Travel books are a popular genre in the 21st century, combining personal observations and emotions with detailed descriptions and journeys through interesting places. In English, Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneer, writing about her trip to Scandinavia in 18th century in a way that was quite unusual for the time, as our interview with Emily Thomas about the philosophy of travel makes clear.
Arabic authors are also very important in the travel writing genre. Islam has a rich tradition of travelling to gain knowledge, and it's no surprise we have not one but two interviews on travelling in the Muslim world.
We also have reading recommendations from contemporary travel writers, including Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron and Sara Wheeler. Books that influenced Bruce Chatwin, author of In Patagonia and The Songlines, are recommended by his biographer.
(For books about specific countries—not necessarily travel writing—please look at our 'world' section where books are organized by country).
The best books on Local Adventures, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
Wonderful as it would be to climb Mount Everest or row across the Atlantic, not all of us will get the chance to go on an epic adventure. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go exploring. Alastair Humphreys, the British adventurer, explains the concept of ‘local adventure’ and recommends books that give a feel for what it’s about and why it’s worth pursuing.
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1
In The Shadow of the Mountain
by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado -
2
High: A Journey Across the Himalaya, Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China
by Erika Fatland, translated by Kari Dickson -
3
Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia
by Shafik Meghji -
4
The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
by Rebecca Lowe -
5
The Po: An Elegy for Italy's Longest River
by Tobias Jones
The Best Travel Books of 2023: The Stanford Travel Writing Awards, recommended by Cal Flyn
The Best Travel Books of 2023: The Stanford Travel Writing Awards, recommended by Cal Flyn
Every year, Stanfords, the best travel bookshop in the world (in our view), sponsors the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, with travel writers and journalists judging the best travel book in a number of categories. Here Cal Flyn, our deputy editor, takes us through the eight books shortlisted for the 2023 ‘Travel Book of the Year’ award, taking us from Bolivia to Singapore via Europe, the Middle East and the top of Mt. Everest.
The Best Travel Books, recommended by Paul Theroux
Travel is a leap in the dark, says Paul Theroux and one that will leave you a different person at the other end. He recommends five travel books that inspired him, from Mark Twain at sea to VS Naipaul in India
The Best Books by Adventurers, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
One morning in early June, Laurie Lee said goodbye to his mum at the garden gate and went off on an adventure. Is now the moment for you to do the same? Bestselling author and adventurer Alastair Humphreys recommends five books written by adventurers that can’t fail but inspire you to ‘go simple, go solo, go now.’
The Best Travel Writing, recommended by Colin Thubron
The much-travelled author Colin Thubron reflects on more than 40 years of writing about other cultures, and shares his own favourite travel reading with us
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1
Mountain Gloom And Mountain Glory: The Development of the Aesthetics of the Infinite
by Marjorie Hope Nicolson -
2
Letters written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
by Mary Wollstonecraft -
3
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau -
4
The Art of Travel
by Alain de Botton -
5
How to Talk About Places You've Never Been: On the Importance of Armchair Travel
by Michele Hutchison (translator) & Pierre Bayard
The Best Books on the Philosophy of Travel, recommended by Emily Thomas
The Best Books on the Philosophy of Travel, recommended by Emily Thomas
At its best, travel broadens our minds, expands our horizons and allows us to see the world we live in differently. But it has also played an important role in the history of philosophy. Emily Thomas, author of The Meaning of Travel: Philosophers Abroad, explores the connections between her two passions—philosophy and travel—at a moment when most of us are unable to leave our houses: perhaps the perfect moment to reflect on travel’s significance for human beings.
Bruce Chatwin: Books that Influenced Him, recommended by Nicholas Shakespeare
With his books In Patagonia and The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989) reinvented travel literature. Nicholas Shakespeare, his biographer, lifts the lid on a complex life and selects five books that influenced Chatwin’s work.
The best books on Southeast Asian Travel Literature, recommended by Cat Barton
The Bureau Chief for the Agence France Presse in Dhaka discusses South East Asian travel literature. Particularly interesting on Cambodia. Further recommended reading from Graham Greene and James Fenton
Books about Travelling in the Muslim World, recommended by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Author and Arabist Tim Mackintosh-Smith tells us about the rich tradition in Islam of travelling to gain knowledge, and directs us towards some of those, both Western and Arab, who’ve inspired with their tales of life on the road.
The Best Hiking Memoirs, recommended by Gail Simmons
Accounts of journeys on foot capture the imagination; partly this is a function of the satisfaction of following a linear journey from start to finish, and partly it is a quality inherent to walking itself—a freeing of the mind. Gail Simmons, who follows an old English pilgrimage route in her book Between the Chalk and the Sea, selects five hiking memoirs that celebrate the liberation that comes from putting one foot after another.