4 Great Literary Vacations

The sun has finally made its appearance in Switzerland, so Writer Abroad can’t help but think about vacation even though she isn’t traveling. Instead, she’s reliving several of her great literary vacations through this post, so if you’re looking for an excuse to travel with a book, here are some destinations to consider:

Place: Zurich, Switzerland

Literary hero: James Joyce

What to read: Ulysses, which James Joyce wrote in Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland: James Joyce's home for many years

Where to visit: The Joyce Foundation for a tour of Joyce’s Zurich, the Kronenhalle Restaurant, where Joyce often dined in the 1930s, the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s main shopping street that Joyce wrote a poem about, James Joyce Pub, which has the original furnishings from the Jury’s Antique Bar in Dublin, and The Fluntern Cemetary, high above the city, where Joyce is buried.

Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Literary hero: Anne Frank

What to read: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Where to visit: Anne Frank Museum, the place where Anne’s family went into hiding.

Place: Prince Edward Island, Canada

What to read: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Where to visit: Green Gables Heritage Place, the setting that inspired the author’s book, Avonlea Village, L.M. Montgomery’s home in Cavendish where she wrote the books, Anne & Gilbert—The Musical, and the L.M. Montgomery Birthplace.

Place: Oak Park, Illinois, USA

What to read: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, an Oak Park resident who researched hometown architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his illicit love affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney in order to write this award-winning novel.

Where to visit: Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, Wright Plus Home Walk, and what the heck, the Hemingway Museum.

Anyone else have suggestions for a literary vacation?