In 1770 he went to Paris, where he went into service with Louis, Duke of Noailles, who made him his court composer. He also appeared in the Concerts Spirituels, sometimes together with his brother Anton, who had probably come to Paris with him. With Paris as his base, he made frequent concert tours to a number of German cities: on 12 April 1773 he appeared in Frankfurt; a year later he was in Augsburg; and in 1775 he ventured as far as the Russian capital, Saint Petersburg. In 1777 he dwelt for a time in Strasbourg where Franz Xaver Richter was music director. During the years 1777 and 1778 he was successful in London, one of many Austro-German musicians, such as Carl Friedrich Abel, J. C. Bach and in his last years Haydn, to be drawn there. His stay in London was possibly facilitated through his contact with Thomas Erskine, Earl of Kellie (1753–1781), who had received lessons from Carl's father Johann during a tour of the continent. Between 1782 and 1783, Stamitz gave concerts in The Hague and in Amsterdam. In 1785 he returned to Germany to appear in concerts in Hamburg, Lübeck, Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Leipzig. In April 1786 he made his way to Berlin, where on 19 May 1786 he participated in the performance of Handel's "Messiah", under the baton of Johann Adam Hiller.