The success of any great travel book can be measured not in awards, but in miles. Which Are The Best Travel Books To Read In 2024.
The sheer distances they take our imaginations, and the miles they inspire us to hike, drive and fly—those are the things that matter when it comes to these books.
And sometimes, reading a travel book can book can be as transformative as the journey itself.
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Ready for a reading list that will change the way you travel? Here are the 40 must-read travel books, according to experienced globetrotters.
Prepare for a serious case of wanderlust. Best Travel Books To Read In 2024 To Make Money Traveling.
40 Best Travel Books To Explore The World
1. A From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home, by Tembi Locke
Set in the lush Sicilian countryside. Tembi discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace after her husband dies. One of the Best Travel Books 2024.
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home is a captivating story of love lost and found (it was a New York Times bestseller too).
I absolutely loved the powerful imagery and emotion of this book. I teared up so many times. It’s an incredible read.
2. “The Rings of Saturn” by W.G. Sebald
When asked for his pick for the best travel book, James Kay, editor of Lonely Planet’s website, chose a work that doesn’t quite fit into any genre. Best Travel Books for Italy.
“Travelogue? Memoir? Novel? W.G. Sebald’s account of a walking tour of the English county of Suffolk defies categorization.
The narrator meanders a few miles down the coast, but his mental journey feels far greater.
This book blends beguiling descriptions of the places and people he encounters with meditations. That range from the history of herring fishing, to colonialism in the Congo, to the reign of a Chinese empress,” said Kay.
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“‘The Rings of Saturn’ contains a philosophy for travelers who want to scratch beneath the surface of a destination: Take it slow, seek out stories, strive to be a more thoughtful explorer.
Take a copy of this one-off with you, and cultivate your sense of curiosity with every step—who knows where it might lead you?”
3. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard
This book traces Theodore Roosevelt’s journey through the River of Doubt. After he lost the Presidential election in 1912, he had the opportunity to go down to Brazil.
Originally supposed to be an easy trip. he opts to map the River of Doubt with Cândido Rondon, a Brazilian Colonel put in charge of him.
Along the way, they get sick, have frightening encounters with natives. Have to deal with murder, and experience a lack of provisions as they map this never-before-mapped river.
It was an eye-opening.
4. “The Art of Travel” by Alain de Botton
With so much travel literature telling us where to go, we can lose sight of the purpose behind traveling at all. The Best Travel Books To Read 2024 As You Make Money While Traveling.
Alain de Botton’s “The Art of Travel” serves as a reminder of the how and why when it comes to hitting the road, said Michelle Halpern, travel blogger at Live Like It’s The Weekend.
“Many travel-themed books play to our daydreams about travel.
But de Botton takes a brutally honest and philosophical look at why we travel and brings to light truths that we don’t want to see or believe.
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Namely that the fantasies we have about a place can often be better than the reality we encounter once we arrive,” she said. “He’s incredibly articulate when describing the mundane moments of travel that we often glaze over in memory.
It’s not just about the moments of grandeur—every little element is part of the whole experience.”
5. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho – Best Travel Books To Read 2024
A books about following your dreams, this is one of the most-read books in recent history. Best Travel guide books.
The story follows a young shepherd boy from Spain to Egypt as he follows his heart, goes with the flow, and learns love and the meaning of life.
The book is filled with wonderful and inspirational quotes.
My favorite: “If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man… Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.” I can’t recommend this book enough.
6. The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, and Mutiny in the South Pacific, by Brandon Presser
This book recaps the famous Mutiny on the Bounty from the 1700s. The Royal navy mutineers ended up on the modern-day island of Pitcairn and the book traces the mutiny.
I never really knew much about this incident. And it was really interesting to see what happened to the crew who made it home. and what happened to those who mutinied (and the island culture they created).
7. Love With a Chance of Drowning, by Torre DeRoche
This book is written by travel blogger Torre DeRoche. Best Travel Books for young adults. While I’m normally not a huge fan of “travel love stories” I actually couldn’t put this book down.
It’s a beautifully written book about overcoming her fear of the ocean to sail across the Pacific with her boyfriend. The way she describes the scenery, the people, and her experience makes me want to follow in her footsteps.
It’s powerful, vivid, and moving. It’s also the best travel book I’ve read all year.
