As I discover literary locations, books, and collect resources for future travel I’ll be adding to this list. I hope that this list will also serve as an extra resource for readers, as I have yet to blog about these locations. If you are a brand or company that would like to partner with me to get me to any of these, or other, literary locations, don’t hesitate to contact me. If you are a traveler and/or reader that would like to suggest an addition to this list, I would also like to hear from you!
Literary Travel Tour companies:
Australia
Specific Location(s):
The Jane Austen Tea Room 40 Nicholson St, Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Canada
Specific Location(s):
Dawson City (Robert Service Cabin, Jack London Cabin)
Denmark
Specific Location(s):
Copenhagen (Little Mermaid Statue), Billund (Home of the [LEGO] Brick)
Related Book(s):
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (Copenhagen)
The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country by Helen Russell (Billund)
England
Specific Location(s):
London (Dr. Johnson’s House, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub, Mr. Fogg’s), The Lake District (Hill Top, house of Beatrix Potter), Bath (Jane Austen Festival), Ashdown Forest, Abbotsford Castle (home of Sir Walter Scott)
Related Book(s):
Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson (Dr. Johnson’s House, London)
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (Mr. Fogg’s, London)
Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (Hill Top, the Lake District)
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (Lake District)
The World of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard (Ashdown Forest)
France
Specific Location(s):
Paris (Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Les Mis Sewer Tour), Versailles (Palace of Louis XIV), Chateau Gaillard (castle of Richard the Lionheart), Giverney (home of Monet), Abbey Fontevraud (tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II), Chateau de Monte-Cristo (home of Alexandre Dumas), Provence
Related Book(s):
A Paris Apartment: A Novel by Michelle Gable (Paris)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Paris)
A King’s Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman (Chateau Gaillard)
Linnea Visits Monet’s Garden by Christina Björk and Lena Anderson (Giverney)
Sharon Kay Penman’s Angevin books or Elizabeth Chadwick’s Eleanor trilogy (Abbey Fontevraud)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Chateau de Monte-Cristo)
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (Provence)
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle (Provence)
Resources:
Children’s Book Goes to Monet’s Garden (Blog Post)
Storybook Travels: From Eloise’s New York to Harry Potter’s London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children’s Literature by Colleen Dunn Bates, Susan La Tempa
Greece
Specific Location(s):
Athens, Corfu (The White House Holiday Experience, The Durrell Trail, Durrell Library of Corfu), Santorini
Related Book(s):
The Histories by Herodotus
My family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (Corfu)
Sisterhood of the traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (Santorini)
Resources:
Italy
Specific Location(s):
Tuscany, Verona: Home of Juliet & The Juliet Club, Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, Positano
Related Book(s):
Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford (Tuscany)
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (Tuscany)
Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life by Frances Mayes (Tuscany)
Letters to Juliet: Celebrating Shakespeare’s Greatest Heroine, the Magical City of Verona, and the Power of Love by Lise Friedman & Ceil Friedman (Verona)
Giorgio Scerbanenco (Milan)
Elena Ferrante, Roberto Saviano (Naples)
Andrea Camilleri (Sicily)
Japan
Specific Location(s):
Kyoto (Nijo Castle)
Related Book(s):
Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn (Kyoto) [Recommendation from author, Anjanette Barr]
Resources:
New Zealand
Specific Location(s):
Matamata (Hobbiton), Woodlyn Park Motel (Hobbit Hole Themed Rooms), Narnia film locations?
Related Book(s):
The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Resources:
Feasting and Fun at Hobbiton: The Evening Banquet Tour (A Dangerous Business Blog Post)
Woodlyn Park Motel (Website)
Scotland
Specific Location(s):
Edinburgh (The Elephant House cafe, Canongate Luxury Homestay), Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town (The Open Book Airbnb & bookstore)
Related Book(s):
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Resources:
The retreats where famous authors found inspiration – in pictures (The Guardian)
The Open Book – a bookshop holiday! (Airbnb)
You can now stay in this luxury Harry Potter-themed apartment in Edinburgh (Country Living)
South Africa
Specific Location(s):
Kruger National Park (Jock Safari Lodge)
Related Book(s):
Jock of the Bushveld by Sir Percy FitzPatrick (Jock Safari Lodge)
Resources:
THE PRIVATE GAME LODGE EXPERIENCE IN KRUGER NATIONAL PARK (Blog Post)
United States
Alabama
Specific Location(s):
Monroeville (Harper Lee’s hometown & Old Courthouse Museum Play (2 Parts))
Related Book(s):
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Monroeville)
Resources:
Alaska
Specific Location(s):
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Arizona
Specific Location(s):
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Arkansas
Specific Location(s):
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California
Specific Location(s):
Monterey (Cannery Row, Ed Ricketts ‘Doc’ Statue at Foam and Drake streets, Doc Ricketts lab on Cannery Row), Salinas (National Steinbeck Center), Robert Louis Stevenson State Park (Stevenson Memorial Trail), Sonoma Valley (Jack London Lodge)
Related Book(s):
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (Monterey)
Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck (Salinas)
Resources:
LITERARY TOURISM: A BOOK LOVER’S GUIDE TO ROAD TRIPPING UP CALIFORNIA’S COAST (Bookriot Article) (Stevenson Memorial Trail)
Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks From Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West by Shannon McKenna Schmidt, Joni Rendon (pg. 25 Jack London)
Colorado
Specific Location(s):
Hobbit Hole Wee Casa, The Rabbit Hole (Colorado Springs)
Related Book(s):
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Connecticut
Specific Location(s):
New London (Monte Cristo Cottage – Boyhood home of playwright Eugene O’Neill)
