What To Read

Among Condé Nast Traveler’s top travel trends for 2025? “Travel gets lit.” In other words, literature is no longer just a carry-on item—it’s the inspiration for the journey. Whether sparked by a novel, a poet’s life, or a fictional city that feels more vivid than the map, book lovers are turning their reading lists into itineraries.

If you didn’t get your hands on the £2,619 Jane Austen walking tour celebrating her 250th birthday, fear not. From a romantasy romp in Switzerland to Pessoa’s haunts in Lisbon to a Gatsby boat party you can actually attend, here are the bookish escapes that still have space (and style).

The Great Gatsby Boat Tour

• Where: Port Washington, NY (about 1 hour from Manhattan)

• What: 2-hour boat tour of Long Island’s “Gold Coast”

• When: Next tour: Sunday, August 3, 2025; seasonal dates available

• Cost: $65 per person

• Vibe: Champagne-fueled nostalgia meets Jazz Age longing

Cruise past the real mansions and glittering bays that inspired The Great Gatsby, narrated with references to Fitzgerald’s world of longing, excess, and green lights just out of reach. It’s a rare tour that floats between fact and fiction—best paired with a linen shirt, an Aperol spritz, and a reread of the final page.

Chandler’s Noir Downtown L.A.

• Where: Los Angeles, CA

• What: 3-hour guided walking tour with Esotouric

• When: Next tour: Saturday, September 6, 2025; seasonal dates available

• Cost: $50 per person

• Vibe: Gritty literary history through downtown’s noir landmarks

Trace the real and imagined world of Raymond Chandler through downtown L.A.—from the Angels Flight Railway to the Oviatt Building and Clifton’s Cafeteria. Led by experts in L.A. noir, this tour blends biography, true crime, and architectural storytelling, revealing how Chandler turned office lunches and city shadows into fiction that still defines Los Angeles.

Joan Didion’s New York

• Where: Manhattan’s Upper East Side, New York City

• What: GPS-enabled audio walking tour via VoiceMap

• When: Available year‑round; booking required

• Duration: ~60 minutes | ~1.5 miles

• Cost: Typically around $55 (check site for current pricing)

• Vibe: Perfect for solo wanderers with a black coffee and a tote bag

Created and narrated by educator Brad Fraver, this GPS-guided tour leads listeners through the refined yet emotionally charged landscape of Joan Didion’s Upper East Side. From her longtime apartment to the Carlyle Hotel and the Knickerbocker Club, each stop illuminates a different facet of her New York life—public, private, and profoundly literary.

AVL Lit Tour

• Where: Downtown Asheville, North Carolina

• What: Multimedia walking tour for literary travelers

• When: Saturdays at 10:00 am and 4:00 pm

• Duration: 90–120 minutes

• Cost: $75 for up to 3 people; $20 each additional | Exclusive rate: $100 for 3; $25 each additional

• Vibe: Literary history with a mountain backdrop

This guided tour offers a deeper look at Asheville’s literary landscape, highlighting the writers who lived, worked, or were inspired here. Through stories, images, and audio, the walk explores the intersections of literature and place—from Thomas Wolfe and Carl Sandburg to Zelda Fitzgerald and Wilma Dykeman. Designed for readers who want more than a standard city overview.

Literary Lisbon: In the Footsteps of Pessoa & Saramago

• Where: Lisbon, Portugal

• What: Private, English & Portuguese–language walking tour via WithLocals

• When: Available year‑round; booking required

• Duration: Typically lasts ~3 hours

• Cost: From about €31 per person (check site for current pricing)

• Vibe: For readers who like their walking tours with a mid-route espresso

This private tour hosted by local guides immerses you in the worlds of Portugal’s leading literary lights. Over three hours, you'll visit Pessoa’s birthplace, his favorite café (Brasileira), Tabacaria Mónaco, and the hidden square that inspired Saramago’s novels. The route finishes at the José Saramago Foundation in Casa dos Bicos, a fitting end to a stroll through Lisbon’s written city.

Dublin Literary Pub Crawl

• Where: Dublin, Ireland

• What: Guided evening pub crawl blending literature, theatre, and history

• When: Typically nightly; check schedule for times

• Duration: ~2 hours

• Cost: Around €20 per person (check site for current pricing)

• Vibe: Witty and well-poured, where pints meet prose

Led by actors, this long-running literary pub crawl visits historic Dublin pubs once frequented by writers like James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, and Brendan Behan. The tour mixes readings, performance, and storytelling with stops for a pint. It's part theatre, part walking tour, and all Dublin.

*Bonus: Why not make a full vacation with friends out of your latest literary obsession?

NEW! Highlights of Switzerland: Inspired by ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

• Where: Switzerland

• What: Stargazing, drinking red wine by cozy fireplaces and reading in a train car winding through the Alps

• When: Various weeks available through October

• Duration: 9 days, 3 cities

• Cost: $3,209 before flights

• Vibe: Little Mermaid x Tarquin

Step into a realm that feels straight out of "Prythian" itself—from charming villages to glacial peaks and ancient castles, this ACOTAR-themed Swiss escape was inspired by the BookTok craze around Sarah J. Maas's romantasy series. Tour organizer EF World Journeys invites solo travelers, groups of friends or even book clubs to travel together on this one-of-a-kind adventure.