Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Literary Tourism: Journeys Inspired by Literature
24
items Literary tourism is travel focused on visiting places connected to writers, books, or literary history, such as author homes, famous libraries, bookstores, or settings from novels. It allows travelers to explore literature through real-world location...
Sections
4
Literary Landmarks
Literary Community
Independent Bookstores
Libraries
Literary Landmarks
Literary landmarks are places connected to writers or their works, such as homes, birthplaces, cafes, or settings of famous books, often preserved to celebrate literature.
A faithful reconstruction of Shakespeare’s original playhouse, offering performances in near-authentic Elizabethan style.
The Globe Theatre (London, England)
A café in Paris that was frequented by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.
Café de Flore (Paris, France)
A small town in Wales, England known as the ‘Town of Books,’ with dozens of secondhand bookshops and a major literary festival.
Hay-on-Wye (Wales, England)
A famous bar in Havana that was a gathering place for writers, poets, and artists, most famously Ernest Hemingway. The walls are covered with photos, signatures, and notes from artists and literary figures who visited. It’s both a restaurant and a li...
La Bodeguita del Medio (Havana, Cuba)
A museum dedicated to Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy, located near his birthplace.
Casa di Dante (Florence, Italy)
The space where Ernest Hemingway lived, worked, and created some of his most famous works. Preserved with his personal belongings, books, and manuscripts, these homes offer a glimpse into his daily life, writing process, and adventurous spirit, allow...
The Ernest Hemingway Home (Key West, Florida, USA)
The preserved space where Anne Frank wrote her world-famous diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II. The house allows visitors to see the secret annex where she and her family lived in hiding, offering a powerful, tangible connection to...
The Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Home of the Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë—where Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were written now a museum dedicated to their lives and works.
The Brontë Parsonage Museum (Haworth, England)
Literary Community
Literary Communities— a places where writers, readers, and book lovers gather, shaping culture and creativity.
The Library Hotel in New York City is a fun stay for literary lovers because it’s designed like a living tribute to books and literature. Each of its ten floors is dedicated to a different category of the Dewey Decimal System, with rooms themed aroun...
Library Hotel (Manhattan, New York City)
The Offline Club in Amsterdam offers screen-free events where attendees can read, write, or reflect in a relaxed, creative environment. With quiet solo time followed by meaningful conversations, it’s a space to focus on books, journaling, and ideas w...
The Offline Club (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Sweet Pickle Books in New York’s Lower East Side is a quirky, literary-friendly used bookstore where book lovers can browse eclectic titles, zines, and records—and on special days, even trade books for jars of pickles. With its playful concept and co...
Sweet Pickle Books (Manhattan, New York)
Book Club Bar in Manhattan’s East Village is a cozy, book-filled spot where literature lovers can enjoy coffee, cocktails, and wine. With comfortable reading nooks, shelves of books, and regular literary events like readings and book launches, it’s a...
Book Club Bar (Manhattan, New York)
Silent Book Club is a relaxed, social reading group where participants bring their own books and read together in silence, usually at a café or bar. After a quiet reading session, members can choose to chat about their books or simply enjoy the share...
Silent Book Club (Manhattan, New York)
Independent Bookstores
Independent bookstores are privately owned bookshops that operate independently of large chains. They focus on curated selections, local community engagement, and personalized service, often hosting author events, readings, and book clubs.
Libreria Acqua Alta is a truly unique bookstore and a literary landmark because of its whimsical, flood-resistant design and enchanting atmosphere. The shop’s books are stacked in gondolas, bathtubs, and crates to protect them from Venice’s frequent ...
Libreria Acqua Alta Venezia (Venice, Italy)
Strand Bookstore is a legendary literary landmark known for its slogan ‘18 miles of books.’ Located near Union Square, it offers an enormous selection of new, used, and rare books across every genre imaginable. Beyond its vast collection, Strand is c...
Strand Books (Manhattan, New York)
A legendary English-language bookstore and literary landmark renowned for its bohemian charm and rich literary history. It has been a hub for writers, readers, and aspiring authors from around the world. The shop is famous for cozy reading nooks, and...
Shakespeare and Company (Paris, France)
City Lights Bookstore is a legendary literary landmark famous for its role in the Beat movement of the 1950s. Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, it’s both a bookstore and a publishing house, known for championing radical, avant-garde, and...
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers (San Fransisco, USA)
The world’s largest independent bookstore. Covering an entire city block, it houses over a million new and used books across countless genres, rare editions, and out-of-print treasures. Visitors can wander through its maze-like rooms, discover hidden...
Powell’s City of Books (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Munro’s Books is a celebrated independent bookstore housed in a stunning neoclassical building with high ceilings and elegant décor. Founded by Nobel laureate Alice Munro and her husband, it’s known for its carefully curated selection of Canadian lit...
Munro’s Books (Victoria, Canada)
One of the world’s most famous bookstores, celebrated for its Neo-Gothic facade, grand sweeping staircase, and stained-glass ceiling. Beyond its visual appeal, Livraria Lello is a hub for book lovers and a source of inspiration—famously rumored to ha...
Livraria Lello (Porto, Portugal)
This is a remarkable bookstore housed in a 13th-century Dominican church, combining history, architecture, and literature in a stunning setting. With soaring vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, and rows of bookshelves integrated into the church’...
Boekhandel Dominicanen (Maastricht, Netherlands)
Libraries
A library is a place where books, magazines, and other informational resources are collected, organized, and made available for people to read, study, or borrow.
The New York Public Library is an architectural marvel and a cultural treasure. Its iconic Rose Main Reading Room and grand halls showcase stunning architecture and historic design, while its vast collections—including rare manuscripts, maps, and first editions—offer a treasure tr...
The New York Public Library (Manhattan, New York)
The British Library in London is one of the world’s largest and most important research libraries, housing millions of books, manuscripts, maps, and historical documents. Highlights include Magna Carta, Shakespeare’s First Folios, original Beatles ly...
The British Library (London, England)
The Concordia University Library is the main library system serving Concordia students and faculty, and its Vanier Library holds a special place for me—it’s there that I did most of the work to earn my Bachelor’s degree. Beyond its personal significa...
Concordia University Library (Montreal, Quebec)