8. “Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road,” by Kate Harris
The drive to seek out the unknown is what’s behind many people’s urge to travel. But where do you go when you feel that every place on earth has already been visited by millions before you?
Is there any place left to discover? Kate Harris contemplates these questions, and more, in her memoir about a year spent cycling the Silk Road.
“This book was like no other travelogue I’ve ever read. A meditation on remote places very rarely written about, history and borders,” said travel enthusiast Elizabeth Sile, senior editor at Real Simple.
“Harris perfectly captures what it feels like to want to explore. Not to take the perfect Instagram or tick off the top sights, but to be exposed to wildness and discomfort.”
9. Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis
This book is about how, whether we realize it or not. We mimic all behavior we see and how there’s really no such thing as independent thought.
We are all influenced, consciously and subconsciously. By models in our lives (think about how you didn’t feel like pizza until you saw someone else eating it) and we then mimic that behavior.
It was a fascinating look at how we all make decisions.
10. The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah
Inspired by the Moroccan vacations of his childhood, Shah decides to buy a house in Casablanca.
He moves his family from England in hopes of breaking out from the monotony of life in London as well as exposing his children to a more carefree childhood.
While dealing with corruption, the local bureaucracy, thieves, gangsters, jinns causing havoc. And the hassle that seems to come with even the most simple interactions, Shah weaves a story that is simply one of the best I’ve read all year.
It’s endlessly enthralling.
11. “A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around the Globe” edited by Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick and Christina Henry de Tessan
The sheer number of “what ifs” when considering a solo trip is enough to keep many travelers at home. “A Woman Alone” will help you conquer the fear of exploring alone and encourage you to do it on your own terms, said travel influencer Tanyka Renee.
“My initial issue with wanderlust was that I never had anyone to take trips with me. I spent years pushing adventures to the back burner due to my fear of traveling alone,” she said.
“‘A Woman Alone’ is filled with relatable stories from solo female travelers that are real, transparent and uplifting. This book will give you the push you need to face your fears and see the world all by yourself.”
12. The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi, by Richard Grant
Richard Grant is a UK writer who moved to Mississippi.
Has been writing some great stuff about the state for years (check out his last book, which is one of my all time favorites). The Best Travel Books in 2024 to read.
This book is about the beautiful town of Natchez.
A place I visited about six years back and really loved. In it, he talks about this weird quirky town and how it’s grappling with its past. He interviews all sorts of unique people and dives into the city’s history and customs. It’s travel writing at its best.
13. On the Road, by Jack Kerouac – Best Travel Books for 2024
Written in 1957, Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation classic is a timeless travel novel.
The story follows his character, Sal, as he leaves New York City and heads west, riding the rails, making friends, and partying the night away.
The main character’s frustration and desire to see the world are themes that can resonate with many of us. What I especially love about On the Road is that through all his travel adventures.
He becomes a better, stronger, and more confident person — something I can personally resonate with.
14. “The Adventures of Tintin” by Hergé
What could be more inspiring to a young traveler (or older nomads who are still young at heart) than the action-packed adventures of a reporter and his little dog wandering the world?
The visually-driven Tintin comic books gave Inma Gregorio, an experienced traveler who runs the travel blog A World to Travel, a sense of wanderlust as a child—and continues to influence her journeys now.
“‘The Adventures of Tintin’ by Belgian cartoonist Hergé was a comic series that took me to Egypt, Congo, Tibet and even the moon before I turned 8 years old.
They gave me such great memories and I highly recommended the series for all ages,” she said.
15. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman
I liked this book so much that I read it twice. It utterly changed my life and how I view time. The gist is this: there will never be enough time to do everything, so don’t try.
Get used to the fact that some things just won’t get done. That when you do “master email” all you do is add more emails to your list.
It is an anti-time-management book.
And has profoundly influenced the way I now look at time and what I do with it. I can’t recommend it enough. It was my favorite book of the year.
16. Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, by Celeste Headlee
This book was recommended to me by a friend who also read my new favorite book. Four Thousand Weeks (see above).
Do Nothing, rather than being a book on the nature of time. Is more about how we need to separate work and play and have more room to be “bored.”
We view busyness as a good thing but this book says creating holes in our calendar allows us to process our thoughts and be creative.
It’s a lot more focused on work/life balance and very much a good second read after Four Thousand Weeks.
