Where have you travelled after reading a fiction book ?

Secret Garden was one of my favorite books as a child which took me to the North York Moors.

Okay, I've been to Rothenburg ob der Tauber before, but then i read "The Watchman of Rothenburg Dies", by Adriana Licio. It was a "cozy murder mystery". Very fun to read.

So then we went back to Rothenburg, took the tour again, and had the actual watchman autograph the book.

Having read the Da Vinci Code years ago, it was fun to stumble across the Rose line medallions near the Louvre and I just saw that Rabbies has a tour bus that goes to Roslyn Chapel outside of Edinburgh which might be an interesting day trip during our trip to Scotland this May.

Here are a few:

• I visited Poland after reading Poland by James Michener
• I visited the Soca Valley in Slovenia after reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway
• I visited Glasgow after reading Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

In none of these cases did the book inspire me to visit the place. The first two I started reading after I'd planned the trips. The third was unrelated to my plans to travel to Scotland.

Of the three, Hemingway was the one that gave the most context for my travels. Michener gave me a lot of insights about the history of Poland before making that trip, but A Farewell to Arms actually made me feel connected to places Hemingway wrote about.

After reading All the Light We Cannot See we visited St. Malo and revisited Jardin de Plantes.

I read Michener's The Source and moved to Israel.

It was a long journey over several years and I may have got here without that book, but looking back that book planted the seed.

Secret Garden was one of my favorite books as a child which took me to the North York Moors.

Katie, yes! I loved The Secret Garden, and all of her other books! I've read so many other books that were based in England as well, which is probably why it's my favorite destinations. The Noel Streatfeild books, which I read voraciously as a child, books by the Bronte sisters and Jane Austin, and of course, my beloved Agatha Christie. And I really want to get to Lincolnshire after reading in Katherine by Anya Seton that Katherine Swynford finished out her days there (also to visit a friend there).

I traveled to Greece and more particularly Crete after reading The Moonspinners and My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart.

I traveled to Scotland after reading The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. And other books of hers as well have just added fuel to the UK fire.

Bigtyke, I loved the Dick Francis books and the racing aspect of it always interested me. I never thought of visiting horse racing sites, though. That would be fun!

Mardee - I read both the Mary Stewart books ( as well as seeing the Disney movie The Moonspinners ) you mention before my first trip to Greece but It wasn’t because of the books that I decided to go there

Bigtyke, I loved the Mary Stewart books. She had such a gift with language, especially when it came to the settings. I've always longed to go to Corfu because of This Rough Magic.

And I just remembered her book Wildfire at Midnight was why I went to the Isle of Skye on my Scotland trip . That book was written back in the 50s, and of course Skye was nothing like it is now, in that it's much more crowded and modern. But it's interesting to look at how it was back then.

I read Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett and wanted to go to Salisbury to see the cathedral. I read the book several years before I was able to do that.

Fifty years after the school librarian read The Trumpeter of Krakow to our 4th grade class we went to Krakow. Teachers really do touch lives!

Many years ago I had read the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. It was fun to go to Shrewsbury as part of a trip through Britain and Wales and see the Church of St Peter and St Paul where the mysteries are set.

I had to think on it, but it turns out that several books have "planted the seed", as Chani put it, on visits to different places. Not right away, but eventually. Shogun > Japan. the Hobbit/LOTR > New Zealand. Tales of the South Pacific > Tahiti. Pillars of the Earth and Edward Rutherford's Sarum> Salisbury and environs. Rutherford's London and Paris had me going to a few places I might not have seen in both cities. There's only one place I visited SOLELY because of the book, and that's Roslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, because of the Da Vinci Code. (We had a free afternoon while on a tour of Scotland).

I'm sure there's more but...
"the Agony and the Ecstasy" during my first trip to Italy and Rome.
"Christ stopped at Eboli"
"a Farewell to Arms" before visiting the Soca Valley (thanks to the poster above for reminding me)
Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" specifically because I was going to Barcelona
"Cannery Row" during a trip to Monterey Bay
"Good Soldier Svejk" just before a trip to Prague.
I have read numerous Carl Hiaasen books while traveling in Florida. If you haven't read "Squeeze Me", please add it to your list.

