Hey bibliophiles! Do you long for a vacation, but struggle to get your nose out of a book? What if we told you there exists a vacation centered around browsing independent bookstores, getting lost in beautiful beyond words libraries, or attending book-themed events? Do we have your attention now? We think we’ve come up with a pretty satisfactory list of vacation spots for fellow book lovers. Let’s get started.
Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Public Library welcomes over two million visitors per year, and it’s not hard to see why. This library has every nook and cranny filled with paintings, tapestries, beautiful architectural details, sculptures, and murals. And of course, we can’t forget the massive collection of rare books and manuscripts including first edition folios by William Shakespeare, as well as John Adams’ personal library.
Aside from the Boston Public Library Boston, Boston is home to a ton of super cool independent bookstores; and great news for those of you that are big fans of Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sylvia Plath, each of these authors called Boston home at one point and the city has paid homage to these phenomenal writers in different ways.
Portland, Oregon
If getting lost amongst bookshelves is your idea of the best day ever, then a trip to Powell’s Books is just what you need. Powell’s Books has been around since 1971 and we aren’t kidding when we say you’ll want to plan on spending hours browsing books. What’s really cool is the whole place is color-coded and we’ve been told the rare, antique, out-of-print, and hard-to-find selections are incredible.
Los Angeles, California
Okay, we’re going to throw some words at you, and you decide if this sounds fun: food trucks, author pavilion, largest book festival, free. Do all of those things sound enticing to you? Then you’ll want to make sure you make plans to attend the L.A. Times Festival of Books. This festival has been around since 1996 and it looks LIT. (See what we did there?)
Montgomery, Alabama
If you love books, beautiful words, magnolia trees, and museums, then you’ll love the next spot on our list, The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery Alabama. The Fitzgeralds lived in this home from 1931 – 1932 and this is actually the only museum dedicated to the writers. If you plan on visiting the museum, you can opt to reserve a night or two in one of the Airbnb suites and enjoy both modern updates and beautiful vintage details such as the original wallpaper.