The article discusses a number of episodes from the biography of the outstanding Russian researcher of antiquity Mikhail Koutorga (1809—1886), which give an idea of his personal characteristics, scientific routes, contacts and sympathies. His development as a scientist is considered in the system of European scientific coordinates, among which there were many countries and cities, but so far there was no England and London. The European educational path of Mikhail Koutorga began at the Professorial Institute of the University of Dorpat and continued in Berlin, largely predetermining his formation as a scientist. Even in Dorpat, there was an acquaintance with the peculiarities of the educational space of Europe, because Koutorga got acquainted with the advanced works on the history of Greece and Rome at that time and the critical method of European historical science. The works of the French historian François Guizot had the greatest influence on Koutorga. Having adopted his ideas, Mikhail Koutorga further developed the concept of class struggle in relation to Athens. After graduating from the Professorial Institute, Koutorga was attached to the Berlin professor F. Kranichfeld, and a new stage in his development as a scientist began. Illness prevented Koutorga from visiting Italy, but probably allowed him to work in the libraries of Vienna, Berlin and Munich. The scarce information about this scientific trip suggests that Koutorga from his youth sought to expand the horizons of his educational travels, and over the years did not lose this desire. Despite the fact that Koutorga was critical of the teaching of German professors, he attended lectures by prominent researchers of that time (L. von Ranke, F. Raumer, and others). Taking into account his subsequent interest in archaeological and topographic research, the course of lectures on archeology of one of the founders of the archeology of Rome, E. Gerhard, should have seemed important to Koutorga. The knowledge gained at these lectures was probably useful to Mikhail Koutorga during his travels in Greece in 1860—1861. One of the main merits of M. Koutorga in the Western scientific community is still considered a detailed description of the ancient city of Halae in central Greece that meets high scientific standards, which he published in the French edition of the Revue Archéologique for 1860. Before traveling to Greece, he visited France and England in 1859. A visit to England is still one of the blank spots in his scientific and educational travels, where in addition to the obvious ones, there were also hidden routes. The materials stored in the Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of Russia allow us to state that Kutorga managed to enter into correspondence and establish contacts with English antiquities, especially with the outstanding topographer of Greece, Colonel William Martin Leake (1777—1860). The authors of the article transcribed, analyzed and for the first time offered for publication in the original language and translated into Russian five letters stored in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian National Library (F. 410. Items 45, 46, 211). A comparative analysis of the letters made it possible to broaden our understanding of not only the peculiarities of Koutorga's interaction with Western colleagues and to see how carefully he planned his scientific work in England. The letters make it possible to outline the circle of outstanding scientists of that time, to whom Leake addresses about Koutorga. That is, they make it possible to trace the scientific contacts of Colonel Leake in Cambridge, Oxford and the British Museum, as well as point out those of them that can be called personal connections rather than official appeals. The content of the correspondence, which lasts from August 8 to 12, 1859, as well as the information present on the two surviving envelopes, not only proves Koutorga's visit to England, but also allows us to establish the exact address of his residence and the purpose of his stay.