David Paul Appell
This continent is arguably the world´s most literary in the sense that it has arguably produced most of the world´s most celebrated writers, poets, and playwrights. And its great literary destinations are not just cities of famous names—they´re places where you can walk directly into books, manuscripts, and writers’ lives. The five below—admittedly heavy on Britain and Ireland—stand out because they combine atmosphere with specific, visitable landmarks that bring literature vividly to life.
Dublin — Walking Through Ulysses, but Also Much More
First and foremost, Ireland´s capital is inextricably linked to early-20th-century novelist James Joyce, and few cities are as tightly mapped to a single work as Dublin is to his seminal novel Ulysses. Admirers can visit Sweny's, a pharmacy turned book and gift shop whose Victorian-era interior is preserved much as it appears in the novel, or stop at Davy Byrnes pub, another key location in protagonist Leopold Bloom’s journey. Perhaps the most atmospheric Joyce site of all is the 222-year-old coastal watchtower in the suburb of Sandycove, which was more recently renamed the James Joyce Tower because it´s here that Ulysses famously opens; today it houses a museum. For a broader view of his life and work, the James Joyce Centre organizes exhibitions, lectures, and walking tours that trace his Dublin. And each June 16, Bloomsday celebrations bring the city to life as readers retrace Bloom’s route in costume and spirit.
Dublin also celebrates its wider literary heritage in vivid, accessible ways. In Merrion Square, the colorful, louche reclining statue of Oscar Wilde faces the Georgian Oscar Wilde House, where he was born in 1854, creating one of the city’s most memorable literary pairings; inside are various exibits about his life, work, and literary legacy. Not far off, Trinity College, his alma mater (as well as that of Joyce, 18th-century satirist Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker of Dracula fame, 20th-century avant-garde playwright Samuel Beckett, and 18th-century poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith) is home to the Trinity College Library, where visitors pass through a dedicated exhibition about the medieval literary-religious masterpiece the Book of Kells before emerging into the magnificent Long Room (top), dramatically lined with centuries of literature and scholarship. Another must institution is the Abbey Theatre, founded in 1904 by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory; it´s Ireland’s national theatre and a cornerstone of its literary revival.
Literary Dublin also lives in its social spaces: Bewley's Grafton Street Café, marking a century next year, has long been associated with writers and artists, And literary pubs besides Davy Byrne´s include The Duke, Neary´s, and Toner´s.
And while you´re here, stay at (or just visit) the 202-year-old grande dame Shelbourne, mentioned in Joyce´s Dubliners and its Horseshoe Bar a watering hole for lit (in both senses) luminaries such as Brendan Behan, Brian Friel, and Seamus Heaney. All the above underscores the fact that this compact, very walkable city isn´t merely associated with literature in a big way but is, in a sense itelf a living literary text.
Edinburgh — Stories in Stone
Designated the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004, Scotland´s capital blends dramatic scenery with plenty of distinguished literary heritage. After visiting (and perhaps climbing to the top of) the 200-foot-tall, neo-Gothic monument to early-19th-century novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott in Princes Street Gardens, pay a visit to the 17th-century townhouse which is home to the Writers' Museum (above) and celebrates Scott and other native sons Robert Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson. And at a busy intersection near Picardy Place, check out the large bronze statue of Sherlock Homes, in a pose contemplating the death of his creator, Edinburgher Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It´s just across the street from the 35-year-old Conan Doyle pub, which features Scottish fare along with portraits and memorabilia celebrating the author´s works.
Which brings me to the subject of the city´s other literary pubs. They include the Oxford Bar, a onetime hangout for writers of the literary Scottish Renaissance of the early to mid-10th century, and more recently better known as the watering hole of Inspector John Rebus from Sir Ian Rankin´s popular Edinburgh mystery novels; 220-year-old Deacon Brodies Tavern on the Royal Mile, named after a larger-than-life 18th-century criminal who inspired Stevenson´s The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and features references to the old brute throughout the premises; the mid-19th-century Beehive Inn on the iconic Grassmarket, where Robbie Burns used to tipple; and another Grassmarket icon, the White Hart Inn, the city´s oldest still operating pub and another Burns favorite.