17. Unlikely Destinations: The LP Story, by Tony & Maureen Wheeler
This tome chronicles the start and rise of the company whose guidebook is probably in your backpack or on your bookshelf right now: Lonely Planet.
Started by Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the story follows them from England in the 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century. In between, you’ll hear many amazing travel tales and learn about their early business struggles trying to get Lonely Planet off the ground.
While the book drags in some parts, it’ a fascinating read about the company that launched the guidebook industry.
18. “Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town” by Paul Theroux
African safaris top many travelers’ bucket lists.
But Paul Theroux’s book “Dark Star Safari” shows a deeper, more vibrant side of this fascinating continent, as he shares what happens on a road trip from Cairo to Cape Town, said Nicole LaBarge, who runs the adventure travel blog Travelgal Nicole.
“Most people would be put off by the dilemmas Theroux faced, but it ultimately inspired me to travel over land from Cairo to Cape Town in 2015.
I reread the book on my trip and would smile and think, ‘Yes! That is so true,’ about the countries I was visiting,” she said. “Africa is a continent that is misunderstood, but [Theroux helped me see that] going beyond safaris is [where you find] the true Africa.”
19. How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, by Daniel Immerwahr – Best Travel Books 2023 to read.
This book chronicles the history of the United States empire. It covers how the country grew, acquired overseas expansions. How “mainland” Americans felt about it, and how US dominance after World War II influenced the world map.
Even today, the US has lots of territories and overseas possessions that we never really think about (see Doug Mack’s The Not-Quite States of America for a travel version of this).
While dense, the book illuminates a lot of history that we don’t really talk about.
20. The Vagabond’s Way: 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel, by Rolf Potts
Rolf is one of the original budget travel experts and his first book Vagabonding is a travel classic. His newest book is all about bringing your adventurous. Curious, and open-minded travel mindset home with you.
With insightful quotes and reflections. The book showcases just how much travel is a way of life and not just the act of “going somewhere.”
After years of limited travel due to COVID. This book is the perfect reminder that travel is a mindset that should be embraced anywhere and everywhere you go.
21. The Lost City of Z, by David Grann – The Best Travel Books To Read In 2024
This book seeks to find out what happened to Percy Fawcett. An adventurer and explorer who trekked through the Amazon jungle in search of the fabled lost city of Z.
Blending history, biography, and travelogue. Grann intermingles information about Percy’s life. And expeditions with the science behind the myth of Z.
And the possibility that there could have been vast advanced civilizations in the Amazon that we have yet to discover. I learned a lot about the region and history of the cultures that inhabited the land long before Westerners arrived.
22. A Year of Living Danishly, by Helen Russell
This was probably my favorite book of the year.
When her husband gets a job at the Lego offices in Jutland. Helen Russell decides to head to Denmark with him, freelance write, and try to figure out why the Danes are so happy.
From childcare, education, food, and interior design to taxes, sexism, and everything in between. (turns out the Danes love to burn witches), Helen’s funny, poignant story kept me enthralled from start to finish.
It’s informative, hilarious, self-deprecating, and tells a great story of someone trying to fit in.
23. How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together, by Dan Kois
Dan Kois and his family are in a rut in their suburban life. So, he and his wife decide to take their two daughters on a trip around the world in hopes of finding ways to be closer as a family.
I found this book to be really insightful with hilarious prose and astute observations. In certain parts, you get to hear from his kids too on their version of the stories he tells.
24. The Beach, by Alex Garland – Best Travel Books To Read 2024
Besides The Alchemist, this is probably my favorite travel book. (I like the movie too, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, but the book is way better.)
Focused on a group of backpackers.
What I love about Garland’s tale and their search for the ultimate backpacker paradise is that many of us can identify with Richard.
And his quest to “do something different and get off the beaten path.” Yet in the end we often realize that very quest is an illusion. It’s a fun, page-turning tale about how backpackers’ search for the “ideal destination” can end up ruining that ideal. I love this book a lot!!
25. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller – Best Travel Books 2024
Last year, I read Circe by Madeline Miller and many of you recommended picking up her first book. The Song of Achilles, which tells the tale of Achilles from the perspective of his love, Patroclus.
While I didn’t like this as much as Circe (mostly because she advanced so much as a writer in her second book), this book was still phenomenally written.
