Post-war Mountain Tourism in Continental Europe

European mountain regions experienced a rapid expansion of tourism after 1945. Improved roads, rail services and international car travel increased access to Alpine and Pyrenean valleys, while hotels, cableways and ski facilities enlarged older resort economies.

The development created sharp contrasts between traditional villages, aristocratic estates, seasonal workers and affluent foreign visitors. Remote terrain and difficult weather also continued to limit communication and law enforcement away from major centres.

Mary Stewart uses these landscapes in Nine Coaches Waiting and Thunder on the Right, where mountain roads, isolated houses and international travellers create plausible conditions for concealment, mistaken identity and pursuit.