Have you ever read a book and thought “I’d love to see that place!” or “I wonder where that author lived to inspire such thoughts”? If so, you’ll easily understand the motivations behind the growth of literary travel.
Here are a few places which you may find to be interesting as a starting point for your travel plans:
The George Inn, London, UK
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A location so old that both Shakespeare and Dickens drank here. You may also recognise the name from from Dickens’ Little Dorrit.
Segovia, Spain
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Ernest Hemingway’s Spanish Civil War tale For Whom The Bell Tolls was set in Segovia. It’s easy to see why, when visiting this stunning city.
Edinburgh, Scotland
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This city has inspired hundreds of books by authors ranging from Robert Burns to the modern-day Ian Rankin and J.K. Rowling. Take a trip here to immerse yourself in the literary history found in UNESCO’s first City of Literature.
Dublin, Ireland
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No trip to Ireland’s capital would be complete without having first read James Joyce’s Dubliners. Then you can walk the streets that inspired this story. Be sure to stop by the Trinity College library to see the 65 metre long chamber with over 200,000 books, which is one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions.
Kefalonia, Greece
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Visit this island to see the real-world location for Louis de Bernières’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Sit in the warm Greek sunshine and be transported back to the 1940s in this tale of Italian occupation.
Davos, Switzerland
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Although the sanatorium that featured in Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain is now a luxury spa hotel, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the magnificent alpine scenery outside it.
Jaipur, India
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The capital of Rajasthan plays host to an annual literary festival, this year from the 23-27 January. The sights and sounds of the city provide a backdrop for many authors’ works.
Gaborone, Botswana
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The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith is set in this city and fans of these humorous mystery novels may enjoy taking part in a tour of the many real-life locations featured in the books.
Stockholm, Sweden
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Visit the Swedish capital to enjoy a walking tour showcasing key locations in the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson, which includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Explore the medieval centre which dates back to 1252 and explore the setting which have so much atmosphere to the books.
Provence, France
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Take a trip to the south of France to smell the lavender fields and country life so well described in the books by Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence, A Good Year). Enjoy the delicious foods that come to life on those pages for yourself.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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This city has more bookshops per person than any other city in the world. El Ateneo must be on your bucket list, as a stunning bookstore housed in a converted theatre. The city additionally hosts an annual book fair which attracts writers from around the globe.
People who love books and bookshops should also consider visiting Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border for the literary festival (this year from 21-31 May), the beautifully inspiring Shakespeare and Company bookshop just a stone’s throw from the Notre Dame in Paris, the highly instagrammable Daunt Books in Marylebone, London, and the Livraria Lello in Porto which, with its Art Nouveau architecture, is considered one of the most beautiful in the world.
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Title Image Credit: Ungry Young Man (Image Cropped)