The Marauder’s Map

Where can you bring the heroes of your favourite books to life? Find out in our literary travel tips for the summer season.

Literature is our faithful summer companion in many more ways than just on beach towels, picnic blankets and mountain meadows. At least since the emergence of literary tourism and its ambitious journeys to book destinations, avid readers have also been on the road outside their own fantasy. A poet’s secret spot of contemplation, the study of a writer or the refuge of a fictional character – more and more people embark on personal quests to find the origins of the muse. After all, the place where stories come into being is just as precious to us as the story itself. The ideas that inspire us can be read but also sensed, felt and lived.                

It may so happen that we enjoy a nice cup of afternoon tea with Mr. Darcy in England, always miss the Hogwarts Express at King’s Cross Station or set out to hunt vampires in Romania. You never leave your house without an owl cage, a golden compass or a dowel? Then we from novum publishing present our literary travel tips for your literary journeys and a magical summer 2019.       

ENGLAND

Pride and Prejudice

A library with more than 17,500 books, baroque gardens with cascading fountains and paintings by Renoir, Rembrandt and Tintoretto – the romance in Jane Austen’s books    always comes back to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, England. Although the stately home is still the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, a considerable part of the estate is open to literary explorers. Several chapters of Pride and Prejudice take place in and around this picturesque Tudor mansion, which can be visited from March to November and is certainly worth a stop for everyone, especially Jane Austen fans.     

Harry Potter

If you have always wanted to crash against a pillar with your trolley and a snow owl, King’s Cross Station in London is definitely a must-see. The train station takes the idea of Harry Potter to a whole new level of reality with a clever installation: muggles from all over the world come to take a picture at the famous platform 9 ¾. Tourists wait for hours just to get their hands on the magical trolley as it vanishes into the brick wall to take them to the Hogwarts Express. King’s Cross also has its own Harry Potter shop to try out your own special wand or Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.

ROMANIA

Dracula

Bran Castle in Transylvania is famous for allegedly inspiring Bram Stoker to create his very own “Dracula”. The original model for his character, Count Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler due to his reputation for cruelty, is believed to have lived in the castle for some time. Today Bran Castle attracts vampire aficionados as the place of horror par excellence. Nevertheless, the medieval fortress also dedicated a room to Bram Stoker for all worshippers of the Irish author.     

FRANCE

Da Vinci Code

Conspiracy theories are best developed by following in the footsteps of Dan Brown: “The Da Vinci Code Tour” in Paris offers two hours of mystery and excitement with one dark and secret site after the other across the city. Start at the Ritz and discover the Comédie-Française, the Palais Royal and the Louvre before passing the Pont des Arts and the Church of Saint-Sulpice – your perspective on Paris, the Pope and Opus Dei will never be the same.          

PORTUGAL

Night Train to Lisbon

The Swiss writer Pascal Mercier describes the beauty of Portugal and its language in great detail. Lisbon’s wonderful architecture is just one of the country’s many facets to find its way into “Night Train to Lisbon”. Readers can explore the city’s epic elegance at such destinations as the Silva Guest House, in front of Doctor Prado’s office, the famous blue-tiled house or the Cemitério dos Prazeres – all of them actual sites described in the book with astonishing precision.    

USA

The Shining

Stephen King must have been suffering from terrible nightmares at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, as they served as inspiration for no less than the science fiction author’s famous “The Shining”. The afflictions King had to endure at Room 217 in that fateful night were later relocated to his entirely fictional “Overlook Hotel”. And by the way, the Stanley Hotel has become famous around the world exactly for what drove the writer Jack Torrance to insanity. Today hotel guests can relive the highlights of “The Shining” in themed tours on paranormal activities.                    

Have you already been to any literary sites? Write a comment and tell us more about your travel destinations for this book summer!

Keep writing, keep typing!

Yours truly,

novum publishing