Winning tip: Dublin’s literary giants
“A group of drinkers with a writing problem.” That’s how our guide introduced the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl (£15pp for two-hour tour), an unforgettable, interactive tour-cum-street-theatre around the drinking establishments beloved of James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett. We had an amazing evening, learning about the colourful lives and times of these literary greats. It included a memorable visit to Trinity College and a literary quiz. The following day’s visit to the James Joyce Cultural Centre, in a stunning Georgian townhouse, was equally fascinating. Ditto the Dublin Writers Museum in Parnell Square with its replica Book of Kells among many exhibits ancient and modern.
Moira
Love and war in Zennor, Cornwall
I remember reading about DH Lawrence’s turbulent time in Zennor, Cornwall, when sweeping along the bracing coast on a local bus. Lawrence moved there during the first world war with his German wife Frieda, looking to escape stifling London after having had his book The Rainbow banned and being subject to travel restrictions. But he also found himself harassed by some locals in this rural idyll. He and Frieda would, reportedly, sing songs in German while traversing the lush landscape and may have got involved in a brawl or two in the local pub (The Tinner, still going strong). It all ended in tears, and the police ended up evicting Lawrence from the county, accusing him of spying. Still, he described it as the best place he had been. The cottage that he rented is still there and was owned by author Michael Morpurgo around the time he wrote War Horse.
Kathleen
The Bard and the beautiful, Stratford-upon-Avon
It may be a cliche, but Stratford, without the influx of tourist coaches, is a revelation. A walking tour of the town (booked at tourist information) is a fascinating insight into the growth of a medieval town and how Stratford’s position on the London trade route may have given Shakespeare a view into a much bigger world. Then there are the theatres, the traditional pubs, the houses that provide a view of life in the past and the fabulous Compton Verney art gallery (adult £17, child free) a few miles away with its six fascinating permanent exhibitions featuring works by artists as diverse as Canaletto and Enid Marx, and – until 6 March – a beautiful light trail.
Ann
Earliest known female English author, Norwich
Tucked away in a Grade I-listed parish church, itself hidden in a narrow street, there is a shrine to Julian of Norwich. This is a reconstruction of the dwelling place of the earliest known female English writer. The anchoritic cell in which she wrote the longer version of her Revelation of Love offers a gateway into a unique literary mind of the 14th century. It is also a uniquely contemplative space, allowing each visitor to be alone with their thoughts and at peace, just as Julian must have been. Saint Julian’s Church, in Saint Julian’s Alley, off Rouen Road, is open every day 9am to around 4pm, and free to visit.
GG
Castaway in a fine old pub, Bristol
The Llandoger Trow is a pub and restaurant in the Bristol waterfront area. This stunning 17th-century building is said to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Admiral Benbow Inn in Treasure Island and as you sit there, you can picture the scene in the first chapter of the book. Stepping through the door on to the planked floor is like walking back to a time of pirates, skullduggery, rum and spittoons, but the literary history doesn’t end with Treasure Island. It is also said that Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk in the Llandoger Trow about 300 years ago and his tale inspired him to write Robinson Crusoe. Any bibliophiles’ dream location.
Alyson Caddick
Monte Cristo made real, Marseille
I booked to visit Marseille purely based on reading The Count of Monte Cristo. The city still holds great resemblance to the vivid descriptions in Dumas’s book. The barren Château d’If prison, surrounded by glistening seas, the narrow streets of the old town, the diverse feel of the Noailles district and the coming and going of many boats that could take me away to all the places talked about in Dumas’s novel. The heat was lingering too, with warm summer nights that reminded me of when Edmond Dantès visited Mercédès. The city still felt gritty, bustling and as proud as it had in the novel, and despite the years of modernisation, I felt like I was walking in the footsteps of Dantès.
Maddy Warner
Bonfire of the Vanities, Florence
There are many literary reasons to visit Florence, but for me it is the plaque in Piazza della Signoria marking the place of execution of Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola’s Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497 and his eventual hanging (which both took place in the square) form the background to George Eliot’s superb Romola.
Jeremy Reynolds
The trail to the Green Corrie, Assynt, Highlands
At the Loch of the Green Corrie is a wonderful book by Andrew Greig in which the author seeks to find and fish a remote lochan in Assynt, Scotland, at the bequest of his dying friend, poet Norman MacCaig. A few years ago I too set out to find the Green Lochan. A remote walk from the hamlet of Inchnadamph along a stalkers’ track, crossing numerous ice-cold streams, eventually led to the rocky ridge near Glas Bheinn, and from here, on the edge of the Green Corrie, I peered down into the remote loch, with the Eas a’ Chual Aluinn, Britain’s highest waterfall, in the distance. A truly dramatic and wild landscape, captured by the author and now framed in my mind for ever.
Paul Wilson
Words fly off the pages in Naples
My recent visit to Naples was inspired, among other reasons, by the writers who have been influenced by the city. Sartre, Dostoevsky and Oscar Wilde were classic authors enchanted by the almost operatic quality of life there – from the ancient streets and markets to the sweeping views over the Bay of Naples to Vesuvius. Then there is Penny Green’s See Naples and Die and the more recent televised novels of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet. In every book and every moment I spent in the city there is a heady sense of living every moment with an energising exciting intensity.
Gonca
Guardian Travel readers' tips
Every week we ask our readers for recommendations from their travels. A selection of tips will be featured online and may appear in print. To enter the latest competition visit the readers' tips homepage
-
Aix and pains, Provence, France
I’ve loved Marcel Pagnol’s Jean de Florette ever since school days. It’s a story defined by its sumptuous geography. But a family trip to Provence to quench my thirst for pines and cypresses, the mistral, pastis and boules in a hilltop village didn’t pan out. Not quite. The car got stuck between two village houses, we completely failed to find the quaint centre of Aix despite staying nearby, and initially the best food we found was a kebab on a dimly lit corner. But we finally got some feeling of Jean de Florette as we ate a meal featuring grilled local sausage and pastis as the mistral gusted through the cypresses while watching rugby on a TV. A fan of one of the teams sitting close to us was the image of Yves Montand as César Soubeyran! Location? Avenue Marcel Pagnol of course.
Antony T
