From modern romances to classic novels, these viral reads might just take you from bookshelf to booking your next trip.
Every year, a deluge of eccentrically dressed people hit the streets of Dublin to celebrate Bloomsday – the festival honouring James Joyce’s magnum opus, Ulysses. The novel is set over one day (16 June) and maps out a man’s meanderings around the city – a journey replicated annually by readers from all over the world.
You could call it a ‘book-cation’ – the latest buzzy term for a trip inspired by places and people featured in popular literature. While the concept is nothing new, the rise of BookTok has brought literary travel to the screens (and minds) of younger travellers. Now, everything from old classics to steamy romances act as travel guides for the next generation.
For the uninitiated, BookTok is a community of people on TikTok who make videos all about books and reading. It sounds simple, but just one viral review can rocket a novel – old or new – up the bestsellers list, simultaneously shooting certain places straight to the top of your travel wish list. Here are seven trending stories that could shape your next adventure.
The beach read: People We Meet On Vacation
Emily Henry’s 2021 romance, People We Meet On Vacation (now a Netflix movie) was one of the early BookTok hits. It follows Poppy, a travel writer who has the very difficult task of choosing a place to go and write about each year. While the will-they-won’t-they plot between Poppy and her best friend Alex keeps you hooked, it’s the places they go that could spark your own page-turner of an adventure.
Follow in Poppy and Alex’s footsteps by exploring Split and Dubrovnik on the Croatia Sailing Adventure, or have a much better time than they had in California on the 18 to 35s One Week from Vegas to LA trip.
The tear jerker: One Day
The University of Oxford has been a muse for many authors over the years (Phillip Pullman and Thomas Hardy among them), leading countless bookworms to study in its hallowed halls. But it’s Edinburgh – where Em and Dex’s love story in David Nicholls’s One Day begins, on the day of their graduation – that’s had recent readers researching trips like their PhD depends on it.
If you’re a One Day fan yearning for the UK, consider the Best of Britain trip. You’ll spend time in Oxford, inspiring awe in your inner academic, before making your way to Edinburgh, where you can make the climb to Arthur’s Seat, the iconic viewpoint that bookends Nicholls’s novel.
The modern classic: My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels have become modern classics, with My Brilliant Friend, the first of the four-part series, taking the top spot on The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list.
The story follows Elena and Lila, two fiercely competitive friends, as they grow up in Naples. Ferrante brings the intensity of Naples to life before the characters gain a new sense of freedom on a trip to the island of Ischia. This change in scenery allows Elena to grow and see herself a little differently.
See if the volcanic island has the same effect on you by joining the Amalfi Coast Sailing Adventure, with free time to explore Ischia, where you can lie on the beach or visit its natural hot springs.
The historical novel: Taiwan Travelogue
Winner of the International Booker Prize 2026, Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi is a masterclass in metafiction. Set in 1938 – when the island was still under Japanese rule – the novel is presented as autofiction written by a Japanese author, tracing her bond with a local interpreter and the uneasy dynamics between coloniser and colonised. Food runs through every page and each chapter is named after a different Taiwanese dish.
Get familiar with those dishes on Explore Taiwan, an 11-day trip that has you rolling tea leaves and picking clams. You’ll also make peanut ice-cream roll and crispy spring-onion pancakes and try a bunch of delicious street foods in Taipei.
The non-fiction: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan has two major accolades: it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and has Andrew Garfield’s endorsement. The actor described it as a ‘book that stirs the spirit and calls the spirit to adventure’. You’ll go around the world with Finnegan as he grows up surfing in California and Hawaii, followed by transformative trips to Fiji, Madeira and beyond. A true adventurer, Finnegan refuses to be bound by convention, with the water where he feels most free.
Take a leaf out of Finnegan’s book by swimming at Nabalesere Waterfall and white-water rafting through Fiji’s highlands on the Fiji: Hike, Raft & Snorkel trip. Or, if you prefer something a little more grounded, you can always explore Madeira on foot on the Hiking in Madeira trip.
The classic: Dracula
Many readers hear the term ‘classic literature’ and think ‘well, that’ll be boring and hard to read, no thanks.’ But Bram Stoker’s Dracula might be one of the best reasons to give it a go. This epistolary novel – written entirely as a collection of letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings – feels like it was designed for people who love to swipe between different POVs online. Although Stoker never actually visited Romania, he based Count Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, a real-life prince from the region known for his brutal punishments.
Grab a spot on the Hiking in Romania: Via Transilvanica Trail trip to see Bran Castle – long linked with Dracula – and experience the hospitality of Romanians who live in the villages along the trail over homemade lunches and local wine.
The multi-generational saga: Pachinko
What if one decision changed the lives of your descendants forever? Min Jin Lee’s second novel, Pachinko, explores exactly that – chronicling four generations of a family across the 20th century, following Sunja’s decision to emigrate from Korea to Japan.
The themes of food and culture that thread through the book can also be found on Intrepid trips. Join the Korea Real Food Adventure and you’ll stop by the Busan fish market, where Sunja’s family worked; or choose Japan Highlights to explore Kuromon Market in Osaka, a modern-day counterpart for the market where Sunja sold her kimchi.
Turn the page on an Intrepid adventure or add some travel guides to your reading list.
