Get Lost in Your Holidays with These Travel Books

Any excellent travel book's success can be measured in kilometres rather than awards. But, when it comes to these best travel books, the vast distances they take our imaginations and the kilometres they inspire us to hike, drive, and fly are what matter. Reading a travel book can often be just as altering as the adventure itself.

Are you ready for a reading list that will transform your travel habits? According to seasoned travellers, here are the top eight travel guidebooks to read. Prepare to experience severe wanderlust.

 

1. Along The Ganges, Ilija Trojanow (2006)

In this book chosen by novelist Nuruddin Farah, Trojanow, an emigrant from Cold War Bulgaria who has lived in Germany, Kenya, South Africa, and other places, brings a pan-religious passion to his essays on Asia. Trojanow portrays the Ganges and its Hindu worshippers with intrigue, respect, and an eye for detail on his journey from the river's source to the tumultuous cities along its course.

 

2. Among The Cities, Jan Morris (1985)

Among the Locations was nominated by novelist and veteran traveller Pico Iyer and contained 37 pieces written by Morris throughout her long career, which dates to the 1950s and includes trips to cities ranging from Houston to Beirut. 

"It was actually [Morris' book], with its masterful evocations of many of the world's great cities, from Singapore to Rio, that drove me out across the oceans with my notepad, and a notion that places might be as engaging, nuanced, and life changing as people," Iyer adds. "Morris has a unique capacity for blending unprecedented descriptive power with a rigorous and whimsical sense of factual correctness; she is always reporter and portrait-painter at the same time, in love with life yet aware of its follies."

 

3. Arabian Sands, Wilfred Thesiger (1959)

The writer-explorer, born in Ethiopia to a British ambassador, became disillusioned with the West and spent five years roaming among the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula, documenting their dying way of life. Paul Theroux puts him "on my classics list" for his passion and eloquence.

 

4. An Area of Darkness, V. S. Naipaul (1965)

This is classic Naipaul—the travelogue that established his reputation and effectively characterised India in the early 1960s (even the writer's former protégé turned enemy Paul Theroux admits appreciation). Linh Dinh, a poet, describes it as "penetrating, tight, and humorous."

 

5. Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez (1986)

Lopez's examination of the Arctic, including its wildlife, habitat, and indigenous peoples, is recommended by illustrator and children's book author Jan Brett. "Arctic Dreams has sparked my imagination and provided me with a rare view into a unique and intriguing universe," she says. "[Lopez] paints a picture of the Arctic and appears to halt time like many great writers." 

The maps, appendices, and field observations—particularly of musk oxen—make me want to witness his vision for myself."

 

6. As They Were, M.F.K. Fisher (1982)

Although the late British novelist Peter Mayle praised Fisher's Provence books prompting him to visit the region for the first time, he recommended the book closest to Fisher's comprehensive memoir. 

"She has the unusual skill of describing what it was like to see what she saw, hear what she heard, taste what she tasted, and feel what she felt," Mayle added. "This is a must-read book."

 

7. A Barbarian in Asia, Henri Michaux (1933)

For those who want to envision Rimbaud as a reporter in the 1930s, the louche French poet Michaux could be the definitive guide to the East. Instead, the book is described as "hilarious, strange, and shamelessly self-indulgent" by John Wray, which isn't always a bad thing. 

"He seemed hell-bent on alienating half the earth, or at the very least the sections he passed through, "Wray explains. "Anyone interested in learning about living in India, China, or Japan should avoid this book."

 

8. The Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino (1957)

The Baron in the Woods, one of the late Italian writer's classics, depicts the narrative of Cosimo de Rond, a young man who rebels against his parents by living in the trees while witnessing the Enlightenment unfold below. Novelist Min Jin Lee adds, "Sometimes I feel like climbing up a tree and living there." 

"I'd do this for a long time and then find a way to float up into the sky." I suppose Cosimo, the young baron, would make good company."