Kalin’s Chronicles: Literary Tours

Reading is one of my favorite things to do. And I find that if a book is turned into a movie it usually can’t live up to the way I imagined the characters in the book. However, I find it very exciting to visit a city where a book is based. And tourism boards are banking on that trend with “literary tours” that highlight the sites of popular books and movies.

One of my favorite literary tours is Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil in Savannah, Georgia. I took the tour in the 90’s a few years after the non-fiction book came out. The bus drove us by Mercer House were the real-life murder happened, to restaurants where the characters hung out, and to Club One where real-life character, The Lady Chablis, entertained us with her drag show. I even got her and other real-life characters to sign my book.

Before the book Eat Pray Love even became a movie, tours were already being formed in Italy, Bali, and India for lovers of the book. And by the time the movie came out, travelers were flocking to those countries.

Another part of literary tours is visiting the homes of famous writers, like Mark Twain. There are even entire festivals to honor writers like Ernest Hemingway and Zora Neal Hurston .

Here are just a few destinations and hotels where you can travel by the book:

• Harry Potter tours — tours of London, Oxford and Scotland.
• Under the Tuscan Sun — biking tours of the Tuscany region of Italy highlighted in the book.
• Lynott Tours — literary tours of English authors such as JK Rowling, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare.
• Lord of the Rings Tours
• Hobbit Motels – Lord of the Rings themed motels in Woodland Park, New Zealand
• Pavillon des Lettres – Paris hotel pays homage to 25 international authors, including Voltaire.

So if you’re thinking of a unique way to celebrate your 40^th birthday, why not try a literary tour. And remember: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

Kalin Thomas is Women at Forty’s Travel & Leisure Editor. She is also Senior Writer/Photographer for SoulOfAmerica. Before starting her own multimedia company, Kalin spent 17 years at CNN where she won several awards for her work as producer/correspondent for CNN’s weekly travel program, CNN TravelNow. She is currently writing a book about her travels. For more information on Kalin, visit www.seetheworldproductions.com.