked onto this page, it looks like you’re curious to know more about me, so here we go:

I created this blog way back in 2013 because I very rarely saw travel blogs I felt I could relate to. Ultra luxury is lovely but unattainable for most (including myself), I detest box-ticking travel lists (cheese wheel pasta can get fucked), and it’s a HARD PASS on backpacking and hostels for me. I wanted to create a space that showcased a bit of authenticity, culture, and humour – like your wacky best friend who somehow always finds the best spots (that’s me, I’m your wacky best friend). If you’re wondering about the name ‘Her Grand Tour’ – click here to learn about my inspiration.

I am not your typical ‘travel blogger’ Insta-girl who spends her entire time on holiday trying to capture the best photo in an enormous princess dress while spamming you with paid sponsorships (although to each their own I guess, get your bag girl) and telling you a must-see in Rome is the Colosseum.

You may be wondering what makes me qualified to type away into the void about these places, and I’m glad you’ve asked. I’m a trained historian, tourism & heritage professional, and travel curator. I have a postgraduate degree in Heritage Management, and have spent decades working for tourism & heritage organisations such as Historic Royal Palaces, the National Trust, and Ireland’s national tourism development authority. So there.

In 2024, I founded Your Grand Tour LLC, a travel company specialising in curated private travel across Italy, Ireland, and the UK. You can find professional Courtney over there, ready to help you create the most memorable trip of your lifetime. Here, you’ll find plenty of free advice and some wild stories from my personal travels.

This blog is here to encourage authenticity in travel, supporting local culture & businesses, learning, leaning into adventure, and yeah – let’s be honest – a lot of eating and drinking. Care to join me? You’ve found the right place.

​x Courtney

PS: 
Shout out to my explorer heroes – Bill Bryson with his hilarious and brutally honest travel books, and Simon Reeve (non-Brits, look him up!) with his unquestionable ability to truly understand the cultures of the places he visits. 

PPS:
If you’ve learned a lot or enjoyed your time here on my blog and want to say thanks, feel free to buy me a glass of wine (my favourite currency).

17 Comments

  1. Are you still in the London area? Im headed to Windsor on Tuesday 3/3/15 for afternoon before my flight to Iceland for a few days and I’d love to meet a fellow american traveler! Enjoy your travels and stay safe. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Meredith! I’m living over in Bath now, or else I would have loved to! Enjoy Windsor – there’s an incredible old book shop on the walk from Windsor to Eton (if I remember right it’s just on the left after you cross over the bridge). Very jealous of Iceland. One of my best friends has just come back and she had nothing but good things to say about it, I’d love to go soon! Safe travels, and get some photos up when you’re in Iceland – I’m sure it’ll be gorgeous! x

      Reply

      1. How do you like Bath? I visited for a day about a month ago… and maybe it was the naivety of not knowing what to do once there (besides the roman baths), but I was slightly disappointed :/
        Iceland photo’s to come soon. I just got back from Munich yesterday, and leave for Sheffield Friday. Lots to catch up on haha
        take care. – Meredith

        Reply

        1. I love Bath. It’s definitely a city that can be difficult for the first time. I know a lot of friends who have been and felt the same, they just went to the Roman Baths and had lunch and headed home. There’s a great museum about the architecture of Bath (all of the huge crescents etc.) – and there’s also a great story about all of the Georgian mayhem that went on here in places like Sydney Pleasure Gardens. There’s free Mayor’s guide tours you can go on that are fantastic, I always recommend them to anyone coming here. It’s a 90 min or so walking tour.
          Looking forward to the Iceland photos! Did you get a glimpse of the lights? I bet it was gorgeous regardless. Feeling you on the catching up… my mind is still in Venice right now and I’ve been back for a few days! x

          Reply

  4. Hey! I just stumbled across your blog before my 9th trip to Venice, and I feel like I’m discovering new places/eats/shops for the first time through you. Thank you for your wonderful tips! I enjoy your tone (conversational, accessible), but also your mix of high and low.

    Reply

  6. Hi Courtney,
    I’m going to Venice in early May, so your guide will come in real handy.
    Loving the honest delivery!

    Reply

  7. Just stumbled upon your blog as I was researching Versailles for my trip in August. Not many people have made the effort to thank you for your wonderful and witty tips and advice for visiting and for the brief but enjoyable history lesson, so I thought I would make the effort to do so. It was, as the French say, magnifique… merci beaucoup!
    If there’s such a thing as reincarnation, I’m definitely getting hitched to a historian in the next life. 🙂
    Regards,
    Darren

    Reply

    1. Bonjour Darren! Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to say thanks. It means so much when I get comments like this, to know I’m not just typing into the void and actually informing and entertaining (which is exactly why I do this!). I hope you have a gorgeous (and as uncrowded as possible) time in Versailles, and if reincarnation exists I’m sure you’ll have plenty of cool historians lined up – just head to your nearest afterlife museum and wait for the queue to form. Au revoir!

      Reply

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