World Book Day – a dozen famous settings from literature that you can explore with direct Manchester Airport flights
If you’ve got school-aged children, you won’t have failed to notice that World Book Day is here. This morning, kids up and down the country headed into school dressed as their favourite fictional characters, looking for a new page-turner to spend their book tokens on.
The love of reading stays with many of us into adulthood, though – and with it comes the inspiration to see the settings of some of our favourite stories in person.
Manchester Airport’s global route network of more than 200 destinations is unmatched in the UK outside London, and offers bookworms the chance to explore real-world places that have been brought into the popular imagination by iconic works of fiction.
In celebration of World Book Day, here are a dozen literary locations you might want to consider for your next getaway.
Verona (Romeo & Juliet)
Fly to Verona with easyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair or TUI
The charming Italian city of Verona was idealised and romanticised by William Shakespeare, providing the setting for two of his plays – including, most famously, Romeo & Juliet. Visitors can explore the Casa di Giulietta, a 13th-Century nobleman’s house with a famous balcony where Juliet is said to have listened to Romeo.
Northern Ireland (The Chronicles of Narnia)
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CS Lewis’ mythical world of Narnia is said to be inspired by the landscapes and legends of Northern Ireland, where he grew up. A public square in the city named in his honour features statues and murals of characters from his famous works, including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Head south out of the city and you’ll find a Narnia Trail in the woodlands of Kilbroney Park.
New York City (The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, American Psycho, and many more)
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The Big Apple is right at the core of American popular culture, so it’s no surprise that a litany of renowned works of fiction have been set here. Many of them – including The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye and American Psycho, examine the city’s reputation for hedonism and have helped shape its image as a ‘city that never sleeps’. The prohibition-era speakeasies of The Great Gatsby are largely consigned to history now, but many still inhabit the same spots they did in the 1920s – like The Back Room on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which still requires entry through a toy shop façade.
Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Les Miserables and more)
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Victor Hugo is a giant of French literature, with his works having been translated into hundreds of languages – and the 19th-Century Paris that he called home is the setting of his two most famous works, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables. Many of the real-life Parisian landmarks that provide the settings for both stories are still standing – you can tour the Notre-Dame cathedral, the Jardin du Luxembourg and even the sewers where Jean Valjean helps Marius escape in Les Mis, thanks to the Paris Sewer Museum. More modern works set in Paris include Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
The Amalfi Coast (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
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The Amalfi Coast, to the south of Naples, is one of Italy’s most breathtaking landscapes, with picturesque villages clinging to the side of cliffs overhanging the Mediterranean. Once such village, Positano, is widely believed to be the inspiration for the fictional Mongibello, the adopted home of the titular character in Patricia Highsmith’s crime thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley, later adapted into a Hollywood film shot on the same stunning coastline.
Brussels (The Adventures of Tintin)
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Tintin was one of the earliest comic book characters to go global – and he did so from his home on Labrador Road in Brussels. The official Tintin website offers a walking guide to the Belgian capital, taking you via various real-life sites frequented by the roving student reporter and explorer, along with murals and street art, the birthplace of Tintin’s creator Georges Remi, and even a Tintin themed souvenir shop.
Jamaica (A Brief History of Seven Killings and Wide Sargasso Sea)
Fly to Montego Bay with TUI
Jamaica’s tropical climate, idyllic beaches and landscapes, and colourful architecture have formed the backdrop to countless bestsellers, both historical and contemporary. Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings won the 2015 Booker Prize and takes a look at the gritty reality of life in Jamaica’s cities, while Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea has become a symbol of 20th Century feminist literature, creating a backstory for the ‘madwoman in the attic’ from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and imagining her as an heiress on a Jamaican plantation, driven to madness by societal upheaval. These iconic settings – both urban and rural – are based on real-life locations in Jamaica that tourists can visit.
The German Fairy Tale Route (Brothers Grimm)
Fly to Frankfurt with Lufthansa
The Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, were well-respected academics in their day, but it’s their passion for preserving folk traditions and the collection of folk stories they published that secured their legacy. Tales passed down the generations in rural Germany like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin are among those that were popularised by the brothers’ writings, going on to become a staple of childhood storytelling across the globe. Nowadays you can explore the landscapes that gave rise to these stories on the German Fairy Tale Route, a 600km trail starting in the brothers’ birthplace of Hanau, near Frankfurt, and leading to Bremen, via more than 70 locations with a connection to these stories.
Egypt (Death on the Nile)
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The Nile conjures up evocative images of blood-red sunsets, lost civilisations and dark intrigue – so it’s easy to see why Agatha Christie’s decision to turn a Nile cruise into the setting of a murder mystery in Death on the Nile was a huge commercial success. If you’re a Poirot fan, the Karnak Temple in Luxor featured in the 1978 film adaptation and is open for tours. There are even murder mystery themed Nile cruises available.
Dublin (Dubliners, Normal People and more)
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The bustling streets of Dublin have inspired many of Ireland’s most famous authors – and many of them have chosen to make it their setting. Stories in short form or in long form that follow the everyday lives of ordinary people in this city have become a popular genre of Irish literature, from James Joyce’s Dubliners in 1914 to contemporary bestsellers like Sally Rooney’s Normal People. The James Joyce Centre, a free museum in the north of the city, is a great place to learn about his local inspirations.
Madrid (Don Quixote and For Whom The Bell Tolls)
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Don Quixote, published in 1605 and sometimes called the ‘first novel’, is a cornerstone of western literature. Following the mishaps of a minor noble who leaves home on a series of ill-fated quests to prove himself a hero, the story lampoons medieval ideals of chivalry and romance. Translations of the novel introduced phrases like ‘The pot calls the kettle black’ and ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ into the English language. Much of the action in the book takes place in the region of La Mancha, south of Madrid. On the opposite side of the city, the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains are the setting for Ernest Hemingway’s classic, For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Atlanta (Gone With the Wind)
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Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, winner of 1937’s Pulitzer Prize, is a seminal piece of American literature and one of the great coming-of-age stories, following the story of a wealthy landowner’s daughter trying to piece her life back together after the American Civil War leaves the family destitute. The story is set in rural Georgia but much of it takes place in the city of Atlanta itself and the city hosts a Gone With The Wind Museum. The author’s home is now a museum as well.