My Saturn Return kicked my ass.

Like many twenty-eight-year-olds before me, I found myself lost. I forgot who I was; I forgot what I liked; I lost interest in nearly all of my previous hobbies and I lost the energy to pursue anything new. I clawed my way out of the house on weekends with a promise of a latte, a trip to the bookstore, a crisp, new paperback. It wasn’t much–but it didn’t need to be.

I’m grateful to these stores for being just enough to get me out of the house on Sunday mornings. I’m grateful for the hours spent wandering the shelves, thinking about literally anything other than my own twenty-eight-year-old problems.

And, of course, I’m grateful for the books.

So, if you’re in the city, here are my must-visit bookstores in LA

1)Octavia’s Bookshelf

The afternoon I visited Octavia’s Bookshelf, the store bustled with life: a vibrant stream of customers filled the space, happily browsing its shelves. In the few months since it opened its doors, it has become a pillar of community in Pasadena. This Black-owned business is a fabulous entry to city’s indie scene: with a focus on diverse authors, it curates a perfect blend of well-known titles and hidden gems alike.

Named after the renowned author Octavia Butler, Octavia’s Bookshelf is the first Black-owned bookstore in Pasadena–which also happens to be Butler’s own hometown. Owner Nikki High spent a decade imagining such a business before leaving her corporate job to follow her dream. 

Tip: For the Octavia Butler buffs, the nearby Huntington Library has her journals, which can be viewed by the public. While you’re there, be sure to take a stroll through the expansive gardens. Bring some sunscreen and your camera! 

2)North Figueroa Bookshop

Those looking for books about Los Angeles will find everything they’re looking for and more at North Figueroa Bookshop. This trendy new shop is situated in Highland Park, a comfortable walk to many of our favorite cafes and vintage shops. 

Funded by publishers, this independent bookstore has a deep tie to local presses. LA-based Unnamed Press and Rare Bird Lit collaborated to build this project and in the process have created a space that is uniquely born from this city. In addition to its thorough section of California Lit, the store also has a well-curated range of fiction, non fiction and children’s titles. Unlike other bookstores, it spotlights publishers by featuring its shelves around individual presses. 

Tip: For the LA tattoo lovers among us, check out Martlet Tattoo down the road—we’re both obsessed with artist Amelia Rose! For some of the best sandwiches in the city, head to nearby Maciel’s Plant Based Butcher, and get coffee at Kumquat!

Read More: 13 Books Set in Los Angeles

3)Skylight Books

Located in the heart of Los Feliz, Skylight is a staple of the neighborhood–a bright and welcoming space with the gravity of a small star. I find it almost impossible to be anywhere in a three-mile radius and not stop by for a quick visit. 

With an event almost every night, it is a literary hub of the city.  A few doors down is the Arts Annex, home to bursting shelves of graphic novels, scripts, coffee table books, and local zines.

We love Skylight for its strong sense of community, its well-curated literary fiction, and the beautiful tree in the center of the shop.

Tip: Skip the meters and park on the neighborhood side streets to the east of Vermont! Double check for street sweeping.

If you’re looking for a longer afternoon out, I recommend parking between Vermont and Hillhurst and visiting businesses on both streets. My favorites are Maru Coffee, The Alcove, Green Leaves Vegan, and Squaresville Vintage.

Read More: Five Day Los Angeles Itinerary

4)Stories Books and Cafe

This bookstore-slash-coffee shop has an undeniably cool air. With trendy baristas, a wide selection of new-and-used titles, and hilarious Instagram presence, this store epitomizes the hipster chic of Echo Park. 

I love spending long afternoons writing here. The steady stream of fashionable clientele and pampered dogs makes for great people watching. When I need a break, I browse through their stuffed shelves, enjoying the combination of unique titles and bestsellers alike. 

In addition to book events, Stories also host a weekly free comedy show, Good Heroin, every Saturday. 

Tip: Come on a Friday afternoon and stop by the Echo Park Farmer’s Market down the block! Open from 3 to 7:30 pm, it is a great spot to grab local produce and prepared foods in the city.

I highly recommend grabbing a plate of vegan pupusas from Delmy’s Pupusas and the utterly addicting tempah offered by Dave’s Korean. 

