Shakespeare, Dickens, Christie, Wilde, Burns, Woolf, Austen – the list of the UK’s literary giants is endless. Over the centuries, our glorious landscapes have provided inspiration for poets, painters, writers and great thinkers, and it’s really no wonder that so many famous and important works have come into being here.
So great is the literary legacy of Britain, UNESCO created the ‘Cities of Literature’ in 2004, judged on extensive criteria that include publishing, educational institutes and creative output.
Of the 295 cultural capitals on the list, five are in the UK: Edinburgh, Norwich, Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter.
Bibliophiles don’t have to look far for locations that are steeped in literary history – they just need to choose their genre. From horror to fantasy, children’s classics to high romance, we’ve compiled some of our favourite destinations for a bookish break.
1 Whitby
The bustling harbour town of Whitby in North Yorkshire has multiple claims to literary fame, not least because in the seventh century, it was home to the monk Caedmon, the earliest named poet in English history.
Inspiration for…
Bram Stoker “Right over the town is the
