Take a walk through Alexandre Dumas’s garden or sun yourself on Hemingway’s beach. We have collected some of the best travel destinations for bibliophiles.
Through books we are able to go on imaginary journeys. Whether we take a road trip in the USA with Jack Kerouac, go on a pub crawl with James Joyce in Dublin or visit coffee houses with Simone de Beauvoir in Paris, books are our tickets to the world of fiction. No matter how nice these imaginary journeys may be, sometimes it’s more enjoyable to trade the travels in your mind for a real-life destination. For book enthusiasts, there are a number of literary locations to visit. You can even go aboard the Hogwarts Express at the Harry Potter Studios in London, leaving – of course! – from Platform 9 ¾. Our team at novum publishing have collected some of the most beautiful destinations for bibliophiles. For these travel tips, you’ll surely trade the world of books for the one right in front of your nose:
Chateau de Monte-Cristo, France
Apparently inspired by his own characters, Alexandre Dumas had a lavish castle built for himself in the French village of Port-Marly in 1845. His books “The Count of Monte Christo” and “The Three Musketeers” made him so fabulously rich that he could afford such a luxurious domicile – complete with an English garden, gargoyles, fountains and a grotto. Engraved on the façade of the chateau, built in the neogothic style, are the titles of Dumas’s 88 books. Today the castle, where Dumas continued to write, is a favorite haunt for those who wish to travel in his footsteps below the shimmering lights of the stained-glass windows.
https://www.chateau-monte-cristo.com/main/en/
Hauteville House, Guernsey
When exploring Victor Hugo’s former house on Guernsey, visitors will encounter “a poem in multiple rooms”, according to the author’s son, Charles Hugo. Here – in lavishly decorated rooms – Victor Hugo wrote his world-famous novel “Les Misérables”. Hauteville House is home to the Victor Hugo Museum, where tourists can soak up the atmosphere of Hugo’s impressive study.
https://www.maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr/en/museum-collections/house-visit-guernsey
Hemingway House, USA
Ernest Hemingway’s former compound in Key West, Florida, is well worth a visit – not just for those amongst us who love cats. As well as sixty cats there are other sights to see, such as Hemingway’s salt water pool or his private boxing ring. Authors who are looking for inspiration will surely appreciate the guided tours through the private rooms of the Nobel Prize winning swashbuckler. Don’t forget to buy a pen to write your next bestseller in the museum’s gift shop!
https://www.hemingwayhome.com/
Orchard House, USA
Orchard House in Massachusetts is – for the lack of a better word – a dreamy place. Amongst its romantic atmosphere, Louisa May Alcott wrote her world-famous novel “Little Women”. Many elements of the house will be recognisable to those who know the novel, which is why a visit there often gets called ‘a walk through the book’. Not only are the beautifully preserved rooms of the house well-worth the journey, there are also the magnificent gardens, where forty apple trees grow towards the sun.
https://louisamayalcott.org/home
Casa Stefan Zweig, Brazil
The town of Petrópolis lies on a high mountain valley in Brazil, where the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig and his wife, Lotte, lived for just five months. After Zweig finished “The World of Yesterday” and “The Royal Game”, they chose to end their lives. Stefan Zweig had been forced to leave Europe, a continent he no longer recognised, due to World War II. He could not stomach the barbarization of values he once held dear by the Nazis on his former home. Today Casa Stefan Zweig is a place of pilgrimage for everyone who wants to pay respect to this great man of European letters. There, you can visit not only a museum, but also Zweig’s music room as well as a cinema.
https://casastefanzweig.org.br/index.php
Which travel destinations for bibliophiles can you recommend? Leave us your inspirational tips in the comments!
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