33 Travel Books to Inspire Your Wanderlust
You can travel the world without ever leaving home with a good travel book. And for all my fellow literary travelers out there, travel books can make great inspiration for your upcoming destination. Check out these must-read travel books to ignite your wanderlust.
A good book is a great companion for any traveler. We have plenty of time to fill on long train, plane, and car rides where a book is just what we need. Travel books can even help us prepare for our upcoming destination.
And when we’re stuck at home and can’t travel, these reads can help transport us to far-off places.
Fun Travel Guidebooks
These aren’t like regular guidebooks, they’re cool guidebooks. Let these books guide you to the whacky, wonderful, and weird of your favorite destinations!
1. What’s With Atlanta?: The Quirks, Personality, and Charm of the ATL by Paige Watts
Destination: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Why is every street in Atlanta named “Peachtree”? What do Atlantans mean when they say “Inside the Perimeter” or “Outside the Perimeter”? Honestly, What’s With Atlanta??
I may be a little biased (because this is my book, I wrote this book), but if you’re going to buy any book on this list, it should be this one.
Whether you’re a local or are just passing through, this entertaining guide will satisfy your curiosity about all the little things that make Atlanta tick. Get all of your burning questions about Atlanta answered, finally!
Want to learn all about Atlanta? Check out my new book, What’s With Atlanta?: The Quirks, Personality, and Charm of the ATL. Whether you’re a local or are just passing through, this entertaining guide will answer all of your Atlanta questions.
2. Secret Washington DC: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure by JoAnn Hill
Destination: Washington D.C., USA
Go beyond the standard tourist attractions to get the the secret hear of the nation’s capital with Secret Washington DC. This fun guidebook takes a look at the weirdest and most obscure parts of the city.
If you like mysterious relics, underground societies, forgotten and abandoned buildings, or controversial scandals, then this is the book for you!
3. 100 Things to Do in West Virginia Before You Die by Melody Pittman and Angela Richards
Destination: West Virginia, USA
Don’t ever say there’s nothing to do in West Virginia, because this book is literally giving you 100 things, and that’s just the beginning! 100 Things to Do in West Virginia Before You Die is your ultimate bucket list for visiting West Virginia.
Written by two locals (one of whom is my friend!), this book gives you history, places to eat, hidden gems, and your new favorite things to do in West Virginia.
Looking for a different destination? No worries, there’s a whole series of 100 Things To Do Before You Die books.
Nonfiction Travel Memoirs
Explore the world through someone else’s eyes. Travel memoirs and books about traveling are a great way to get to know the people, the culture, and the feel of a destination. Go beyond the guide books and check out these awesome travel memoirs to help plan your next vacation.
4. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple
Destination: Delhi, India
In this memoir, William Dalrymple spends a year in Delhi, a city watched over and protected by the mischievous invisible djinns. While lodging with the beady-eyed Mrs. Puri and encountering an array of characters, Dalrymple comes to know the city intimately.
5. Marching Powder: A Ture Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South American’s Strangest Jail by Rusty Young and Thomas McFadden
Destination: La Paz, Bolivia
Rusty Young was backpacking in South America when he heard about Thomas McFadden, a convicted English drug trafficker who ran illegal tours inside Bolivia’s notorious San Pedro prison. The two formed an instant friendship, and Young bribed the guards to allow him to live in the prison with McFadden for the next three months, recording one of the strangest prison stories of all time.
6. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
Destination: Patagonia
In this classic, Bruce Chatwin treks through the stretch of land at the southern tip of South America in search of almost-forgotten legends, the descendants of Welsh immigrants, and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy.
7. Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure by Monisha Rajesh
Destination: the world
Join Monisha Rajesh along for the ride as she circumnavigates the globe by train. In this witty book, Rajesh offers a vivid account of world cultures and breathtaking views along her journey.
8. Don’t Try This at Home: One Family’s (Mis)adventures Around the World by Daria Salamon and Rob Krause
Destination: the world
Daria and Rob each write from their own perspective about their year-long journey around the world with their two young children. The two provide a thoughtful look at the family’s dynamics and challenges as they travel across 15 different countries.
9. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
In this engrossing book, Jon Krakauer tries to piece together why Christopher McCandless traded his bright future to disappear into the Alaskan wilderness only to die by starvation months later in an abandoned bus in the woods.
10. The Long Hitch Home by Jamie Maslin
Destination: Tasmania to London
Over 18,000 miles and 19 countries, Jamie Maslin sets out to discover how many rides it takes to hitchhike from Tasmania to London. Join Maslin on the adventure of a lifetime through dessert, mountain, jungle, and places that are truly off the beaten path.
11. Me, Myself & Prague: An Unreliable Guide to Bohemia by Rachel Weiss
Destination: Prague, Czech Republic
When Rachel Weiss uproots her life from everything she knows to reinvent herself in a beautiful European city, write a novel, and fall in love, things don’t exactly go as planned. But through her year in Prague, Weiss creates a second home, a second family, and ultimate finds herself again.
12. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt
Destination: Savannah, Georgia, USA
For nearly a decade, a shooting in Savannah‘s grandest mansion captured the attention of the South’s prettiest town. John Berendt’s narrative of events gives an enthralling first-person account of life in Savannah during the landmark murder case.
13. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
Destination: Kenya
In this memoir, the author gives an account of her life on her plantation in Kenya, the ways of the country, the beauty of the landscape, and the wildlife that were her neighbors.
14. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
Destination: Tibet
In this vivid memoir about life in Tibet just before the Chinese Communist takeover, Heinrich Harrer recounts his adventures as one of the first Europeans ever to enter Tibet and encounter the Dalai Lama.
15. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost
Destination: Tarawa, Kiribati
J. Maarten Troost and his girlfriend move to Tarawa, a remote island in the South Pacific, hoping for a romantic island paradise. Instead, they find one misadventure after another while trying to adjust to this island life.
16. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
Destination: Nepal
In 1973, Peter Matthiessen and field biologist George Schaller traveled into the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly glimpse the rare snow leopard. During the climb, Matthiessen charts his inner path as well, with a deepening Buddhist understanding of the world.
17. Step by Step by Simon Reeve
Destination: the world
In this memoir, TV adventurer Simon Reeve gives the behind-the-scenes story of some of his favorite adventures, from journeying across epic landscapes, to dodging bullets on frontlines, to being detained for spying by the KGB.
18. Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes
Frances Mayes bought and restored an abandoned villa in the Tuscan countryside. During her journey, Mayes learns about the Italian dolce vita and, of course, the pleasures of Italian food.
19. West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Destination: Kenya
Beryl Markham was a bush pilot and the first person to fly solo, east to west, across the Atlantic. In this memoir, Markham writes vividly about her adventures as a bush pilot in Kenya, her explorations in East Africa, and her narrow brushes with death.
20. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Destination: from California to Washington, USA
With no experience or training, Cheryl Strayed set out to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Washington State alone.
Fiction Travel Books
Imagined stories in very real places. These novels will take you to new places and connect you with characters and cultures just as well as any nonfiction. Check out some amazing fiction books about travel you should read.
21. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Destination: Spain to Egypt
An Andalusian shepherd wants to travel the world in search of treasure. Instead, he finds something infinitely more valuable. His adventures lead him to find himself and to find the meaning of life.
22. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Destination: France and Germany
A blind French girl and a German boy’s paths collide in occupied France as they both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Anthony Doerr’s writing gives a beautiful sense of place in this award-winning historical novel.
23. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Destination: the world
Phileas Fogg makes a wager that he can travel the world in 80 days. In his whirlwind journey around the world, every day is a new adventure as Fogg travels the globe by train, boat, elephant, and more.
24. The Beach by Alex Garland
Destination: Thailand
A young backpacker goes on a search for a legendary, idyllic beach untouched by tourism where a small community of international travelers have settled in their own Eden. On finding the Beach, however, the idyllic setting soon gives way to the troubles of reality.
25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Destination: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and New York City, USA
This is the compelling story of a man born in Africa, living in exile in America, then returning to Africa to confront his past and the twin brother who betrayed him.
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Destination: Afghanistan
This is the heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of a servant set in Afghanistan at a tense moment of history.
27. The Lover by Marguerite Duras
Destination: Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam
This story of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover evokes life on the margins of Saigon in the waning days of France’s colonial empire.
28. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Destination: Japan
In this fictional biographical novel, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. The novel is a great insight into Japanese culture as well as the rigorous life of a geisha.
29. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Destination: Colombia
This story chronicles the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendiá family. Though the town itself is not real, the depiction of Colombian culture is. As a classic work of Latin American fiction, this is the ideal book to read before any trip to Colombia.
30. On The Road by Jack Kerouac
Destination: cross-country USA
Two friends set off on a cross-country road trip in a quest for meaning and true experience. This novel is the quintessential young American idea of freedom and adventure.
31. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Destination: Bombay (present-day Mumbai), India
Lin, an escaped Australian, and his guide and friend Prabaker enter the hidden underworld of Bombay. This is a huge novel that captures the soul of the people of India.
32. The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies
Destination: Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka)
Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper marries Laurence, the mysterious owner of a vast tea empire in Ceylon, after a whirlwind romance. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected, and Laurence’s mysterious past becomes more and more troubling.
33. Turbulence by David Szalay
Destination: the world
This novel interweaves the story of twelve people, circumnavigating the globe in twelve flights, who have a surprising ripple effect on each other as they cross paths all around the world.
More Literary Travel
Visit the homes of some of your favorite authors, and see where your favorite stories were penned. Check out these amazing literary destinations you should add to your buck-list.
- Literary Places in Atlanta That Book-Lovers Will Love
- Discover the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott, Arkansas
- How to Get Your Fill of Shakespeare History in Stratford-upon-Avon
- Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Last Home in Montgomery, Alabama
- Visiting The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta, Georgia
More Gifts for Travelers
Looking for more travel gift ideas for travel-lovers? Check out these guides to help you find that perfect gift for the travel-lover in your life!
- 10 Eco-Friendly Travel Products for Sustainable Travelers
- 33 Travel Books to Inspire Your Wanderlust
- 55+ Best Travel Gifts for Frequent Travelers
- 14 Travel Christmas Ornaments for Everyone on Your List
- Best Travel Décor for a Wanderlust Home
- 16 Romantic Gifts for Travel Couples
- 8 Best Travel Experience Gifts You Can Give
- 15 Best Personalized Travel Gifts
- 15 Atlanta Gifts for Your Favorite ATLien
Ready to take a vacation? Plan your trip with these tips.
- Find cheap accommodation: Use my tips for finding cheap accommodation for travel every time.
- Book your flight: Find the cheapest flights using Skyscanner, my favorite flight search engine.
- Pack for your vacation: Make sure you’ve packed everything you need by checking out my packing list resources.
Cheers!
Paige
How many of these amazing travel books have you read? Let me know in the comments!
