Why not add to your armchair travel selection by treating yourself to a travel book? Whether this is in preparation for a planned trip, or just to learn more about somewhere new with a view to going in the future, let a book bring you to a beautiful place. You could also buy a book for a loved one and tuck a travel voucher from The Natural Adventure inside. Here are a few of our best travel books by authors who have immersed themselves in places where we love to travel, and are experts not only in their chosen destinations but also in creating a sense of place and adventure. Please also remember to purchase them at an independent bookstore or direct from the publishers who are supporting great travel writing. Or support your local library too of course.
My Family and Other Enemies – Life and travels in Croatia’s Hinterland
Travel book author: Mary Novakovich
If you are planning a trip to Croatia, Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina, this poignant memoir, My family and Other Enemies, by Mary Novakovich (published by Bradt Guides), about travels to her native lands in Lika, Croatia, is a must read. Although Mary grew up in Canada and now lives in the UK, she takes you with her on various journeys back to her homeland in the 1970s as a child, then revisiting them as an adult to find them changed by conflict and yet, in many ways, still quite unchanged. It makes you really want to go and climb the mountains of her childhood, eat and drink šljivovica and feel the bura in your hair.
Slovenia – Bradt Travel Guides
Travel book author: Rudolf Abraham
Rudolph Abraham is an award-winning travel writer and photographer, and his guidebook to Slovenia, fully updated in 2025, has given him another well-deserved notch in the leaderboard of great travel books. The aforementioned Bradt Guides are leaders in travel guide books, with a sustainable tourism ethos emanating out of every page. Abraham understands this approach perfectly, writing with insight and sensitivity, as well with impressive local knowledge and expertise. As Slovenia prides itself on being a green destination, this book is in good hands with an author who values these aspects of tourism. He takes us from the Alps to the Adriatic, hiking and wildlife watching, with no shortage of food and wine spots along the way. It will definitely get the juices flowing for the Julian Alps and give you a longing for Slovenia’s lakes.
High: A Journey Across the Himalayas Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China
Travel book author: Erika Fatland
So many of us travel to the Himalayas for the landscapes, but this author goes there predominantly for those who live there. In High, Norwegian anthropologist Erika Fatland travels through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, China and Tibet with an inquisitive eye, an alert ear, and with a great taste for community and culture. Just as an example, she meets goddesses, Gurkhas and girls who were sex-trafficked. So it’s not a travel book per se, and yet it really is one of the best travel books about the Himalayas. It’s a book about real lives, not romanticised ones, and it’s an important read if you want to ensure that you don’t just look up while trekking in the Himalayas, nor look solely with a western eye. Published in 2022, by MacLehose Press in the UK, and Pegasus Books in the USA in March 2023.
The Path of Light: Walking to Auschwitz
Travel book author: Anthony Seldon
This is an extraordinary book, published in 2025, a time when many of us are trying to comprehend how genocidal atrocities can still be happening in the world. The author, Anthony Seldon, writes about walking the route from where World War One ended to Auschwitz, a journey that takes him to places and people who resisted the horrors of Nazism. This is a book from times of unthinkable horrors, but also a book for these times, about resilience and of course, about the peaceful insights we gain simply from walking. One of the reasons he chooses the point that World War One ended to start his walk, is because this book is also a sequel to Path of Peace, where Seldon walked the historic route of the Western Front. Although our walking holidays don’t follow Sheldon’s routes, we do give you an opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum on many of our Poland holidays.
Europe by Rail
Travel book authors: Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
We have a rapidly-growing collection of adventure holidays reachable by rail, and there is a similar growing number of adventurers who are choosing not to fly. If you haven’t explored the UK and Europe by rail yet, then this book will get you on track. Now in its 18th edition, Europe by Rail is not only factually brilliant but also written with eloquence and an eclectic knowledge of routes and destinations. Nicky and Susanne are gifted travel writers as well as committed train travellers, making this the definitive guide to train travel in Europe. You may also enjoy reading our collection of train blogs.
