My Favorite Travel Books
A few of the books that I reach for every time I start to plan a new trip.
In our digital world, overrun with travel websites, blogs, podcasts, and articles (many of which I love and respect), there are a few good old-fashioned books that I still reach for when I’m in the early stages of trip planning. Flipping through the pages of a book often inspires me more than clicking through articles online. When the trip is just a newly-formed idea, I’ll grab one of these trusty books.
Anytime I decide to visit a new place, I always reach for World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever. In a lot of ways Tony traveled the way I travel: off the beaten path, eating where locals eat, trying to get to know the heart of each new place. I share his penchant for street food and bustling markets and seeking out experiences unique to each city or country.
World Travel compiles Bourdain’s advice and quotes into a neat travel guide, organized by countries and cities. The destinations range from popular cities like New York or Chicago to parts less-known like Cambodia or Uruaguay. For each location, there are tips on where to eat, where to stay, how to get around, and what to do that is unique to that place. I’ve found several recommendations within its pages for amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurants and unique experiences. For example, when I visited Oaxaca City, one of my favorite experiences was a market mentioned in this book.
Where Chefs Eat: A Guide to Chefs' Favourite Restaurants by Joe Warwick is another book I always reference when I start to plan a trip. This book is a massive compilation of restaurant recommendations for different destinations all over the world. Each recommendation in the book comes from a chef; because who knows food better than the pros?
Many cities in many different countries are covered in this book. For each city there are recommendations in a wide range of budgets, cuisines, and locations— from breakfast spots, to fancy dinners, to dives, to street food stalls, to diners, and anything in between. I think this book is a great resource, and anytime I’m going somewhere new I save all of the recommended restaurants for that city to my Google maps. If I happen to be near one of the spots I saved at a mealtime, I’m grateful for the recommendation!
I am also partial to 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List by Patricia Schultz. Though this book contains restaurant, sight-seeing, and hotel recommendations, I typically only reference it for the first two. Schultz introduces each destination in the book with a brief description and background, which I like to read to get a feel for the place I want to visit. I appreciate her sight-seeing suggestions as they often include more niche historical sights in addition to the usual popular tourist destinations.
100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Elizondo Griest is quite similar to the previous book I mentioned. The sights recommended in this book are mainly focused on women in history like historical Madonnas to seek out in your travels. However, there are also recommendations for modern women-owned and operated experiences: I added a specific cooking class in Croatia to my travel bucket list thanks to this little book.
I don’t always reference this book when I’m planning a trip as it is smaller and has fewer destinations, but I love the perspective it lends!
Much of my travel inspiration comes from travel memoirs, my favorite genre! Books like Peter Mayle’s memoirs about Provence or John Baxter’s thoughts on Paris or Frances Mayes’s musings on Italy have inspired many of my travel plans. I love the personal point of view. Not only does it help me to see the place I’m planning to visit through someone else’s eyes as I plan, but I often find gems of advice specific to that place tucked away in these types of books. For example, in Peter Mayle’s French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew I read about some unique festivals celebrating regional foods in France. How fun would it be to attend a festival for a regional wine in France someday?
In fact, if I’m planning a trip where I really want a vivid picture of what to expect, I seek out a new memoir specific to that trip. When I was planning to walk the Camino de Santiago, I read a few memoirs about others’ walks and found good perspectives.
Though these are my go-to travel books, I love reading new ones. Drop your favorites below!