12 Places From Your Favorite Novels

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A good book can literally transport you into the worlds of the characters.

Reading a book can give you the impression that you see what the author or the characters see.

However, visiting the actual locations of your favourite books in the real life is without a doubt a quite fascinating experience.

Here are some famous settings from books that are popular tourist destinations as well:

London King’s Cross railway station – Harry Potter

London King’s Cross railway station in London was taken to a whole new level in the sixth chapter of a book about an eleven-year-old boy wizard.

Ever since Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, fans have been crowding to the location between platforms 9 and 10.

A gateway to the wizarding world certainly would not be opened, but there you can see a tourist attraction: a sign “Platform 9 3/4” and an installation of a luggage trolley pushed halfway through the wall.

Prince Edward Island – Anne of Green Gables

Prince Edward Island, one of Canada’s maritime provinces, is home to the popular children’s novel, Anne of Green Gables.

You can visit her adoptive home of Green Gables in the Prince Edward Island National Park.

Pamplona – The Sun Also Rises

In Hemingway’s books, you can “visit” the harbours of Cuba, the Green Hills of Africa, the cafes in Paris and many other places, like Pamplona, for example.

The city of Pamplona plays a huge role in his novel The Sun Also Rises.

Our recommendation is to visit Pamplona during the festival of San Fermin in order to fully experience the place where Jake, Lady Brett and the matador Romero walked.

New York City – The Catcher in the Rye

Take an adventure to New York City to experience the city as Holden Caulfield once did.

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden finds himself in places like Greenwich Village, Fifth Avenue and the rink at Rockefeller Center.

However, in order to get a true Holden experience go to the pond in Central Park and wonder where the ducks go in winter.

Do not forget to judge the phonies while making this tour.

Dublin – Ulysses

Many critics consider James Joyce’s Ulysses as the best novel of the 20th Century, but also as the beginning of the stream-of-consciousness style of writing.

The novel is set in Dublin on June 16th and 17th in 1904 and follows the protagonist, Leopold Bloom, and his daily routine throughout the streets of Dublin.

Ulysses and Joyce are now celebrated every year on Bloomsday, June 16th in Dublin and around the world with readings, theatre performances and pub-crawls.

Florence – A Room With a View

A large portion of E.M. Forster’s A Room With a View happens in the amazingly charming Italian city of Florence.

Wander the picturesque streets of the birthplace of the Renaissance and see the River Arno, Basilica of Santa Croce, and Piazza della Signoria.

Tokyo – Norweigan Wood

Many think that Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is one of the best novels written in the last thirty years.

This coming of age masterpiece, just like The Beatles song Norwegian Wood, is a story of loss and love.

Flip through the book while on the University of Tokyo campus, a place where the main character Toru Watanabe finds his interest in American literature.

Norwegian Wood is set in Tokyo in the late 1960s, so walk around the vibrant Tokyo and wonder how it looked like over half a century ago.

Walden Pond – Walden

Walden is a book written by the famed transcendental author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.

It is actually a book of reflections about simple living in nature. 

The book has had a significant influence on the universities and on the ideals of many people.

However, the principal theme of Walden is best experienced amongst the trees.

If you need some peace from everyday life go to Massachusetts and visit Walden Pond.

See where the author got the inspiration for the book and simply enjoy the rhythm of nature.

Verona – Romeo and Juliet

“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Visit the beautiful Verona, a city immortalised by William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.

The most popular destination is Casa di Giulietta, a restored Gothic-style house now complete with a statue of Julia beneath her balcony.

Algiers – The Stranger

Visit Algiers, the capital of Algeria, but remember it is best not to follow exactly the footsteps of Camus’s character Meursault from The Stranger.

Visitors love Algiers for its boulevards and beautiful views of the Mediterranean.

Monterey – Cannery Row

Most of John Steinbeck work is set in California.

However, his books are not about the glamour of the Californian beaches, but mostly about the hard-working people in the Central Valley.

Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row depicts life in the coastal city of Monterey during The Great Depression.

Those days the row was lined with sardine canneries, bars and brothels.

But times have changed, the street that was immortalised by Steinbeck now is a famous attraction and tourists visit it because of the many charming restaurants, hotels and a world-class aquarium.

There are also several busts and statues dedicated to the author in the centre of the city.

Bran Castle – Dracula

The Bran Castle is situated near the city of Brasov, in the centre of Romania.

This part of the country is known as Transylvania, notorious for Dracula.

There is no real historical evidence that Bran Castle was the residence of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but still, the castle is definitely worth a visit.