Happy Tuesday, y’all! Can you believe August is here already? I certainly can’t! This week Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl is asking us to share books set in places we would love to visit (real or fictitious). Honestly, there are a few places I would love to see that I’ve come across in books. But I decided to twist this topic a little. This week I am sharing 7 bookish places I want to visit. Some may be easier than others to do, but I think they could be fun all the same!
Images below are not necessarily the bookish places, they are free images from pexels.com
Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Most bookish people have heard of this sleepy little village in Wales. If not, let me introduce you to the original Book Town! What is a book town? A book lover’s dream!
A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian book stores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists.
Book town – Wikipedia
Hay-on-Wye has over a dozen bookshops in a town of around 2,000 residents. It sounds like a wonderful place to visit!
Hay-on-Wye – The Official Website
Hobart, New York
Maybe traveling to Wales is a little extreme at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I can’t visit a book town a bit closer to home. Enter Hobart, NY! This tiny hamlet is situated in the Catskill Mountains, about 4 hours northwest of New York City. With a population under 500 people, Hobart is home to half a dozen bookshops. Hobart hosts two big sales every year, one at the end of May and the other at the end of November. Perfect for summer reading and holiday gift giving!
For Those Who Love Books – Home (hobartbookvillage.com)
The Monkey’s Paw
No, not the short story, The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs. Instead, I mean the antique book store in Toronto, Canada. Why an antique book store? Other than why not? Because The Monkey’s Paw is home to the world’s first randomizing vending machine for books. For $4, you will get a random book from The Biblio-mat. What could be more fun than that?
Torquay, England
Heading back to the UK, Torquay is home to one of my favorite authors. Who is that, you may ask? Well, Dame Agatha Christie, of course. Every September around her birthday, Torquay hosts the Agatha Christie Festival. The festival features various exhibits and workshops that revolve around works of Christie. This year’s festival includes a display of costumes worn in some adaptations, a sightseeing sea swim, and murder mystery performances. Even if you don’t visit during the festival, there are still several Christie-related things to see and do around Torquay and Devon as a whole.
International Agatha Christie Festival | Home (iacf-uk.org)
Prince Edward Island, Canada
While Avonlea isn’t a real place, Green Gables is! As a fan of Anne of Green Gables, a visit to PEI would be a fantastic trip to make. There are L.M. Montgomery sites throughout the province of Prince Edward Island, from her birthplace to her burial site and everything in between. There are also a couple of different theater productions that revolve around everyone’s favorite redhead!
Anne of Green Gables | Tourism PEI
The Orient Express
Who hasn’t read Murder on the Orient Express and wished they could ride the 5-star hotel on rails? Not for the murder and crime, obviously! But for the sheer luxury of such a journey. The journey from Istanbul to Paris is a 5-night trip with a grand price tag (over $60,000 USD per person). For a one-night journey from London to Venice, it’s a reasonable $11,000. No matter the trip, it is an experience!
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, A Belmond Train | Luxury Train from London to Venice
Camp Half-Blood
While we’re in the realm of fantasy trips, let’s imagine an opportunity to visit Camp Half-Blood. Located along the north shore of Long Island in New York, the camp is shrouded (hidden) by strawberry fields. To the mortals who travel near, they only see endless fields of strawberries. To the demigods who need it, they will see Camp Half-Blood.
Camp Half-Blood | Riordan Wiki | Fandom
And that is a list of 7 bookish places I would love to visit! What about you? Do you have any bookish places you would love to visit?
Looking for some more ideas to read? Check out my monthly reading wrap-ups and bookish lists.
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I didn’t know about The Monkey’s Paw before this post (the shop; I knew of the short story), but now that I know about it I really want to go there! A randomized book vending machine? That sounds fascinating!
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/08/02/top-ten-tuesday-books-set-in-a-place-id-love-to-visit/
Hay-On-Wye works for me! I love bookish little towns! PEI would be amazing too- I’ve always wanted to vist the Canadian maritime provinces.
The Orient Express would be amazing but I had no idea it was THAT expensive! Yikes!!
I have wanted to go to Hay-on-Wye for as long as I can remember… I’m honestly not sure why I haven’t just driven down there yet (it’s only about 70 miles from me!)
Hay-on-Wye and Hobart sound lovely! Also, the Orient Express sounds amazing but that’s indeed waayyy too expensive 🙂
Fabulous twist on the prompt and such good places to visit. I knew of a few of them but you can never know about too many book events! The Orient Express would be beyond fabulous – but I’d need a big inheritance to make that happen. 🙂 Thanks for the visit. Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
I love all the tidbits you shared here! So fun! Great twist on today’s topic!
I’d love to visit Hay-on-Wye sometime too.
Fantastic list!
I finally visited Hay-on-Wye for the first time this year, and can confirm it 100% lives up to the hype–it’s stunning! I hope you get to visit one day.
FangirlFlax @ FangirlFlax
https://fangirlflax.wordpress.com/2022/08/02/top-ten-tuesday-five-places-i-loved-so-much-i-set-a-book-there/
I did not realize that Green Gables was real!! That’s really cool and thanks for sharing that tidbit! I had no idea and it sounds like such a lovely place to visit! Great list.
Orient Express sounds like a must-do thing… after I win the lottery or something.
Great list😊
I love your twist on this week’s topic!
What a fun list. I had never heard of Hay-on-Wye, but it sounds amazing. PEI is on my list as well. My sister visited once and found a white farmhouse with green trim similar to Green Gables, which had the names of me and my husband on the mailbox.
Hope you get a chance to visit all your book destinations. Thanks for stopping by my blog today.
I visited Wales for the first time last year and loved it. I can’t wait to go back! Hay-On-Wye is definitely a place I want to see for myself. A book town? What could be better?
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Great list! Hope you get to travel to some of these soon!
A trip on the Orient Express would be a blast! And the Agatha Christie Festival sounds amazing.
Oh my gosh, Camp Half-Blood! I started a re-read of the Percy Jackson series this summer but haven’t had the chance to continue reading after The Titan’s Curse. I loved that series so much as a kid, and I’m hoping to get the chance to keep reading it soon 🙂
claire @ clairefy
Hay-on-Wye is lovely. Unfortunately, my only visit there was in 2001 on September 11… so… I think I need a corrective visit to wipe that memory away!
I 100% Torquay with Fawlty Towers. 😀
Oh I’d go on The Orient Express with you any day!! When do we depart?? Gosh, I would love that. And Prince Edward Island too….
Have a good weekend Pam!
A great list! I have just come back from Wales. We weren’t near there, but now I want to go back to Wales to see that village!!!
Have a great weekend!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
The Orient Express WOULD be fun (just to meet Christie characters) but given what’s going on, I’d probably be scared. 😉 However, PEI ALWAYS interested me. Likely because of Anne of Green Gables. Thanks so much for visiting my list on this week! Apologies it took this long to visit here.
OMG! I’d love to ride the Orient Express and go to PE Island. Great choices! 😀
I would absolutely LOVE to ride the Orient Express! I’d be okay with having to solve a murder, too (as long as it’s not my own), though I can’t say that’d be a particularly ideal vacation. xD Talk about stressful.
Great list! I have been to PEI and Green Gables (the house) as well as seen the Anne of Green Gables production with my daughter. It was wonderful.