101 Byways – Traveling to lesser-known places in Bulgaria
Travel book authors: Ivan Mihalev and Elina Tsankova
Just like our Bulgarian holidays, this book takes you off the beaten path and is a favourite of our Balkan expert and Chief Operating Officer at The Natural Adventure, Maria Kostadinova. “I was inspired to visit some of these places around Bulgaria with my family”, says Maria and trust us, she knows Bulgaria like the back of her hand. From secret waterfalls to wineries, stunning viewpoints and fascinating points of view, you will find many of the treats mentioned in 101 Byways on our walking and cycling holidays, and others you may need to book an extra day for.
A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East
Travel book author: Tiziano Terzani
Although this was published in 1998, the Italian journalist Terzani’s epic has become a classic for many people who plan to travel to the Far East. Or to read while they are on their travels. In short, it’s a travel memoir based on the author’s decision to avoid airplanes for an entire year after a fortune-teller predicted an in-air disaster. Brilliant idea for a book, it has to be said, as he covers Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and India by land and sea in this book. With substantial journalistic expertise, Terzani is also aware of and articulate about his western gaze, something we also discuss in this blog.
Notes from a Small Island
Travel book author: Bill Bryson
You can’t have a list of best travel books without Bill Bryson in there. It’s a traveller’s rite of passage to bring Bryson to the table, and Notes from a Small Island lives up to the American-British author’s reputation for being both sardonic and sensitive to cultural nuance. And ultimately, this travel memoir of a period when he backpacks, walks and uses public transport around Britain, is big on affection for the places he visits, and the people he meets. Although this was published in 1995, pre-smart phones and omnipresent digitalisation, it still captures many aspects of rural Britain that you find today, from getting grumpy about trains or weather to bizarre signage and eccentric seaside towns. All of which you can also still find on many of our English natural adventures.
Never Leave the Dog Behind: Our love of dogs and mountains
Travel book author: Helen Mort
Helen Mort is a natural adventurer who not only loves trail running and climbing, but also her dog, a rescue whippet called Bell. Helen believes that “a house is not a home without a whippet” but in this short but sublime read, she clearly feels that a holiday is not one either. As an award-winning poet, this book is an ode to canine companionship and a moving memoir of hiking with a hound. Dog lovers will read it and weep happy tears, and may be inspired to take their own best friend on one of our dog-friendly mountain walking adventures. Published by Vertebrate Publishing in 2020.
The Art of Travel
Travel book author: Alain de Botton
The Art of Travel is a favourite travel book to give as a gift to seasoned travellers. It’s a philosophical take on what travel means to us, really, rather than a ‘where to go and when’ guidebook. But it transports and inspires you in so many other ways. The Art of Travel really examines what it is that travel means to us, what we hope to gain from leaving home, and also discusses the gap between our expectations and what we might find while on our desired adventure. Something we also discuss in this blog. As a philosopher who has a gift for making philosophy relevant to everyday life, this book lives up to his usual standards of witty and wise way of writing, and thinking. It’s the sort of book that changes the way you travel.
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan
Travel book author: Will Ferguson
Published in 2002, it’s another oldie but a goodie, as Will Ferguson takes on one of the most unique odysseys of hitchhiking the length of Japan, in an effort to chase the country’s celebrated cherry blossom. Hitchhiking is pretty rare these days, but even more so in Japan. But it’s an inspired way for Ferguson to take a short-cut through the usual formalities of Japanese culture. It also makes for a superb collection of cultural exchanges, insights and humorous observations. It’s risqué and raucous, brimming with both saké and sensitivity. It’s also a favourite of our Adventure Specialist, Victoria Holt, who says, “Hokkaido Highway Blues is fab! Especially all the characters Will meets along the way, which I think is a big part of when you travel.”
This is just a handful of our team’s best travel books, and of course there are so many more, fiction and non-fiction to explore. We also endeavour to fill our blogs with some travel writing, journaling and journey highs and lows. Some aim to guide you further along the road to responsible tourism, others are basic need-to-knows like the best time to go to our various destinations. Or general tips on going to places we love. For any more information on specific destinations or holidays, please don’t hesitate to contact our adventure specialists.