Various nonfiction travelogue short stories and books that applied to places I ended up or were inspired to visit
"I Should have Stayed Home" inspired me to visit Chiapas and Oaxaca
"The Pillars of Hercules" inspires me to travel more respectfully
"Band of Brothers" before Normandy

To Rome and the Vatican after reading The Agony and the Ecstasy. To Venice after reading the Donna Leon mysteries. To Scotland after reading the first couple of Outlander books. Not in Europe, but to PEI because loved the Anne of Green Gables books. To Greece after reading Zorba the Greek and then seeing the movie.

Great thread!
After reading Louise Penny's book Bury Your Dead, I went to Quebec City and followed in Gamache's footsteps to the Literary and Historical Society building, as well as the churches and restaurants he frequented. It was a lovely trip.

Years ago my wife and I toured Rome shortly after reading Angels and Demons. First trip to Italy and it was fun to find the sights in the book in real life.

Several years ago we went to Hartfield, England and the Ashdown Forest. My wife and I wanted to visit the 100 Acre Woods and other sites from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories of A A Milne. https://poohcorner.co.uk/ashdown-forest/

In my youth (50’s & 60’s) my Aunt lived in a 2 story house on Cannery Row in Monterey. She lived up stairs and the gallery was down stairs.

Hers was the first. Still there.

The canneries were still operational. I recall the big news at the time was the opening the Out Rigger restaurant. I loved their teriyaki chicken.

My tie in to novels and Cannery Row is my favorite author, John Steinbeck.

Mardee - I think Wildfire at Midnight was the first of the Mary Stewart books I read. I loved it and thought of it when I was in Scotland, but alas I was on the other side of the country.

I visited Exeter to see where "Crowner John" lived and worked. Parts of the city wall is still there after 800 years.

My bucket list where I hope to travel in 27 and 28 -Krakow because of Trumpeter book
Yorkshire Dales-All Creatures Great and Small
Lake District-Beatrix Potter biography
PEI-Anne of Green Gables

Actually this never happened to me but interesting to read what others are doing.

I visited Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue as it's the setting of Michael Moorcock's post-apocalyptic fantasy Hawkmoon series. There isn't a lot of detail about the real place in the novels, but the town was very atmospheric and attractive.

Great topic. I salute those of you who read a book and then you’re inspired to visit (or even move to) the place. I tend to do this in the opposite direction. I want to visit an area and then read to get into the mood of the place. That said …

• Florence & Rome - The Agony and the Ecstacy
• Bordeaux, Dordogne & Loire - Eleanor of Acquitaine LATE NOTE - biography; not fiction
• Southern Italy - Pompeii, the novel by Robert Harris, Christ Stopped at Eboli and The Aeneid.
• Paris (most recent) - Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Moveable Feast (LATE NOTE - Memoir). Also, read The Hare with Amber Eyes (reads like a novel, but a family history) before deciding on this trip to Paris, but the book inspired me to explore further north into the 8th Arr and also led me to view the Impressionists with a new awareness that some (Degas and Renoir in particular) were anti-semitic.

Rumple of the Bailey did inspire us to spend a couple of hours to watch barristers examine witnesses in London’s major criminal court, The Old Bailey - a far more interesting morning that most of you will imagine. (FYI the security guards act like ushers, keep tabs on what’s going on in different courtrooms, and direct you to trials and witness examinations that will be interesting, even fascinating. No bags, backpacks cameras or smart phones allowed and no place to store them, so leave them at your hotel.)

Long ago, our visit to Cordoba inspired me to then read about Averroes, a Muslim who was a physician, jurist and philosopher who was influenced by Greek philosophy; he was a contemporary of Maimonides, who was Jewish, also a physician, rabbi (thus a jurist) and philosopher also influenced by Greek philosophy.

I read a young adult mystery novel set in Mont St Michel when I was a child, and always remembered it. Visited there as an old adult.

Before I could read my mother read “Wheel on the Chimney” to us and I was fascinated by the beautiful, two page spread illustrations and exotic locations. The book is by Margaret Wise Brown who also wrote Good Night Moon and many others. To this day I still search for storks when I’m in Europe at the right season. I became a children’s and YA librarian. I still try to make literature connections when we travel.