It’s an amazing first book. If you haven’t read anything by Miller. Definitely pick up both because you won’t be disappointed.
26. Cruising Altitude, by Heather Poole
This book by Heather Poole is about life as a flight attendant. Of course, I picked it up at an airport and read it on a plane.
It’s a quick, light read about what it’s like to work at 35,000 feet.
You learn crew terms, how flight attendants are trained. How they interact with pilots, and what a regular day is like. It’s an eye-opening behind-the-scenes read.
It had some funny stories and gave me a new appreciation for just how hard those flight attendants work and how much crap they have to put up with!
27. 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, by Karl Pillemer
This book focuses on 30 lessons learned from people at the end of their life. Best Travel Books To Read 2023 – Make Money Traveling.
Pillemer interviews hundreds of seniors to find out what their biggest lessons in life were. And then distills it down to 30 that cut across work, life, relationships, marriage, money, success, friendship, and more.
At 41, I have learned a lot of these lessons already but it was a good reminder of what is important and what is worth spending my time and energy on.
It’s definitely a book anyone, especially those who are young, should read.
28. Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts
Written by the godfather of vagabonding, Rolf Potts, this book is a must-read for those new to long-term travel.
Rolf spent 10 years on the road (he even walked across Israel), and his book contains valuable insights, interesting quotes, and a lot of practical information.
From saving to planning to life on the road, this is a must for newbies. It’s an inspirational book and one that really affected me when I was planning my trip.
It delves into the why and philosophy of long-term travel that no other book has come close to doing.
29. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing – Best Travel Books 2024
This iconic book is about Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey to cross Antarctica in 1914.
While trying to reach the South Pole. His boat got stuck in the ice and he and his crew were forced to abandon ship and walk north in hope of being rescued by a passing whaling boat.
This book highlights their journey and survival as they spend over a year on the ice. It was absolutely riveting to read and a testament to the strong will and skill of the men involved.
30. Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams
This book recounts Adams’s tale of roughing it through Peru in search of Inca ruins. And ancient cities while following archaeologist Hiram Bingham’s original route to the famed Machu Picchu.
The book taught me a lot about Peru, and I am inspired to visit a lot of the sites Adams explored on my trip there next year. Like him, I fully plan to turn right.
It was the best travelogue I’ve read in the past year and has inspired me to visit a lot of the places he did in the book whenever I finally make it down to Peru!
31. Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America’s Forgotten Border, by Porter Fox
Porter Fox grew up in Maine and, after a life of travel. Decides to learn more about the US/Canada border.
So, starting in Maine, he heads west tracing the border. Learning about its history and meeting interesting people all the way to Washington.
With a lot of vivid descriptions and historical background. Fox weaves together a really wonderful travel book.
32. In A Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson
It’s hard to pick just one book by Bill Bryson because they’re all great. He’s one of the most prolific and recognized names in travel writing.
This book chronicles a journey through Australia and takes you from east to west. Through tiny little mining towns, forgotten coastal cities, and off-the-beaten-path forests.
Bryson includes lots of trivia in his tale as he travels around in awe — and sometimes in fear (thanks to box jellyfish, crocs, spiders, and snakes) — of this enormous country.
This is the book that will inspire you to go to Australia.
33. Sahara Unveiled, by William Langewiesche
Written by journalist William Langewiesche in the 1990s, this book is beautifully detailed and wonderfully written.
I was hooked by the punchy prose from page one. Langewiesche travels from Algeria through Niger and Mali before finishing in Dakar.
Along the way, he offers deep insight into the culture and history of the region at a time when there was a lot of change happening.
A fascinating snapshot in time. Best travel Books For 2023 To Read.
34. The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner – Best Travel Books To Read 2024 – Make Money Traveling
Writer and NPR correspondent Eric Weiner set out on a yearlong journey to find the world’s happiest places.
He heads to places like Iceland, Qatar, Denmark, India, and Moldova (the world’s most unhappy place) on his quest to learn what makes us happy (or unhappy).
While he never finds a single secret to happiness, his journey makes for an amazing and lighthearted read.
In trying to answer the question “what makes a society happy?,” Weiner has some memorable interactions with locals that make this a fun travel read. Best Travel Books of All Time.
