English (Literary) Tourism Week

Submitted: 27th March 2017

In conjunction with Visit England and Visit Britain, it’s all about English tourism this week. So, here at TheBookTrail we’re working with them to highlight a few places where if you fancy discovering somewhere new to visit or see a favourite place through someone else’s eyes, the Literary Travel Agency can help…

You can visit somewhere from the comfort of your own home

You can visit a place you’ve never been to before and discover it with your favourite author as a guide

You can visit a location you know well but allow the characters of that book to show you how they see it

Visiting destinations in England and indeed across Britain is all about seeing places, castles, towns, rivers, historical landmarks, through the eyes of authors and their characters. Fancy a stroll in Bronte Country with Charlotte or Anne leading you by the hand? Or what about a nice wander in the Cotswolds with Agatha Raisin?

Here’s a piece we wrote for Visit Britain about the magic which you can discover by mixing travel and books: Discover Literary Legends in Britain

There’s some beautiful places up and down our little island that are really enhanced via fiction:

Julia Chapman (c)thebooktrail

Ann Cleeves’ Northumberland

Poldark’s Cornwall and the Cornwall novels of Liz Fenwick

Yorkshire chuckles with Julia Chapman and her Date with Death

The fun thing about literary travel is that you really do see a unique side to a place – and not always the views you will get from a typical tourist board! – Tell you what though – they’re a whole lot of fun and reading a creepy novel anywhere can really put chills up your spine! A few recent examples:

Strangeways (c) Marnie Riches

Born Bad with Marnie Riches

Steven Dunne’s novels set in the Peak District

Sarah Hilary’s gritty London

There’s so much to see and do across England and indeed Britain and with a book everything is so much more enhanced. Not only that, I personally get a real thrill about discovering places I’d thought I’d known such as London’s Kensington Gardens or Northumberland’s Hadrian Wall by reading a novel where the location, culture, weather and even local idiosyncrancies allow you to really get underneath the skin of a place.