TRAVEL BOOKS

Our favorite travel books

Read your way around the world

We love to read books that transport us directly from the sofa and out into the world. Books that depict all the special things about places we want to visit, have been - or that we may never get to experience. They both soothe our wanderlust and inspire new adventures.

Additionally, travel books are a permanent fixture on our packing list of things we cannot do without on a journey. Lonely Planet is always handy to have at hand, and we rarely cross a border without a good book in our backpack.

Reading novels, historical books, and traveller's memoirs fuels the heart, the understanding of the foreign, and gives nuanced insight into what has shaped the country, the people and the culture. And it is an excellent way to kill waiting time on long travel days.

Below we have listed some of the best travel books we have read - and we are always on the lookout for new ones. If you would like to share your recommendations, we would appreciate it. Send us a message or share them on Instagram.

Which travel book(s) is your favorite?

Travelers Bookshop @ Photo Hamza Nouasria

Inspire your wanderlust

Travel books by theme

Ocean

  • • "Shark drunk" by Morten A. Strøksnes
  • • "A Smuggler's Guide to Good Manners" by Kenny Ranen
  • • Books by the Danish sailor Troels Kløvedal

Mountains

  • • "Into thin air" by Jon Krakauer
  • • "Turn right at Machu Picchu" by Mark Adams
  • • "A tour of Mont Blanc" by David Le Vay

Hiking

  • • "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed
  • • "A walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson
  • • "Into the wild" by Jon Krakauer
  • • "Tracks" by Robyn Davidson

Backpacking

  • • "The Backpacker" by John Harris
  • • "Ten Years as a Nomad" by Matt Kepnes

Journey by train

  • • "The Great Railway Bazaar" by Paul Theroux

Traveling the world

  • • "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • • "Endurance: A Year in Space" by Scott Kelly

Countries & cultures

Books set in the world

Afghanistan

  • • "Kite runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Africa

  • • "The White Masai" by Corinne Hofmann
  • • "West with the night" by Beryl Markham
  • • "Paradise" by Abdulrazak Gurnah
  • • "Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen

Australia

  • • "Downunder" by Bill Bryson

Banda Islands

  • • "The History of the Nutmeg. The forgotten islands that once made world history" by Horst H. Geerken

Canary Islands

  • • "Dogs of summer" by Andrea Abreu

Egypt

  • • "The Yacoubian Building" by Alaa Al-Aswany

Hong Kong

  • • "Exciting Times" by Naoise Dolan

Finland

  • • "Purge" by Sofi Oksanen

Georgia

  • • "The Eight Life. For Brilka" by Nino Haratischwili

India

  • • "A fine balance" by Rohinton Mistry
  • • "Age of vice" by Deepti Kapoor

Indonesia

  • • "Indonesia, Etc." by Elizabeth Pisani

Italy

  • • "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante
  • • "A Girl Returned" by Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Japan

  • • “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee

Netherlands

  • • "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton

Norway

  • • "Berlin Poplars" by Anne B. Ragde
  • • "Child wonder" by Roy Jacobsen

Singapore

  • • "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan

Spain

  • • "Cathedral of the Sea" by Ildefonso Falcones

Sweden

  • • "Nobody owns me" by Åsa Linderborg

Sri Lanka

  • • "Island of a Thousand Mirrors" by Nayomi Munaweera

Trinidad

  • • "When we were birds" by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

USA

  • • "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara
  • • "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
  • • "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead
  • • "Firekeeper's Daughter" by Angeline Boulley