The Top 10 Travel Books Guaranteed to Make You Pull Out Your Passport

Awaken your inner jazz musician, wilderness guide, or historian with these extraordinary stories of places near and far. You may start off on the couch curled up reading someone else’s adventure, but it won’t be long before you have the urge to start your own. After all, you’re only limited by your imagination. Here are our 10 books that will inspire you to pull out your passport and start exploring.

by Robert Pirsig

A little bit of philosophy and some father-son bonding make this 1974 classic a piece of escape literature. Delve into the depths of your soul, the meaning of life, and a road trip across the Northwest of America. Even if you don’t ride, you’ll imagine the landscapes and hop into a VW or a Greyhound to emulate this epic trip.

Find a copy here.

by Alex Garland

A mysterious man, a hidden beach in Thailand untouched by tourists, and an adventurous traveler armed with a backpack make this novel one of the 1990’s most intriguing stories. The so-called utopia turns out to be anything but, although as you read you may still desire a quick trip to Asia.

Find a copy here.

by Mark Adams

What happens when an editor of adventure travel literature decides to embark on a hike along an ancient trail? That editor spends his first-ever night in a tent and travels through some of Peru’s most famous landmarks under the guidance of a wisecracking Australian. Retracing the steps of the man who claimed to have “found” Machu Picchu early in the 20th century, Adams reclaims some of the site’s mystery.

Find a copy here.

by Ernest Hemingway

Perhaps you read Hemingway in high school and, burdened with essay questions and exams on its symbolism, completely missed that the story is all about Europe. From the seedy bars of Paris to the rough-and-tumble bullfighting world of Spain and the pristine fishing of the Pyrenees, this sparse novel of the Lost Generation after World War I will make you long for some Spanish culture.

Find a copy here.

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Do you ever wish you could remove yourself for one year from the stresses and responsibilities of day-to-day life? Gilbert did just that following a divorce. Instead of lounging on a beach, the writer decided to explore the pleasures of food in Italy, devotion to the divine in India, and balance—or love—in Bali. It changed Gilbert’s life, and reading about it might change yours, too.

Find a copy here.

by Bill Bryson

If you’ve ever dreamed of walking the Appalachian Trail but feared you couldn’t muster the stamina to complete it, don’t worry. Bill Bryson didn’t finish either and his patience was tested by an abrasive travel companion. If you love nature, you’ll be driven to the woods by his descriptions of the trail’s ecology and its furry residents.

Find a copy here.

by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho’s legendary novel is an allegory, or an extended metaphor. If you follow the lead character from his home in Spain to the Egyptian pyramids in search of treasure, you probably won’t encounter the same cast of mystical characters, but you may experience the same insight about the universe conspiring to help you along your personal life journey.

Find a copy here.

by Jon Krakauer

You could call Jon Krakauer’s account of Christopher McCandless’ demise in the Alaskan wilderness a cautionary tale, but few would follow the adventurer on his fatal trip to live off the land. McCandless donated his savings to charity and, armed only with a book of edible plants and a journal, embarked into a new life without the confines or safety of modern society.

Find a copy here.

by Peter Mayle

After a long day living your normal life you may dream about moving to the French countryside. Mayle’s account of buying a farmhouse in Provence offers a month-by-month recollection of the food, the characters and the seedy underside of truffle hunting. You may want to pack your bags for a trip, if not to purchase a new home.

See our collection of Provence Bike Tours and visit a region celebrated for its sun-bathed lavender fields, shimmering coastlines, and spectacular medieval hilltop villages.

Find a copy here.

by Jack Kerouac

Ever since he recounted his adventures across America with several other best-generation writers, Kerouac has been the symbol of poets who gain inspiration from travel. Written and published in the 1950s, On The Road defined what it meant to combine movement with jazz and literature to create a new experience.

Find a copy here.