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Inspiration can strike anywhere – whilst travelling the world or in the comfort of one’s own home. Many of the world’s most renowned authors found their inspiration from their surroundings, whether the familiar landscapes of their daily lives, summer retreats, or far-flung adventures.
In this guide to literary travel, we’ll explore the places that fuel the imaginations of iconic authors like Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and Agatha Christie. Whether you’re planning your next journey or dreaming of connecting to the worlds behind your favourite books, these destinations offer inspiring travel experiences for literature lovers.
Charles Dickens: London
Book lovers often consider the work of Charles Dickens to be one of the best descriptions of what life was like in 19th-century London. Moving to the city as a child in 1822, Dickens experienced poverty, factory work, and impoverishment - themes that are all prevalent in his novels.
London itself feels like a character in many of Dickens’ novels, with pervasive fog in Bleak House and the contrast between wealth and poverty in Oliver Twist being central to both tales. The city's vibrancy and contradictions can be seen throughout his works, demonstrating not only city life in Victorian London but also the social dynamics experienced by all who lived there.
Ernest Hemingway: Paris and Key West
Noble Prize-winning American novelist and short-story writer Ernest Hemingway is known today for his adventurous lifestyle alongside his writing prowess.
In his early life during the 1920s, Hemingway was advised by writer Sherwood Anderson to move to Paris to enjoy the lower cost of living and artistic scene. Here, he became part of the “Lost Generation”, forging relationships with luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce and inspiring his passion for writing further. It wasn’t only his passion that was inspired, as many of his experiences in Europe, which he travelled extensively from his Parisian home, inspired short stories found in his first book, In Our Time. He also spoke vividly about his time in Paris in his memoir A Moveable Feast.
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In the 1930s, Hemingway settled in Key West, Florida. It was during this decade that he wrote some of his most acclaimed work, and his Floridian home is now a museum where visitors can see his dedicated writing studio. From Key West, Hemingway also enjoyed Cuba, and the maritime influence of both places is clear in his titles The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
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Karen Blixen: Kenya
The Danish author Karen Blixen – also known under her pen name Isak Dinensen – found no greater inspiration than in Kenya, where she penned her acclaimed memoir Out of Africa.
In the early 1900s, Blixen spent 17 years in Kenya, running a coffee plantation in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi and developing deep relationships with the local Kikuyu people, experiencing first-hand the deep impacts of colonialism. Talking of her farm, Blixen wrote:
“I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. The Equator runs across these highlands, a hundred miles to the north, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. In the daytime you felt that you had got high up; near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold.”
In 1985, Out of Africa was adapted for the screen, starring Meryl Streep as Blixen, and the literary-inspired picture won seven Academy awards, including Best Picture, Best Directory, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
J.K. Rowling: Edinburgh
Author of the beloved children’s book series Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling found much of her inspiration behind the wizarding world in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.
A popular literary travel destination, Rowling penned much of the Harry Potter series in Edinburgh cafes – The Elephant House and Nicholson’s Café being two of her preferred haunts. Around the city, you can see her inspiration. Edinburgh is also home to many charming bookshops and a firm literary atmosphere, further adding to the inspiration.
Many believe that Victoria Street inspired the bustling Diagon Alley, and many of the character names were even taken from tombstones at Greyfriars Kirkyard. Those who visit the city can enjoy specialised walking tours curated to share this stunning literary destination with fans of the series.
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Virginia Woolf: Cornwall
English modernist writer Virginia Woolf found her inspiration close to home. As a child, Woolf would spend her summers in the large white house her family rented in St Ives, Cornwall. In a 1921 diary entry, a young Virginia Woolf wrote:
“Here we are on the verge of going to Cornwall. This time tomorrow we shall be stepping onto the platform at Penzance, sniffing the air, looking for our trap and then driving off across the moors to Zennor. Why am I so incredibly and incurably romantic about Cornwall?”
With views over Porthminster Bay and Godrevy Lighthouse, Talland House inspired many of Woolf’s works. To the Lighthouse, in particular, draws a lot of parallels with Woolf’s time in Cornwall despite being set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Arthur Conan Doyle: London and Switzerland
The creator of one of the world’s most beloved and well-known detectives, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, found inspiration between London and Switzerland.
With its foggy streets and bustling Victorian atmosphere, London, England, is almost its own character in the Sherlock Holmes books. The city is now synonymous with the detective and his home at 221B Baker Street. In fact, for those on literary trips, the museum here dedicated to the detective is still incredibly popular. During the four years he lived in London, Doyle created the character of Holmes – inspired by surgeon Dr Joseph Bell - and wrote around a third of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Doyle also visited Switzerland many times, enjoying skiing a great deal and even writing articles popularising the Alps as a British skiing destination. The country had such a profound impact on him that he chose to set The Final Problem, a book where Holmes and his rival Professor Moriarty both met their presumed deaths at Reichenbach Falls near Meiringen.
Agatha Christie: Devon and Egypt
The best-selling author of all time (outselling the likes of both Shakespeare and the Bible), Agatha Christie found plenty of inspiration from her surroundings throughout her life.
Born in 1890 in Torquay, Christie’s formative years were spent on the South Devon coast, so it’s no surprise that her early novels feature the destination so prominently. Her first published novel, The Secret Adversary, was set in Devon, and many of her books include influence from the region, such as rugged landscapes, isolated and close-knit villages and wild seafronts.
In 1928, Christie took the Orient Express to Istanbul and Baghdad, where she met Max Mallowan, an archaeologist who became her second husband. It’s believed she wrote one of her most notable works, Murder on the Orient Express, in Istanbul, the eastern terminus of the railway, inspired by this international train travel.
After their marriage, Christie accompanied Mallowan on his archaeological expeditions to Africa and the Middle East, inspiring many of her later novels. One such novel being Death on the Nile, inspired by her 1933 cruise on the SS Sudan and her stay with Mallowan in the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan.
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Whether you’re seeking inspiration in Paris like Hemingway or following Christie’s footsteps along the Nile, remember that every journey needs a safety net. Whether you require travel insurance for high blood pressure, cancer, mental health or other illnesses, you can find a policy that suits your needs with Medical Travel Compared and keep your literary travel plans secure. After all, the only plot twists should be in the books you read, not in your travel plans!
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