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 The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin, before my first trip to Turkey. It's historical fiction, a mystery/detective novel set in mid-19th century Constantinople (now Istanbul). Interesting character in a fascinating setting. A good read.

I'm currently making my way (slowly) through Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford. It's a historical work, not fiction (at least not according to the author, though some might take issue with that!), and it certainly provides a provocative and revisionist take on an infamous historical figure whose name is now casually used as a smear against any brutal, murderous barbarian (at least as depicted in the society I grew up in). Spoiler Alert: The book posits that Genghis Khan actually wasn't such a bad guy (especially when compared to his European contemporaries), and was actually more of a misunderstood genius who has been maligned and misrepresented by his (defeated) enemies. Moreover, it suggests that he was in fact an enlightened, innovative ruler who introduced many elements of modern civilization that today pass as "progressive" in modern societies. (Note to self: I better finish the book so I can start checking off the Stans...). I've still got my eye on Mongolia (and a string of Central Asian states to it's west), but my travel dance card is full through end of 2027 so there's no big hurry.

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-Krakow because of Trumpeter book
Yorkshire Dales-All Creatures Great and Small
Lake District-Beatrix Potter biography

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.