Related Book(s):
Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill
Resources:
Novel Destinations pg 12
Delaware
Specific Location(s):
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Florida
Specific Location(s):
- Key West (The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum)
- Wizards Way (Champion’s Gate 8 bedroom home with Harry Potter themed rooms)
Related Book(s):
Resources:
The retreats where famous authors found inspiration – in pictures (The Guardian)
Georgia
Specific Location(s):
Atlanta (Margaret Mitchell House and Museum)
Related Book(s):
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Resources:
Novel Destinations pg. 28
Hawaii
Specific Location(s):
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Idaho
Specific Location(s):
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Illinois
Specific Location(s):
Chicago (Chicago Museum of Science & Industry: Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle)
Related Book(s):
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Indiana
Specific Location(s):
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Iowa
Specific Location(s):
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Kansas
Specific Location(s):
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Kentucky
Specific Location(s):
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Louisiana
Specific Location(s):
New Orleans (Anne Rice House)
Related Book(s):
Twilight by Anne Rice (Anne Rice House)
Resources:
Literary Louisiana (New York Times)
Maine
Specific Location(s):
Bangor (Stephen King House), South Berwick (Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum)
Related Book(s):
Deephaven by Sarah Orne Jewett
Resources:
Maryland
Specific Location(s):
Baltimore (The Poe house)
Related Book(s):
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Massachusetts
Specific Location(s):
Salem (The House of the Seven Gables), Provincetown (Norman Mailer House), Lenox (The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate), Pittsfield (Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s homestead), Yarmouth Port (Edward Gorey House), Gloucester (The Sargent House Museum)
Related Book(s):
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Salem)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Orchard House)
Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau (Walden Pond)
Resources:
The retreats where famous authors found inspiration – in pictures (The Guardian)
At Walden, Thoreau Wasn’t Really Alone With Nature (NYTimes)
Michigan
Specific Location(s):
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Minnesota
Specific Location(s):
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Mississippi
Specific Location(s):
McCain Library and Archives (Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear papers)
Related Book(s):
Paddington Bear by Michael Bond
Resources:
Missouri
Specific Location(s):
Hannibal (Mark Twain Cave Complex)
Related Book(s):
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Resources:
Montana
Specific Location(s):
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Nebraska
Specific Location(s):
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Nevada
Specific Location(s):
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New Hampshire
Specific Location(s):
Portsmouth (Thomas Bailey Aldrich house)
Related Book(s):
Robert Frost Poems
Resources:
The road taken by Robert Frost through New England
New Jersey
Specific Location(s):
Camden (Walt Whitman House)
Related Book(s):
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New Mexico
Specific Location(s):
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New York
Specific Location(s):
NYC, Bronx (Edgar Allan Poe’s cottage), NYC (Gulliver’s Gate Exhibition), Sleepy Hollow (Headless Horsemens Bridge), The Library Hotel, Agloe
Related Book(s):
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Paper Towns by John Green
Resources:
Headless Horsemens Bridge (Instagram)
Agloe, NY: The Imaginary Town That Refused To Stay Fake
North Carolina
Specific Location(s):
Asheville (Thomas Wolfe Memorial)
Related Book(s):
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North Dakota
Specific Location(s):
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Ohio
Specific Location(s):
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Oklahoma
Specific Location(s):
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Oregon
Specific Location(s):
Newport (Sylvia Beach Hotel)
Related Book(s):
Resources:
Sylvia Beach Hotel (Website)
Pennsylvania
Specific Location(s):
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Rhode Island
Specific Location(s):
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South Carolina
Specific Location(s):
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South Dakota
Specific Location(s):
De Smet (Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes)
Related Book(s):
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes)
Resources:
Storybook Travels: From Eloise’s New York to Harry Potter’s London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children’s Literature by Colleen Dunn Bates, Susan La Tempa
Road trip: Laura Ingalls Wilder museums and attractions (Article)
Tennessee
Specific Location(s):
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Texas
Specific Location(s):
Austin (O. Henry Museum, James Michener Grave, Barton Springs Philosophers Rock statue, Austin Public Library, The Harry Ransom Center, LBJ Presidential Library), Book People Bookstore, Fifth Dimension Books (Sci-fi/fantasy bookstore on wheels), Bennu Coffee – bookish coffee names, The Library – a college bar)
Related Book(s):
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Utah
Specific Location(s):
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Vermont
Specific Location(s):
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Virginia
Specific Location(s):
University of Virginia (Poe dorm room)
Related Book(s):
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Washington
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West Virginia
Specific Location(s):
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Wisconsin
Specific Location(s):
West Salem (Hamlin Garland Homestead)
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Wyoming
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Washington D.C.
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Wales
Specific Location(s):
Hay-On-Wye
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