Literary travel is booming. Esquire mentioned the trend in an article last year, with the writer visiting a “reading retreat”. A few months ago, Forbes listed all the hotels running literary-themed getaways. And this month, Conde Nast Traveler included it as one of the biggest travel trends to expect in 2025.
Some examples are the Blue Mountains Bookshop Trail, reading retreats offered by digital book club Ladies Who Lit and group tour company Explore Worldwide’s online Four Corners Book Club, which helps foster a community of people interested in travelling and reading.
“We love to read stories because they transport us to new places before we step foot there,” says Louise Bezzina, artistic director at Brisbane Festival. “Literature gives us a sense of what we might feel, taste and see. When those fictional or real locations leap off the page, the pull to experience them in real life becomes irresistible.”
Bezzina says Trent Dalton’s ‘Boy Swallows Universe’ is an example of this. The novel, which is based on Dalton’s real-life upbringing, captures the essence of Brisbane in a way that people feel compelled to experience it themselves. The book was adapted for the stage at Brisbane Festival where Bezzina saw people coming from around the country and even overseas to experience the performance in the city where it was set.
Outside Sydney, the Blue Mountains Bookshop Trail involves 11 bookshops in the Blue Mountains National Park. It starts at Glenbrook, just outside Sydney, and weaves through nine villages to the former mining town of Lithgow. The trail can be completed by car or public transport.
“Each bookshop has its unique charm and quirks, and provides secondhand or new books,” says Zac Quinn, co-owner of RoseyRavelston Books. “The trail is best completed over a couple of days to ensure the full experience, especially with all the fantastic accommodation and dining options in the Blue Mountains.”
Quinn says he’s seen people from all walks of life completing the trail, some meeting each other, others doing it multiple times and a handful even coming from overseas specifically to experience the trail. He thinks literary travel is as popular as it is now because of a yearning for authentic, real-life experiences.
“Deliberately switching off from staring at a phone screen is an important form of wellness these days,” he says. “Combine that with getting out of the house, spending time in a beautiful part of the world and absorbing the serenity of browsing cute and unique bookshops, and you’ve found one of the best ways to decompress.”
Founded in the UK but with members worldwide, Ladies Who Lit is a book club with a WhatsApp group chat, virtual meet-ups and reading retreats. The retreats are an opportunity to meet other like-minded women from around the world, while staying in your own room in a beautiful destination.
“Our days are spent by the pool or in a cosy corner reading our books while the evenings are when we come together over food and activities,” says Megan Christopher, the group’s founder. “It’s a real chance to disconnect from the stresses and strains of modern life while connecting with other women who also find pleasure in words.”
Christopher says many women on the retreats are surprised by how relaxed they feel when they leave. One woman told her she was the most relaxed she’d ever felt. “There’s nothing better than switching off and enjoying your book with the sun on your skin and glass of wine in hand,” Christopher says.
Explore Worldwide’s Four Corners Book Club lets readers share recommendations of books others could read to familiarise themselves with a destination before heading there. Ben Ittensohn, regional director AU/NZ for group travel company Explore Worldwide, says travelling and reading go together like coffee and croissants.
“When you read a book about a place you’re going to visit, your adventure takes on a whole new perspective,” Ittensohn says.
“And like travelling, literature expands our horizons. It enables us to view the world from another’s point of view, and to have new experiences in new places. By travelling and experiencing other cultures and communities — and even just by reading — we realise there’s much more that unites us as humanity than drives us apart.”
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