On a more contemporary note, J.K. Rowling´s hometown is littered with spots popular with Harry Potter fans, such as The Elephant House, a café where she did much of her early writing in the 1990s. They also visit Greyfriars Kirkyard for a look at tombstones with names that will ring a bell, like Thomas Riddell, and atmospheric Victoria Street, which has a definite Diagon Alley vibe (and on that very street is the Harry Potter-themed shop of MinaLima, the firm behind many design elements of the films).
Finally, stay (or at least have a meal) at the early-19th-century Georgian Stevenson House, where wee Robbie grew up in the latter half of the century; the decor remains Victorian-cozy and the rates are pretty reasonable for Edinburgh. And of course you can also take an Edinburgh book tour and a literary pub tour, as well as others devoted to Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle, and Harry Potter.
Lake District of England — Poetry in the Landscape
This famously scenic corner of Cumbria in the northwest, a 5½-hour drive from London, is dotted with hills and mountains (including England´s highest, Scafell Pike, 3,209 feet) as well as charming villages and towns like Grasmere, Kenwick, and Windemere. In fact, it´s part of a UNESCO World Heritage national park, and here the landscape is closely intertwined with literature, especially that of the "Lake Poets" of the first half of the 19th century such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Ruskin, Robert Southey, and William Wordsworth. Visit Dove Cottage in Grasmere, where Wordsworth wrote many of his most famous poems, then continue to Rydal Mount and Gardens, his later home in the eponymous village just north of Windemere. Another house well worth a visit is Ruskin´s Brantwood.
The other major literary figure associated with the Lake District is Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit and other beloved characters, visitors can see her 17th-century stone farmhouse Hill Top, near the village of Sawrey, pretty much as she left it, and it brings her stories to life in fields and farmhouses recognizable from her illustrations. Other sites which celebrates her legacy here include also 17th-century Yew Tree Farm in the village of Coniston, also owned by Potter later in life (you can even overnight here as a self-catering accommodation); The World of Beatrix Potter in Bowness-on-Windemere, themed on her characters; and various locations for the 2006 biopic Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor.
London — Shakespeare, Dickens, and the Written Archive
English lit is arguably the world´s foremost literary trove, and Britain´s capital is a virtual treasure chest of its legacy. Top spots not to miss include the 101-year-old Charles Dickens Museum, housed in the author´s home in King´s Cross (Camden), to see where he penned Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Then cross the Thames to Southwark, where Shakespeare's Globe (above), a 1997 reconstruction of the 16th-century Elizabethan playhouse tied to the Bard, are still performed today in a style and venue as close to authentic as it gets. Arthur Conan Doyle fans make a beeline to 221B Baker Street near Regents Park in Marylebone, where an early-19th-century Georgian townhouse is home to the 36-year-old Sherlock Holmes Museum, which recreates his home as described in the novels along with plenty of memorabilia (and of course a gift shop). And the more scholarly minded find the British Library immensely gratifying with its myriad original manuscripts including - just to name a very few - various Shakespeare plays; Beowulf; The Canterbury Tales; Jane Eyre; Robinson Crusoe; works of T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Ian Thomas, Harold Pinter, Dylan Thomas, and Agatha Christie; and even lyrics and other memorabilia of British musical greats including the Beatles, Queen, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Elton John.
There are many, many others; just a handful of examples:
Fitzroy Tavern in central London´s Fitzrovia neighborhood - a favorite watering hole for the likes of George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, and Dylan Thomas.
Atmospheric Highgate Cemetery up in North London dates back to 1839 and is the final resting place of literary notables such as Douglas Adams (of A Hitchiker´s Guide to the Galaxy fame) George Eliot, and lesbian icon Raddclyffe Hall. (There are plenty of other famous folks pushing up the daisies here, too, from Karl Marx to George Michael.)
Holborn´s16th-century Old Curiosity Shop, alleged (not necessarily definitively) to be the inspiration for Dickens´ eponymous fourth novel - though at the moment it´s closed, and so you can only see the outside).
Keats House, the Hampsted Heath home of the early-19th-century poet John Keats.
Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, with burial sites of or memorials to more than a hundred literary luminaries including the Brontë sisters, Geofrey Chaucer, Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Edmund Spenser, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.