Best Travel Books 2024 for Inspiring Your Next Big Trip
From fiction to memoirs to guidebooks, these escapist reads will have you booking a plane ticket in no time.
Some of these books are works of fiction that transport us to spectacular destinations, like the lush Italian Riviera or the ice-bound Russian tundra.
Others are travel memoirs recounting extraordinary journeys, like seeing the United States by AmTrak or biking overland from Ireland to India.
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Still others seek to answer deeper questions about travel, like, “How does travel change us?” and, “How do we travel ethically?”
Whatever your preference, be sure you have a good suitcase at the ready, because once you start reading in earnest, you’ll be pulling the trigger on a plane ticket in no time.
Dreaming of a holiday on the Italian Riviera?
Look no further than Beautiful Ruins, Walter’s luscious novel of midcentury Italy and contemporary Hollywood.
Beautiful Ruins opens in 1962, when Pasquale, the young proprietor of a ramshackle inn on the Ligurian coastline, encounters Dee Moray, a beguiling American starlet.
Pasquale soon learns that Dee’s stay at the inn is just a pit stop on the way to Switzerland for medical treatment, but it’s more than enough time for a wistful intimacy to form between them.
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On a Hollywood backlot many decades later, a disillusioned development assistant encounters an elderly Italian gentleman seeking answers about an actress he met long ago.
Lavishly imagined and shimmeringly told, Beautiful Ruins is a fantasia of treachery and romance, showcasing a seminal American writer at the height of his powers.
Ever dreamed about uprooting your family for one life-changing, globe-trotting year? Kois did exactly that, and lived to tell the tale. Best Travel Books 2023 To Make Money Traveling.
Disillusioned with the screen-heavy grind of parenting two pre-teen girls in Washington D.C., Kois and his wife spirited their daughters away to seek new kinds of togetherness in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small-town Kansas.
The product of their travels is this heartwarming memoir, wherein Kois meditates on parenting, community, and the parts of who we are that follow us, no matter how far we go.
At Memorial’s center are two complicated men: Benson, a Black daycare teacher, and Mike, a Japanese-American chef. Best Travel Books for Inspiring Your Next Big Trip.
Benson and Mike’s years-long live-in relationship is on the rocks, with each one of them too apathetic to rekindle their romance or to end it.
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As Mike puts it: “We fight. We make up. We fuck on the sofa, in the kitchen, on the floor.
I cook, and cook, and cook.” Their companionable stasis is turned upside down when Mike receives news that his estranged father is dying in Japan. Just as his mother Mitsuko arrives on their doorstep, forcing Benson and Mitsuko to become unlikely roommates in Mike’s absence.
Come for Memorial‘s bittersweet story of love, care, and what it means to be home. But stay for the novel’s mouth-watering culinary travelogue. Featuring everything from Japanese comfort food to Houston TexMex.
At the center of this bewitching novel set in remote Russia is the mysterious disappearance of two young girls.
Around that fulcrum turns a maelstrom of social, ethnic, and gendered tension magnified by the crime.
Phillips evokes a tight-knit community riven by loss.
As well as an unreal landscape on the edge of the earth, replete with tundras, volcanoes, and startling, foreign beauty.
39. A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende
From a titan of literature comes an epic novel that opens in 1930s Spain. Where a pregnant widow makes a harrowing pilgrimage over mountains and oceans to escape civil war.
Bound to her deceased lover’s brother in a marriage of convenience. She settles in Allende’s native Chile, where she builds a new home while reconsidering her relationship to the home she left behind.
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In this transporting novel of journeys and homecomings.
Allende is as transcendent and life-affirming as ever, locating joy even in the refugee experience and light even in the darkness.
Best Travel Books for Inspiring Your Next Big Trip.
40. Hidden Places, by Sarah Baxter – Best Travel Books To Read 2024 – Make Money Traveling
If you’re the type of traveler who wants to get off the beaten path. Look no further than Hidden Places, a lavishly illustrated guidebook highlighting some of the world’s best-kept secrets.
Many of the places contained here are difficult to access, like a remote village in alpine Austria with a population of 39 people. Or secreted away by their ancient makers, like the rock-cut underground churches of Lalibela.
Whether you want to hike through craggy mountain passages or glimpse the ancient world. Hidden Places celebrates the road not taken. Best Travel Books 2024 To Make Money Traveling.
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