Pre-modern "rest stops"

Today I was thinking about how people would spend nights on the road, other than camping. Here's a list I can think of off the top of my head:

- Incan road systems had a network of stations called Tambos where their Chasqui messengers could rest and wait for their next task.

- Caravansaries were impressively large structures found across the silk road and other Asian routes.

- Bothies in the Scottish highlands allowed travelers to rest up free of charge

Surely there are plenty of other examples. I'll be doing my own research, but please post if anything comes to mind.
 
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Well we have inns mentioned in the bible and they have been referred to in medieval times.

It makes sense that accommodations would be set up for wary travelers, all that is required is a minimum amount of staff, some sort of building, and a location on the road or in town.

So I imagine motels or inns as a concept go back quite a long way.
 
Let's also not overlook El Camino de Santiago (St. James Highway) which has had inns and resting places a day's walk apart from the 1500's onward for pilgrims and travellers to Santago de Compostela that's still in use! Most of them are hostel in quality but in the ultimate goal of Santiago, a truly magnificent 5-star Parador hotel that's been in business since the 1490's awaits those pilgrims willing to break the bank after weeks of mere shelter and sore feet!
 
Chinese governments established various postal messenger stations where imperial messengers could rest, as well as providing some income for local counties and so on.
 

Artaxerxes

Banned
Chinese governments established various postal messenger stations where imperial messengers could rest, as well as providing some income for local counties and so on.

So did the Romans and the Persians, also allowed changing horses for faster travel.
 
Yeah, inns have been around for millennia.

Today in the UK, you can still find villages on what used to be main roads, which have pubs that seem too large for the size of the village. These places will have built up to provide a pint, meal, bed or all three to travelers on the roads.

If they haven't seen too much redevelopment, you'll find that they often have a large collection of garages and outbuildings. These would have been stabling for the horses. You might well have found a blacksmith in one of these buildings as well, to replace thrown shoes.
 
Yeah, inns have been around for millennia.

Today in the UK, you can still find villages on what used to be main roads, which have pubs that seem too large for the size of the village. These places will have built up to provide a pint, meal, bed or all three to travelers on the roads.

If they haven't seen too much redevelopment, you'll find that they often have a large collection of garages and outbuildings. These would have been stabling for the horses. You might well have found a blacksmith in one of these buildings as well, to replace thrown shoes.

There's one near me which was used by crusaders travelling off to the holy land.
 
Of course, many of the roads these inns were built on are at least 2,000 years old, if not considerably older.

The speed of a man on foot, or on horseback, changed very little until the stagecoach and turnpike boom (even that didn't change walking speed!). Even if few of the pubs are as venerable as the one mentioned by @Socrates,* they'll have replaced ones which were, and older still.

I suspect it's a concept as old as settled civilisations deciding to sell their produce in a neighbouring place.

And the end product of this evolution seems to be the Travelodge. May the Lord have mercy on our souls.

*Phrasing it thus makes it sound older still!
 
the romans had official post houses (state run) and effectively motels often grew up or were constructed around them, a little bit of trivia-origin of word tri-via, three roads in English, the roman posties would place announcements, local news and law changes at the meeting point of three major roads hence tri-via lol
 
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