The atmospheric 17th-century Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub on Fleet Street in The City, a hangout back at various times for James Boswell, G.K. Chesterton, Dickens, Conan Doyle, Ben Jonson, Tennyson, Mark Twain, William Makepeace Thackerary, Voltaire, and William Butler Yeats.
And special attention is due to London´s various Harry Potter locations, including Platform 9¾ at King´s Cross Station (with a HP merch shop next door, naturally); Victorian covered Leadenhall Market in The City, a model for Diagon Alley; Australia House, the inspiration for Gringotts Bank; and the Millennium Bridge, famously destroyed by Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And dediated fans will also want to make time for a day trip to Leavesden, a half-hour drive or hourlong train ride from London, to the glitzy, tremendously popular Warner Bros Studio Tour (aka The Making of Harry Potter) in Leavesden, including sets, props, and immersive experiences.
And of course you can browse on line for the many tours including many of these sites (including ones specifically devoted to Harry Potter).
HPRG Les Hotels Paris Rive Gauche
Paris — Hugo, Cafés, Booksellers, and the Lost Generation
Finally, The only non-English-speaking destination on this list is another trove thanks not just to the many distinguished figures of French literature who lived and worked here but also expatriates from the United States—most famously the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s—and elsewhere. And refreshingly in this day and age, literature is still very much a part of everyday life here, as evidenced by the many bookshops large and (sometimes amazingly) small, and the famous green bouquiniste bookstalls along the Rîve Gauche (Left Bank) of the Seine. Start at the Maison de Victor Hugo (above) on Place des Vosges, a 125-year-old museum where France´s most celebrated writer lived from 1832 to 1848 and wrote parts of works including Les Misérables.
Another prime site is the 222-year-old Père Lachaise Cemetery, the world´s most visited cemetery and also one of its most evocative literary pilgrimage sites, where visitors can track down the graves of writers including Honoré de Balzac, Colette, Molière, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, and Richard Wright (and while you´re here, also keep an eye peeled for other celebs like Sarah Bernhardt, Frédéric Chopin, Olivia de Havilland, Jim Morrison, and Édith Piaf—you will regret nothing!).
Apart from the above, much of Paris´ literary vibe is also furnished by its cafés, especially in Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter on the Rîve Gauche. The main landmarks - where you can still have a seat for a coffee or glass of wine (the food tends to be pricey and nothing special) - include the 139-year-old Café de Flore (famed for its Art Deco interior and former haunt of James Baldwin (who wrote much of Go Tell It on the Mountain here), Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Truman Capote, Eugene Ionescu, and Jean-Paul Sartre). Then there´s the even older, also Art Deco Les Deux Magots (established as a café in 1884), which in addition to also being a haunt of Baldwin, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Sartre also had as regulars at various points in history Guillaume Apollinaire, Bertolt Brecht, André Breton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, André Gide, Ernest Hemingway, Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, George Orwell, Wilde, and Wright (and hey, let´s throw in Pablo Picasso for good measure). The oldest Parisian café of all, Procope (est. 1686) attracted Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert, Hugo, George Sand, and Voltaire. And over on the Rîve Gauche (Right Bank) the classic, 164-year-old Café de la Paix on Place de l´Opéra (part of the Le Grand-Hôtel) was a another Hemingway hangout as well as one for Arthur Conan Doyle, Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Wilde, and Emile Zola.
Finally, no literary traveler should miss Shakespeare and Company, the legendary English-language bookshop opened in 1951 on the Rîve Gauche just across the Seine from Notre-Dame Cathedral where generations of expatriate writers gathered, including Baldwin, Brecht, William Burroughs, Julio Cortázar, Lawrence Durrell, Allen Ginsberg, James Jones, Peter Matthiesson, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, George Plimpton, William Saroyan, Terry Southern, William Styron, and Wright. The shop still hosts regular readings and other events with up-and-coming as well as established writers of today.
And finally, looking to stay literary? Besides the aforementioned Le Grand-Hôtel, if you have the bank account for it, check into the 198-year-old boutique L´Hôtel in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, which over the years hosted writers such as Argentine master Jorge Luis Borges and Oscar Wilde (who spent his last days here).
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