Plan Your Own Amazing Literary Trips

Libreria Acqua Alta Bookstore, Venice, Italy | Photo by Clay Banks

If you are wondering how to plan your own literary trips, you are in the right place! It is no secret to fellow bookworms who love to travel– literary holidays are some of the best.

A tourist passing through a destination to see the sights does not get nearly as much out of the trip as the traveler who takes the time to understand the culture they have entered at that destination. One way to do this is through literature travel.

Read stories written by local authors and search out locations related to those stories when you visit. By familiarizing yourself with their stories, you’ll have something to discuss with locals you meet. And by searching out locations related to those stories, and places of literature in general, you’ll often find yourself off the beaten tourist track wandering along streets you otherwise wouldn’t have seen. 

As a former librarian and lifelong bookworm, I often plan literary vacations inspired by the books I read, which I share on the blog and booktube channel (on YouTube), A Suitcase Full of Books. After several literary-based trips, I’ve discovered that while I often set out with the goal of just seeing the setting that inspired a novel, it’s the local community of people that makes the biggest impression on the overall trip. 

Top Tips for Your Own Literary Travel

1. Find a Book That is Related to Your Destination

The first thing I do when planning a trip is search for a book that takes place in my desired literary travel destination (if a book hasn’t already been the inspiration for the trip).

To find a book I use sites like:

• The Book Trail
• Goodreads

Once I find a promising book, I do some research to determine the author’s connection to the location. Were they born and raised there, like L. M. Montgomery in Prince Edward Island (author of Anne of Green Gables)? Did they just live there temporarily, like Jack London in the Yukon (author of The Call of the Wild)? Or were they perhaps trying to colonize the locals, like George Orwell in Burma/Myanmar (author of Burmese Days)?

The author’s connection may color their representation of the place and people. I suggest trying to find a book by a local author first; however, an outside author who has written about a place during a time of historical significance can be fun too. Then you can spend your trip noting the differences between then and now, as I did in the vlog Myanmar in the Footsteps of George Orwell.

2. Find Literary Places to Visit

After deciding on my travel to-be-read list, I start researching places to visit and stay at my destination that are related to my chosen book(s) or just literature in general. I use search engines (like Google, YouTube, Pinterest) to find out if there are any historic authors’ homes available to visit, or if there are any accommodations in the area themed for the hometown author or their book(s).

I also research bookstores and libraries in the area to see if any of them have anything that particularly stands out as interesting to visit on the literary journey. 

As internet research often takes time and requires piecing information together from several different sources, I also use literary travel guidebooks to do my research. Here are two of my favorites for planning literary trips:

3. Join a Literary Tour

Literary tourism is growing so many destinations offer highly engaging literary tours that you can include in your trip. You might visit homes, universities, pubs, cemeteries and more. Many are led by skilled reenactors in costume. If you are a serious fan, you might want to go in costume yourself! Check out some of these and look for those specific to your destination.

4. Plan Your Literary Trips

Now you are ready to plan your itinerary. Once you’ve come up with a list of locations to visit at your destination, I suggest planning ahead of time when you’ll visit each one. I’ve found through experience that small house museums and other historic/literature-inspired sites often have odd open hours, and each one will have a different ticketing/touring process. 

My Literary Travel

Plan the Perfect Anne of Green Gables Vacation

Tromping on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast

More Posts to Inspire Your Literary Travel

Plan Your own Literary Trips

I hope this literary travel guide has inspired you to find a book to complement your next trip! For more literary travel suggestions and tips, visit A Suitcase Full of Books. And if you do plan your own literary trip, I’d love to hear about it!

This Guest Post was contributed by A Suitcase Full of Books

We love to learn from our guest writers and appreciate their expertise! Visit her website by clicking on the image or name below. 

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