Literary tourism - visiting bookshops and literary locations

Having spent most of the day reading travel literature theory for my dissertation, I then moved on to an article in this month's Bibliomula about travel for literature.The article by Pino (@bobbylechuga) discussed both bookshops as tourist attractions and the practice of visiting places made famous through literature. In response, I thought I'd share a few of my own.

Firstly, bookshops. Pino's list of bookshops turned tourist attractions unsurprisingly contained Shakespeare and Co. Having featured in both Before Sunset and Midnight in Paris, it has become one of the most famous bookshops in the world. A hang-out for the Beat Generation in the 60s, it remains a haven for writers and bibliophiles alike, a place to read (obviously) but also take tea, write and even sleep (there are 13 beds above the shop). In the shadow of Notre Dame and on the Left Bank of the Seine, it's also perfectly located for tourists.

While I lived in Paris, I visited Shakespeare and Co - how could I not? I enjoyed nosing around the densely packed shelves and overhearing customers discussing the different books on offer. I also used to pass by at night quite often and was always intrigued by the lock-ins which seemed to frequently occur. However, as interesting as Shakespeare and Co is as a tourist spot, it is far from my favourite bookshop in Paris. In my mind, there is no greater bookshop in the world, let alone Paris, than Gibert Jeune. I say shop, but actually there are nine shops, all in the same area around Place St Michel, with more books than you could ever imagine on the most diverse range of subjects. Located just fifteen minutes walk from where I lived, it was a horrible temptation and parted me from hundreds of euros over the course of ten months. My favourite part of Gibert Jeune is the top floor of the main building on Boulevard St Michel, where new and second hand French novels - from the classics to contemporary - were piled high for one or two euros each. I left Paris with boxes full of them - lucky I didn't have to fly them home (thanks Dad)! If you love books and bargains and you find yourself in Paris, schedule a few hours to explore this literary Aladdin's cave.

I think I just like being surrounded by lots of books, the more the better, as the other bookshop I would (and did) specifically travel to is Powell's City of Books, the world's largest independent bookstore. Powell's takes up an entire city block of the Pearl Disctrict of Portland, Oregon and is so big that you're given a map when you enter to find your way around.

I decided to visit Portland on my trip around the northern states originally because there's a great music scene, led by The Decemberists. When I started researching the city, two attractions there quickly became some of my most anticipated visits of the trip: Voodoo Donut (honestly worth going all the way to Portland for) and Powell's City of Books. As with Gibert Jeune, it was amazing to be surrounded by so many books on all possible subjects. Unfortunately backpacking isn't conducive to buying lots of books, but I had a very happy time browsing, reading covers and making a nice long list of books to later acquire (one on my Kindle there and then: Mike McIntyre's The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America). Definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in the Pacific North West.

As for visiting places from books, I'm always excited to be somewhere that featured in one of my favourite reads. As an Austen fan, I loved being at university in Bath and imagining Catherine Moreland and Henry Tilney strolling through the same streets that I passed every day. I was really excited about visiting Stonehenge for the first time, hoping to pretend I was Tess Durbeyfield (and then bitterly disappointed that you can't go anywhere near the stones). Most memorably, while travelling in northern Spain I made a literature inspired detour to Huesca. In George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia he explains that during the Spanish Civil War they would say every day "Tomorrow we'll have coffee in Huesca": the small town in rural Aragon was occupied by Franco's troops, so it was a small way of maintaining faith in an eventual victory which never came. Orwell swore that when Spain was finally free of Franco's dictatorship he would have coffee in Huesca, but sadly died long before this was possible, so I went and drank a coffee in his honour.

What about you? What bookshops would you go out of your way to visit? Where have you visited because it's the location of a story? Comment with your recommendations!