The World’s Greatest Destinations for Bookworms

So much of the world’s great literature is set in grand cities, with soaring architecture and generations of history to lend a sense of importance. But true bookworms will want to make a special journey to these spots, either to revel in the setting of their favorite works, to see where the world’s greatest writers worked, or to soak up the atmosphere of a truly world-class bookstore.

Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Scottish Highlands – home of Harry Potter and Outlander

Though J.K. Rowling hails from England, she lived in Edinburgh for the whole of her time writing the Harry Potter novels, and that influence can be seen in both the books and the films. Edinburgh’s Victoria Street is the inspiration for Diagon Alley, and the University of Glasgow bears a striking resemblance to Hogwarts, which is known to be hidden somewhere in the Scottish highlands. Fittingly, Edinburgh is UNESCO’s first City of Literature, and you can soak in the atmosphere on both our Journey Through Britain and Scotland: Highlands and Islands tours. And on the latter tour, we enjoy four nights traveling through the highlands of Scotland, where the acclaimed Outlander series is set.

Maienfeld, Switzerland, home of Heidi

One of the best-selling books ever written, the novel Heidi by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, centers on a young girl sent to live with her paternal grandfather in Maienfeld, in the Swiss Alps. We visit this charming hamlet on our Alpine Splendor tour, where we stop to enjoy a wine tasting and a firsthand look at the setting for this beloved work.

Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables

A similar story, a similarly picturesque locale, and a similarly beloved work of children’s literature. The best-selling Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery is set in Prince Edward Island, which we explore on our Canadian Maritimes tour. We even have a half-day tour of the very house and grounds that inspired the novels, which is now kept as a museum to Montgomery’s work.

New Zealand’s Fangorn Forest

The tangled forests near New Zealand’s Doubtful Sound may seem familiar to moviegoers, as Peter Jackson used this location for Fangorn Forest in the Lord of the Rings films. Jackson filmed a majority of the scenes in these award-winning adaptations of the legendary Tolkein novels in New Zealand, and we travel through this lush jungle on our New Zealand Adventure tour.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Straying from fiction for a moment, we come face to face with literary and world history on our Treasures of Thailand tour, as we visit the scene of the Burma Death Railway. Immortalized in the book and film The Bridge on the River Kwai, this span near Kanchanaburi was built by Allied WWII POWs and marks a somber yet powerful part of this tour.

Israel’s Biblical sites

When it comes to works of literature, few rank higher in worldwide significance than the Bible. Most of its stories, parables, and letters take place in Israel, which we visit on our Israel: Timeless Wonders tour. Tiberias, Nazareth, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee… the list goes on, and our touring of these ancient sites brings these stories to life.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage and the Beatrix Potter Gallery

Three titans of the English language, all unique in style, and all of whose writing locales are laid bare on our Journey Through Britain tour. We explore the homes and offices where these authors worked, which have been preserved to look exactly as they did in the authors’ heyday.

Lyon, home of Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The famed French aviator and author, best known for his novella The Little Prince, hailed from the city of Lyon. His most beloved work, about a pilot stranded in the Sahara and his discussions with an erudite young prince visiting Earth from another planet, has been voted the greatest French book of the 20th century.

Dublin’s Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells

History buffs and bookworms alike will delight at our inside visit to the library at Dublin’s Trinity College. The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth, and Ireland’s greatest national treasure resides in the college’s library: the Book of Kells. This masterfully illustrated work of calligraphy contains the four Gospels of the New Testament, and is thought to have been created sometime around 800 CE. It is truly a sight to behold, and the setting only adds to the historic atmosphere.

Karen Blixen’s houses and museum

In the coastal Norwegian town of Rungsted sits the Karen Blixen House and Museum, where the writer known as Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa) was born in 1885 and spent most of her life. We visit this house, which boasts its original furniture and décor, on our Norwegian Splendor tour; the site itself comprises the house, a museum, bird sanctuary, and park.

Blixen’s other home sits, as one might imagine, in Nairobi, and we visit it on our Classic Safari: Kenya and Tanzania tour. Blixen’s 17 years spent here on a coffee plantation in British East Africa inspired her world-renowned memoir, and the setting here gives us a glimpse of how she lived in the early 20th century.

The Library of Alexandria

Though the ancient wonder of the world has been lost to time, the modern Bibliotheca Alexandria pays tribute to the ancient one, and offers its own sense of grandeur. The ancient library was said to hold between 40,000 and 400,000 papyrus scrolls, and today’s version includes a visually stunning main reading room with space for some nine million books. We have the chance to explore this library on the Alexandria extension of our Egypt: Treasures of Antiquity tour.

Atlantis Books, Santorini

Santorini’s Atlantis Books owns the most picturesque setting of any bookstore on Earth. High above the sea-filled azure caldera of Santorini, this bookstore is just as beautiful inside as out, and has hosted readings by famed author David Sedaris, among others. On our Ancient Greece tour, we have free time in Santorini, and a visit here is well worth the time. We featured this bookstore in a blog post as well, if you’d like to enjoy a few more photos.