For many travel geeks, it started with a book. You would turn the pages, and picture yourself walking along the red roads to Avonlea with Anne of Green Gables. Or perhaps you imagined sailing across the Mediterranean Sea with Odysseus, seeking the refuge of home after the Trojan War alongside other Greek Myths and Legends. Books give us the power to travel in our minds, exploring both real locations and those that inspired our most treasured writers. No matter our age, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, books are an inspiration for all kinds of travel.
Travel through Time and Space
Writers have been inspiring travel for many years. The famous Spanish Steps in Roma (Italy) were named due to the patronage of the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See (The Vatican) in the Palazzo Monaldeschi at the bottom. However, very few tourists recall the Spanish contribution; it is all about the poets who took up residence here, like John Keats, or the star location in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night. The historic steps are captured like a moment in time, replicating the same moment we find in our books. Similar moments are found in Cornwall (United Kingdom) with Arthurian Tales, or sailing along the Nile with Agatha Christie’s mystery.
More than a Book; It’s a Reading Experience
Inspiration from books is good, but have you ever found the perfect bookstore to curl up in for an hour? Literary travel takes us beyond the book and inspires travel that captures the spirit of reading. In 2025, the Library of Trinity College (Ireland) was voted the most beautiful library in the world, while Australia featured not one but two libraries in the top ten (being the State Library of South Australia and the State Library Victoria). It is the combination of aesthetics and accessibility that feeds the soul of any literature geek. And when you find these hallowed places during your travels, it’s like turning a fresh page with no folds or tears.
