10 Wanderlust Books To Inspire Travel

When you’re stuck at home, read these wanderlust books to inspire travel!

 

Books to inspire travel are a terrific way to travel vicariously when you can’t leave your home! When I think of wanderlust books, I want stories set in far off locations full of rich detail.

Each of the books on my list is set in a vacation destination or place I’d love to visit someday. The descriptions of the setting are vivid and directly inspire the story.

So if you’re looking for wanderlust books, you’ll visit Alaska, Russia, France, New England, and more in this book list!

*Disclosure – I earn a small commission for any books purchased through the links below. Thank you for supporting this book blog!

 

10 Wanderlust Books To Inspire Travel

 

 

The 100 Foot Journey by Richard Marais

The descriptions of France and Paris and India are wonderful, but I also want to visit the amazing restaurants and eat local foodie specialties. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Alaskan wilderness probably wouldn’t appear on many bucket lists, but Ivey’s descriptions of the landscapes sound breathtaking. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell 

The intermingled biography of Julia Child and cooking attempts of Julie Powell’s makes me want to try my hand at these recipes in France. I learned a great deal about Julia Child’s fascinating life in France and how she came to be a household name. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden 

Arden does a phenomenal job describing the Russian landscape. It’s easy to believe you could actually find the magic and folklore intertwined with the land if you were to visit. You can read my Book Discussion on this one here. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan 

This was my introduction to Jenny Colgan and I fell in love with her stories. A small town in Scotland serves as the setting and by the end I had practically booked tickets and sold my house. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

The Simple Wild is an enemies to lovers romance set in the Alaskan wilderness. When a local bush plane pilot is tasked with taking city girl Calla to meet her estranged father, sparks eventually fly. Since so many scenes take place from a plane, there are gorgeous depictions of the Alaskan landscapes. Anyone will want to visit! | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien

Setting plays a huge role in Tolkien’s writing and he doesn’t shy away from describing the places his characters encounter.  If MiddleEarth existed, I would for sure want to go there. However, I’ll take the next best thing: New Zealand! This is where the movies were filmed. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd

Rutherford makes cities come alive in his novels through the lives of multiple generations of fictional families. In the Princes of Ireland, he begins telling the incredible saga of Dublin.

This is one of the wanderlust books that actually did inspire a trip!! We took a whirlwind vacation a few years ago that hit all the major sites of Ireland. If you want to see what we did, check out my trip recap! | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Ree Drummond is a bundle of fun to watch cook. Her personality shines through her food and this memoir is just as delightful as her cooking shows.

The story of how she transitioned from a city girl to a farmer’s wife is unique and touching. I’d love to visit a ranch in the Midwest on one of our future vacations. | Amazon

 

 

 

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

New England is the perfect setting for this tale about a magical family of women. Besides the fact that I absolutely adored the book, the setting is beautiful. There’s something about quaint New England towns that make you believe some form of magic could exist there. | Amazon

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite wanderlust books to inspire travel?

 

12 Comments

  1. I love this post and just added several of your picks to my TBR! I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a book virtual road trip by state and this is inspiring me. A few I have enjoyed are Wild by Cheryl Strayed making me want to hike the PCT, anything by Bill Bryson and Jane Austen always makes me want to visit the English countryside.

  2. I hope you’ll share highlights of your Ireland trip! I lived in Dublin after college, and my husband and I did another whirlwind trip of Ireland and Scotland for our honeymoon. I love it, and love to live vicariously through others’ visits to my favorite places 🙂 Have an amazing trip!

    1. I will definitely be posting my trip report from Ireland!! I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures and stories to share. Sounds like a wonderful choice for a honeymoon : )

  3. Love your picks! The Snow Child is one of my favourite books, so I’m very pleased it made it on your list 🙂 And you really made me want to read the Bear and the Nightingale. The cover looks beautiful… Plus you have Jenny Colgan’s Bookshop book on here, so all is well. Lovely post and I hope you really enjoy your trip around Ireland! 🙂

  4. Stephen Booth, one of my favourite British mystery writers, describes the Peak District in such detail I long to visit. On my bucket list!

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