Napoleon Bonaparte was a great traveler. His career spanned three continents, and his life ended in the southern hemisphere. His comrades in arms, from his time onwards, recounted his travels, detailing them (more or less accurately) and dating them (generally quite precisely). The correspondence of the person concerned, as a soldier and then a statesman, of course remains the cornerstone of any study of said travels.
Historians and writers have naturally set out to follow, day by day, the young Corsican who became a general of the Republic and then First Consul and Emperor. A difficult task, concerning his childhood and youth, meticulous for what followed. In their successive works, Albert Schuermans, Louis Garros and Jean Tulard have worked on this.
We have based ourselves mainly on their works (but also those of other authors, such as Roger Iappini) to offer the visitor to our site the following:
- On the one hand, a daily narration of Napoleon's main military campaigns, including photographs of the places where he was, and which we ourselves - for the most part - visited. As far as possible, we have digitally retouched these images to remove most of the signs of modernity (wind turbines, electrical wires and pylons, street lamps, roof windows, photovoltaic panels, antennas and satellite dishes, advertising and road signs, etc.) so that the visitors have before their eyes, more or less, what the Emperor himself and his valiant grognards saw.
- On the other hand, a tool, unique to our knowledge, which geolocates Napoleon day by day, between his birth on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio and his death on Saint Helena on May 5, 1821 (we have chosen to display the latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees DD rather than in the sexagesimal DMS). Better still, this tool even allows to follow each of Napoleon's movements on a zoomable map (for this we have placed our trust in Google Maps, a global online mapping service that has existed for almost twenty years).
Napoleon in Italy

Firts campaign in Italy


For a little over a year, General Bonaparte travelled the length and breadth of northern Italy, from Genoa to Verona or Mantua and from Brescia to Florence, before penetrating the Julian Alps to the gates of Vienna. But it was in Milan that he spent the most time and where he installed Joséphine.

Second campaign in Italy


This time the campaign lasted only two months. That was enough to cross the Alps via the Great St. Bernard Pass, descend on Aosta, Milan and Alessandria, beat the Austrians at Marengo, then return to France via Turin and the Mont Cenis Pass.
Napoleon in the Middle East

French Invasion of Syria


In 1799, today's Israel was part of Syria, a province of the Ottoman Empire. It was on these lands, rich in a history spanning several thousand years, that the fighting would take place, in locations whose names shimmered with memories of the Bible or the Crusades: Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Nazareth, Caesarea...

Napoleon in Germany

Campaign in Germany



When the Russians, Austrians and Prussians were agitated, it was difficult to ignore them in order to pass as planned into England. The Emperor would therefore cross Germany and Austria, via Ulm, Munich and Vienna (first stay in Schönbrunn) to celebrate the anniversary of his coronation in the present-day Czech Republic, at Slavkov u Brna (or Austerlitz, as it was called at the time).

Campaign in Prussia

The King of Prussia issued an ultimatum. Napoleon saw it as an invitation. In two months, he would visit Jena, Auerstaedt, Weimar, Berlin, Sanssouci, bringing back precious souvenirs, such as the sword of King Frederick II.

Campaign in Saxony


Napoleon's last stay in Germany began well. At Lützen and Bautzen, he found his old habits of victory. This would be the case again at Dresden. But Leipzig was much less welcoming. He finally returned to France via Hanau and Frankfurt am Main.
Napoleon in Poland

Campaign in Poland and East-Prussia


The plains of Mazovia and East Prussia, the shores of the Baltic Sea and the bridges of Königsberg, the Niemen River, the architectural beauties of Warsaw and Poznan, all places visited by Napoleon during a seven-month journey in these northern European regions, including a holiday at the delightful Finckenstein Castle, in the charming company of a beautiful and tender Polish woman.
So many beauties which could not, however, mitigate the harshness of the climate and the incredible ferocity of the fighting.
Napoleon in Spain

Campaign of 1808-1809

Tolosa, Vitoria, Burgos, Madrid, Valladolid, Burgos, Tolosa and back: Napoleon would never know Spain other than this circuit, partly travelled at full speed. The mountains, at Somossiera or at the Guadarrama Pass, having hardly shown themselves to be more welcoming than the population, it is not certain that he kept a very good memory of it.
Napoleon in Austria

Campaign in Austria


During this campaign, the Austrians had to face the facts: Vienna was definitely Napoleon's favourite destination in Europe. While he had been content to admire it from afar in 1797, then to make a short stay there in 1805, this time he lingered there for a long time, enjoying the pleasures of the delightful Schönbrunn Palace from May to October.
Napoleon in Russia

Invasion of Russia



His six months in Russia would cost Napoleon his army and the country two of its most prestigious cities: Smolensk and Moscow. Fire would destroy the cities, snow would bury the army. Perhaps those who were not killed there returned stronger. It is certain that they returned in too few numbers to prevent the death of the French Empire.
Napoleon in France

Campaign in Northeast France

After so many campaigns in so many countries, including the most distant ones, Napoleon ended his career at the gates of Paris. Champagne and Aisne witnessed his last brilliant exploits; Seine-et-Marne his (almost) definitive fall.

The Flight of the Eagle

Napoleon traced a final furrow on French soil and gave his name to a road, from the Mediterranean Sea to Grenoble, which only his audacity could make legendary.
Napoleon in Belgium

Campaign in Belgium

Napoleon's shortest campaign would unfortunately be the most decisive and would not even give him the opportunity to see the pleasant Grand Place of Brussels again. Some would console themselves by thinking that the Emperor never lost the battle of Waterloo, for the good reason that there was no battle in Waterloo itself.
General itinerary from 1769 to 1821

All of Napoleon's movements
Where was Napoleon on such and such a day? When did he pass through such and such a place?
Just ask...