We went to Northern Ireland on the Rick Steves 14 day tour last year, just after finishing the Sean Duffy detective series by Adrian McKinty. Having the historical background of "The Troubles" that the novels provided really made the tour more enlightening. We were constantly referencing the books as we visited various locations, much to the amusement and/or annoyance of our group. We gave a copy of the 1st book to our guide as a gift at the end of the trip -- she had a good laugh at that.

Was inspired to go to Cornwall after watching the Poldark series in thev1970s and then reading the book. Louisa Elliot put York England on my radar. And the first book I purchased with my 50 cent allowance Heidi inspired several trips to Switzerland

Usually I read fiction books after I visit a destination as a reminder of my travels. A couple situations where the reverse happened (as you asked) are:

• Patrick Modiano's books about Paris
• Fred Vargas's mysteries, also set in Paris (as well as other parts of France that sounded interesting, but which I have not yet visited)
• The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy, about Mayan sites in the Yucatan

We went to Northern Ireland on the Rick Steves 14 day tour last year,

That reminds me, we are going on this tour this April, and I just read a very old (1912) book about the story of the Titanic. Very interesting. Then I went to a presentation about it in my hometown. So we will be prepared when we visit the Titanic museum in Belfast.

I'm on the same page as Mark. I have never visited a place based on a fiction book.

Non-fiction books? A very different story.

We did a 2 week trip of Southern England based on 3 books. The primary book(s) was The Last Kingdom series with our focus being Winchester. We also spent a few days in Salisbury because of Pillars of the Earth. I remember reading it in the 90's before I'd been anywhere and couldn't relate to just how large European cathedrals were. After finally going to Europe for the first time I was in shock. They were even bigger than I'd imagined. The third book(s) was the Winnie-the-Pooh series. I have fond memories of my Mom reading them to me and me reading them back to her when I was first learning to read. My Trip to Ashdown Forest; aka The Hundred Acres Wood was a tribute to her.

Part 2 of that trip as part of The Last Kingdom tour is in the works for Northern England with stops in York, Durham and Bamburgh.

Pompeii had also been on my list since the 90's after reading Pompeii by Robert Harris. It was the highlight of my first trip to Europe in 2014 when our cruiseship made a stop in Naples. I loved it so much that we came back in 2023 and spent two weeks in Sorrento, which included several days at Pompeii, Naples, Oplontis and Herculaneum.

I read The Martian and got pretty excited, but unfortunately still no lie-flat beds on the flights there.

While traveling, I often like to read fiction set in a place I will be visiting. While in Mexico City, I read Sea Monsters, a coming of age story by Chloe Aridjis set in the late 1980s. It turned out that the novel was partly set in the neighborhood where I was staying. It was fun to walk around and see little details from the book that I wouldn't otherwise have noticed.

what a great thread. Combining my two big interests!

A few novels have inspired me to travel to a destination, but I've also purposely read some novels after I chose the destination. So sometimes the destination idea comes first, then the novel.

Greece - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller
I saw the Moonspinners when I was a teen. That did get me interested in Greece. But I haven't been to Crete yet.

Romania - This novel did inspire me to visit Romania. I read it years ago - I bet you won't be surprised - Bram Stoker's Dracula!

Italy - Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Paris - A Moveable Feast by Ernest Heminway

Slovenia - A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Inspired me to visit Slovenia.

We visit Cape Cod annually. So I read The Paper Palace by Amanda Cowley Heller, which I enjoyed. Also read Sandwich by Catherine Newman, which I disliked.

Nantucket - In the Heart of the Sea by Nathan Philbrick (non-fiction)

Ireland - some mysteries by Sarah Stewart Taylor, such as The Mountains Wild, A Distant Grave, The Drowning Sea, and A Stolen Child - we are going to Ireland this May

Scotland - The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel

After reading Sarum by Edward Rutherford, I was keen to visit Salisbury cathedral as well as the old Sarum nearby. So I did.

I read The Widow Clicquot - the story of a Champagne Empire (Tilar Mazzeo) and on my 2nd trip to Paris, went to Reims and to the VC facility for a tour, etc. And then while I was there I asked for the actual address to her former home (which is not there but it's a swanky part of Reims) and walked past there.

