He visited Hampton Court Palace with John Quincy Adams, who was a diplomat in London. Adams later became President of the United States. In 1816, Prescott travelled in France and Italy. He met an American academic, George Ticknor in Paris. Ticknor became a very good friend of Prescott. Prescott returned to America in December 1816. He spent the next four years studying Italian and Spanish literature. He also married Susan Amory, the daughter of Thomas Coffin Amory and Hannah Rowe Linzee, on May 4, 1820.