Literary tourism: Travel through books

• Literary tourism is booming as readers visit story settings
• About 55 per cent of travellers consider literature-inspired trips
• Fans can visit sites like Hobbiton or Harry Potter locations

Have you ever finished a book and wished you could step inside its world? You’re not alone. A travel trend known as literary tourism is booming, as readers plan entire trips around the settings of their favourite stories.

The Magic of Reading the World

Literary tourism, or “book travel,” is the wonderful trend of visiting destinations featured in literature. It’s about bridging the gap between imagination and reality, standing in the same spot as a beloved character, or seeing the landscape that inspired a great author. This isn’t just about sightseeing; it’s an immersive experience that deepens a reader’s connection to a story. The trend is surging as people seek more meaningful and slower-paced travel, with some reports noting that 55% of travellers have either booked or would consider a literature-inspired trip. It’s a way to turn a holiday into a chapter of your own adventure.

Walk with Wizards in the UK

For millions, the United Kingdom is synonymous with the magical world of Harry Potter. Fans can follow in the boy wizard’s footsteps across London, from the very real Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station to Leadenhall Market, which became the entrance to Diagon Alley in the films. Beyond the capital, you can wander the halls of Oxford University, where various locations like the Bodleian Library served as the Hogwarts library and hospital wing. For the ultimate experience, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London offers a behind-the-scenes look at the actual sets, props, and costumes, making it an essential pilgrimage for any Potterhead.

Follow Leopold Bloom Through Dublin

Every year on June 16th, Dublin transforms for “Bloomsday,” a city-wide celebration of James Joyce and his masterpiece, *Ulysses*. But you don't need to wait for the festival to trace the path of the novel's protagonist, Leopold Bloom. Dozens of walking tours, both guided and self-led, take visitors to key locations from the book. You can visit Sweny's Pharmacy, where Bloom bought lemon soap, see the Gresham Hotel, the setting for the final scene of the short story 'The Dead,' and end your day at Davy Byrne's pub for a Gorgonzola cheese sandwich, just as Bloom did. It's a journey that brings one of literature's most formidable novels to life on the very streets that inspired it.

Journey to Middle-earth in New Zealand

J.R.R. Tolkien’s *The Lord of the Rings* created a fantasy world so vivid that its film adaptation needed a real-world location of epic proportions. New Zealand became that place, and its tourism industry has never been the same. The most famous site is the Hobbiton Movie Set, a permanent attraction in Matamata where you can tour the lush pastures of the Shire, see hobbit holes, and have a drink at the Green Dragon Inn. Beyond the Shire, the dramatic landscapes of Tongariro National Park stood in for the dark land of Mordor, while the area around Queenstown provided backdrops for locations like Isengard and Lothlórien. This form of tourism has had a massive economic impact, with one report estimating that 18% of visitors in 2019 were initially drawn to the country because of the films.

A Gothic Romance in the Yorkshire Moors

For lovers of classic literature, the wild and windswept Yorkshire moors in England are inseparable from the haunting romance of Emily Brontë’s *Wuthering Heights*. This region of rolling hills, crumbling ruins, and charming stone villages offers a perfect atmospheric backdrop for fans of Gothic tales. You can visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, the family's former home where the novel was written, to get a sense of their world. Hiking through the very landscapes that inspired the tumultuous story of Catherine and Heathcliff allows visitors to feel as though they've stepped directly into the pages of this literary classic, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.