Literary Holidays - Top 10 Holidays Inspired by Classic Books

Why not use your favourite book as inspiration for your next holiday? Keen readers will be excited to read our list of top destinations straight from the pages of their favourite classic books. We have been inspired by authors such as Graham Greene, Thomas Hardy, Sebastian Faulks, and Ernest Hemmingway to bring you this library of locations. Nominations include Salinger’s Central Park in New York, the Bronte’s North Yorkshire Moors and Gabriel García Márquez’s Colombia.

Vienna, Austria
Post-war Vienna: a "smashed dreary city" divided into four zones by Britain, France, Russia and the US, and the setting for Graham Greene's novel The Third Man. Today the Danube is no longer a "flat, muddy river", but the sparkling centre of a vibrant city. Yet Harry Lime fans can still trace his steps through the back streets.
It's also possible to follow Greene across the globe to Cuba ( Our Man In Havana) and Vietnam (The Quiet American).

Wessex, England
The rolling hills, leafy woodland and market towns of Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset are the basis for the fictional Wessex of Thomas Hardy's novels on rural Victorian life. The landscape is one of the major characters in his work.
Most of Hardy's works include a map with comparative fictional and real place names, and most tourist boards are happy to help you locate your favourite Wessex settings.

New York, United States
Every street walked, cab taken, and deli shopped in feels like an experience taken from a novel. Grab a bagel for an impromptu Breakfast At Tiffany's, then walk in the steps of characters from Tom Wolfe's Bonfire Of The Vanities to the Plaza Hotel.
Stroll north through Central Park with Holden Caulfield, from Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye or take drinks at the Algonquin Hotel with Dorothy Parker.

Vietnam
Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, originally inspired by the African jungle, was reworked and filmed as Apocalypse Now, which was set in Vietnam - where the Vietcong and Americans played deadly games of hide and seek.
Today the jungle is less full of fear and foreboding, though it still promises excitement, adventure and, occasionally, danger.

France
Take the car and explore small-town France as described by Sebastian Faulks in his successful novels, Birdsong, Charlotte Grey and The Girl At The Lion D'Or.
Head north to Amiens for the waterways and market gardens of Birdsong, following the trail along the Somme. Meandering through the French interior, stopping for a coffee or a light meal, it seems like little has changed since the 1930s world of The Girl.

Corfu, Greece
The islands of Greece have featured prominently in popular literature since the classical era. Lately Captain Corelli has placed Cephalonia in the minds of pallid British readers, but the northern island of Corfu has long been a favourite, owing in part to Gerald Durrell and his My Family And Other Animals.
Explore surrounded by the scent of lemons and olives, just as Durrell did as a child.

For more information and holiday ideas for Corfu, try our Corfu Holiday Guide

Japan
Despite the Japanese love of futuristic gadgets, it's not hard to step back into James Clavell's world of Shõgun and samurai, or to catch a glimpse of the world that inspired Arthur Golden's bestselling Memoirs Of A Geisha. Kyoto, the imperial capital of Japan, is still home to over 3,000 temples and shrines.
Somehow the Japanese have managed to build for the future while preserving the architecture and stories of the past.

Spain
Ernest Hemingway loved Spain and Pamplona was the perfect backdrop for Fiesta, while the rugged hills of the Spanish Sierra were home to For Whom The Bell Tolls. Conflict is also at the heart of Homage To Catalonia, George Orwell's depiction of his life as a militiaman during the Spanish Civil War.
It's still a land of fervent passions, great fiestas, beautiful landscapes and café society - and the bulls still run in Pamplona.

Still not sure what to do in Spain? Have a look at our Spanish Holiday Guide

Haworth, Yorkshire Moors, England
Haworth Parsonage was home to the Bronte sisters, surrounded by bleak moorland that featured heavily in their novels. It's now a museum, run by the Bronte Society. Of the many great walks surrounding Haworth, perhaps the most famous leads to the Bronte waterfall and the Bronte Stone Chair.
It's also possible to stride across the blustery moors to the ruins at Top Withins, reputedly the setting for Emily's Wuthering Heights.

Colombia
Colombian Gabriel García Márquez's most famous work, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, describes the tumultuous history of Colombia. It's filled with colour and bizarre details, using the technique for which Márquez is famous: that of the magic realist.
Travel through Colombia and magic realism becomes more than a technique as the sights, sounds and smells of Love In The Time Of Cholera come alive.

For somewhere more exotic use our holiday finder form.
If you enjoyed this guide you may also like our guides to:

The Top 10 Holidays for History Buffs

The Top 10 Places for Sunsets

The Top 10 Mediterranean Hotspots