Poland. The novel that sent me there is a bit on the dark side because it's about the Holocaust: Schindler's Ark by Australian writer Thomas Keneally, the basis for the Steven Spielberg film Schindler's List; the U.S. version of the book was entitled Schindler's List like the movie. Schindler's Ark/List is a fictionalized story based on the historical figure, Oskar Schindler. It follows actual people and events, with fictional dialogue and scenes added by the author where exact details are unknown.

Schindler's story overwhelmed me after I had read it, though I had already seen the movie. In 2015, as I was planning a visit to Central Europe, I changed my travel plans to see Krakow, Poland, where I visited Schindler's factory, including a stop in the director's office. I also saw Hero's Square, the Krakow Ghetto and the Eagle Pharmacy, all of which were featured in the movie.

I have not read a book in a long time.

I make a lot of travel choices based upon movies that I have watched.

I was teaching middle school and my students were reading a book about London that had the characters at all different points around the city. We had a break and I was in London, and I took the book with me and took photos of myself "reading" it at various places described in the book. I also brought back Tube maps they could write on and items mentioned in the book, which the kids absolutely LOVED. The idea that the book was more "real" made both the unit and the idea of travel way more appealing.

HowlinMad,
How interesting! What was the name of the book?

This one is a reverse. I had read Christopher Moore's "Le Sacre Bleu" years back before having been to Paris. I re-read it afterwards and was amazed at his detail of both the city and the art, and got so much more out of the book. This summer, I found the his new book "Anima Rising - A Novel" shortly after our trip through Vienna. Again, the detail was amazing and on next trip through there will have to find some of the locations. Fortunately, I had already read Shelley's Frankenstein a few years back.

Fascinating thread that speaks highly of so many forum contributors. As far as fiction, I'm embarrassed to say none. As far as movies and television, different story.

Many years ago I read a novel by American author Gail Godwin. The book was called A Mother and Two Daughters - a deeply unexciting title, but it was a very well-written literary family saga. I don’t even remember much about it - except that the family had a holiday cottage at Ocracoke in the Outer Banks. And it sounded amazing.

And so on one of my many road trips to the US, I drove out to the Outer Banks and did the whole car/ferry trip from Roanoke Island via Cape Hatteras and staying a night in Ocracoke out of season before getting the ferry back to the mainland. It was lovely. I would never have visited were it not for a fairly obscure book.

Incidentally around the same time as I read the Gail Godwin book, I also read William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways, which got me started on US road trips in the first place.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Can’t say reading any book generated an interest to travel to Europe. However, I throughly enjoyed watching the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series in the 80’s.

My love of London began during my first visit in 1972 with my then boy friend. Was totally intrigued from day 1. That intrigue has never wavered.

I do recall reading Steinbecks novels (Tortilla Flat. East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row et al)
and throughly enjoying the reality that I’d been to most spots with my parents when I was young. San Juan Baptista, Monterey, Carmel.

Plus Steinbeck lived in the town where I grew up, Los Gatos. Which, in the 50’s, was very rural with cherry, apple and apricot trees. Still have a slight scar in my right thumb from slicing it open while pitting apricots. Great summer job. Got very tan. Then the Santa Clara Valley was The Valley of the Hearts Delight. Now all paved over and universally known as Silicon Valley. When I worked at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto in the 80’s I’d see Steve Jobs, Woz and John Scully. All came to the movies.

My Aunt Peggy lived and ran an art gallery on Cannery Row. Building is still there.

Mom, Dad and I did road trips to all the California Missions. Did camping trips in Yosemite to watch the fire falls ( when it was a real fire ). Big Sur was my favorite as I loved the Sycamore Trees, loved the redwoods at Butano State park and the fact we’d always stopped at Duartes Tavern for a meal. Loved that place. Then we’d drive over the Santa Cruz mountains back home.

But I digress…

Thanks for the title, HowlinMad. I will check my local library for it!

I had been to Venice before reading them , but Donna Leon’s books featuring Inspector Brunetti had me looking for locations from the books on a subsequent visit.
There was a German made tv series based on the books, and it often showed the Brunetti family out on their balcony overlooking the Grand Canal.
I really looked hard for it and eventually found the location of it looking up from a vaporetto.
It’s near Rialto.