Abstract. The article analyzes the evolution of the literary genre of travel, with special attention paid to the period from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. During this period, in the context of changing artistic styles and cultural paradigms, culture and its categorical foundations are being comprehended, the formation of cultural issues and methodology is being laid, which is important in understanding the history of cultural thought. The problem of understanding culture in Russia has always been in line with fiction and journalism, but the genre of literary travel is being analyzed for the first time. The article uses a culturological approach based on the principles of interdisciplinarity and consistency, as well as historical-genetic, descriptive and functional research methods. The stages of the development of this literary genre are culturologically correlated with the stages of the formation of artistic styles and cultural issues

Key words: literary travel, literary genre of travel, travel prose, pilgrimage, cultural and philosophical lexicon, culture, cultural studies.