Baggins Book Bazaar
If you’re visiting London and want to experience a little English life outside the big city, Rochester is less than an hour away by train and would make a really fun day trip with its charming shops, eateries, cathedral, castle, and most importantly: the largest second-hand bookshop in England.
Rochester, a city for the Dickens enthusiast
Charles Dickens lived just outside of Rochester in Chatham as a child and returned to the area as an established author in 1856. Many of his books reference buildings in Rochester, and you’ll find plaques all around the High Street explaining their Dickens connection.
Grasmere Gingerbread
It’s texture was not quite a biscuit (in the British sense of the word) and not quite cake; it was somewhere in the middle and just right.
Dove Cottage, Home of William Wordsworth
Visiting Dove Cottage taught me more about the poet’s life, how he lived here with his sister, Dorothy, for nearly three years before marrying Mary Hutchinson. The setting is stunning, the perfect place for a life of walking and writing.
Glenfinnan Viaduct
Long before an 11-year-old boy living in the cupboard under the stairs ever got a letter of invitation to attend a magical school in this storied region, Glenfinnan was best remembered as the spot Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his royal standard to claim the British throne for the Stuarts.
Lacock Abbey
The cloisters have made appearances in many films and productions, including the first two Harry Potter films where they became the halls of Hogwarts.
Barter Books
Barter Books is one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Europe and is well worth a spot on your itinerary.
Alnwick Castle
Today it’s recognizable as a stand-in for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, as well as featuring in two episodes of Downton Abbey.
Books in Snowy Climes
If you’re like me and can only experience a snowy climate through the pages of a good book, I thought I’d share some books I read in the last few years that really immersed me in the snowy weather.
A Novel Pairing: A 20th Century WWII Story & 19th Century Science Fiction Adventure
Marie-Laure’s enjoyment and immersion in the fantastical underwater world created by Jules Verne permeates Doerr’s book, and diving into it directly after All the Light We Cannot See has been a good choice for me.
An Eiffel Tower Snow Day
When I look up and see the Eiffel Tower, one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, I say inwardly every time, "I'm in Paris."
Saint-Malo
People have lived in Saint Malo since the 1st century B.C., giving it an extremely storied history of monasteries, pirates, and explorers. Whatever story brings you to this port city, there’s much to discover.
Jardin des Plantes
Some might say this is the most magical time of year to visit Paris: they would probably be right. I’ve never seen such exquisite and perfectly formed cherry blossoms as I have in the Jardins des Plantes.
Favorite Yorkshire Books
When I think about books set in Yorkshire, there are a few that stand out as really evoking the essence of the county and who have been around long enough to find a place in the cultural lore.
Chatsworth House
You can spend a full day discovering the delights of Pemberley, just as Elizabeth and her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner did.
The Peak District
…this feels like an ideal place to walk, forget about your family troubles, and reconsider the character of the man whose proposal you refused.
Sherlock’s Coffee Shop
Inside, the restaurant is warm and inviting, decorated in an appropriate late 19th-century style.
The Sherlock Holmes Pub
If you love the Sherlock Holmes stories, there’s an atmospheric place you can eat in London…just around the corner from Trafalgar Square.
Walking on Baker Street
Everyone has a travel style, and mine is very much about absorbing and feeling the atmosphere of a place.