How did people travel in the 17th century?

The options were limited and no matter their choice, it was slow. Those who went by foot could make 20 to 30 miles a day depending on the conditions. By horse, a traveler could go 30 to 40 miles a day. By cart or carriage, distance covered could be much less because of the deplorable conditions of most roads.



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The most common mode, and the cheapest, was walking. People would travel by foot for extraordinary distances to get supplies or visit friends and family. The lower classes rarely, if ever, travelled for pleasure. Another popular means of travel, especially in the southern colonies, was by horseback.

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At the beginning of the century, U.S. citizens and immigrants to the country traveled primarily by horseback or on the rivers. After a while, crude roads were built and then canals. Before long the railroads crisscrossed the country moving people and goods with greater efficiency.

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By the early 1300s, Afro-Eurasia (Northern Africa, Europe, and Asia) had become a world zone in motion. People were traveling everywhere, usually in groups — by foot, donkey, horse, camel, and boat. Merchants moved goods; kings, sultans, and popes moved armies.

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Prior to the mid-1800s, the primary modes of travel in America were either via foot, on horseback or using a horse-drawn conveyance. Benner pointed to the inefficiency of North America's first mail route between Boston and New York City using the Boston Post Road, originally an Indian trail.

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Overall, I would say that the expected travel distance per day, in summer, in the good parts of England or France or Germany would be: Travel on foot, with luggage: 15 km / 9 miles. (75 km / 46 miles per week) Travel on foot, minimum luggage: 20-22 km / 12.5-14 miles.

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The 1900s was all about that horse-and-carriage travel life. Horse-drawn carriages were the most popular mode of transport, as it was before cars came onto the scene. In fact, roadways were not plentiful in the 1900s, so most travelers would follow the waterways (primarily rivers) to reach their destinations.

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Before the invention of trains and automobiles, animal power was the main form of travel. Horses, donkeys, and oxen pulled wagons, coaches, and buggies. The carriage era lasted only a little more than 300 years, from the late seventeenth century until the early twentieth century.

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