5)Vroman’s

While you’re in Pasadena, take a drive down Colorado Blvd to visit the iconic Vroman’s Bookstore. This bookstore really has it all: wide selection, well-chosen staff picks, unique gifts, and more. As the largest and oldest independent bookstore in California, it has a deep rooted history in Pasadena. While it has a broad selection in every genre, I particularly love this shop for its broad range of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Young Adult titles. They also host regular author events from local and international writers.

Vroman’s was my favorite depression visit. The drive to old town Pasadena was just far enough to offer a sense of reprieve: as the mountains grew clearer and crisper, my existential dread eased just a little. Maybe it was the fresh air. Or maybe it was just the relief of knowing I probably would not run into anyone I knew. But I treasured those weekend trips to the bookstore and its now-permanently closed neighbor, Zona Rosa Coffee (RIP). 

Tip: If it’s nice out, take your new book to one of the nearby parks. My favorite is Pasadena Central Park. It’s either an enjoyable twenty minute walk or an easy drive.

Nearby are multiple great restaurants and cafes. My favorites are Neighborhood and Friends which offer charcuterie boards (including plant-based!), sandwiches, and great coffee, and HomeBrewed Bar (be careful of the mini boba: it’s delicious but so, so easy to choke on).

Read More: 21 Hotels in Los Angeles Worth Staying At

6)Chevalier’s

Small but mighty, Chevalier’s is an anchor in the LA literary scene. As the city’s oldest indie bookshop, it offers a robust selection in a compact space. You can feel the booksellers’ passion on these shelves: every genre is lovingly curated with bestsellers and hidden gems alike. I have been hand sold multiple titles by the employees here and always look forward to their recommendations. They also have an exciting weekly events lineup from open mic and trivia nights, to zine fests, and author readings. Make sure to see what’s on!

This shop was a common stop for me in high school. A chubby fifteen-year-old, I felt so adult, strolling up Larchmont with a latte from Peet’s and browsing the shelves. Over fifteen years later, not much has changed. 

Tip: I neither drink wine nor eat cheese, but I am a religious about Larchmont Wine and Cheese down the street. Get there in the afternoon before they run out of bread.

Get a number six on baguette. Do NOT fuck around with the ciabatta. You’re welcome.

Read More: 11 Best Food Tours in Los Angeles

7)Book Soup

Bookseller to the Great and Infamous, boasts Book Soup’s sign, proudly hanging over the Sunset Strip. Inside, the shelves tower high: while small, the store is fully stocked, easily transporting the average shopper into a cozy labyrinth of pages. 

Book Soup offers a range of genres, but caters most strongly to readers of literary fiction. It also has a very robust selection of memoir, nonfiction, and cookbooks. I enjoy their staff selections and well-curated table displays. 

Tip: I love taking advantage of the hills in the area and combining a visit to this shop with an urban hike.

Park in West Hollywood south of Santa Monica Blvd and enjoy the butt-kicking grade of La Cienega Blvd. Walk north until you hit Sunset, then head west, enjoying the hilarious people watching on the Sunset Strip.

If you have bad knees like me, take the easier way back: Holloway Drive offers a gentler slope and joins with Santa Monica Blvd to leave you right where you parked in WeHo.  

8) The Last Bookstore

What list of LA independent bookstores would be complete without The Last Bookstore? Inarguably the most famous of the LA indies, this shop brags of a huge selection of new and used titles as well as its most impressive draw: a beautiful (and highly Instagrammable) space. 

Make sure to head upstairs to get the full experience. There, you’ll find charming nooks and crannies–as well as the famous book tunnel, where any book lover could take a new profile picture. 

While it has every new title you could want, I highly recommend perusing their used books. As a fantasy fan, I love getting lost in their shelves and finding out-of-print gems from decades ago.  They now have two locations to choose from, the original in DTLA and a second in Studio City.

Tip: Take public transportation if you can. Parking downtown is famously difficult, but with multiple metro lines converging in the heart of the city, you just might have the option of an easy train journey. Also, if you’re hungry after all that browsing, go to Yuko’s kitchen around the corner. 

9) The Illiad

If you like secondhand books, The Illiad is a must-visit. This is an eclectic shop where you probably won’t find what you want, but you will leave with something cool and find some sweet cats! They have a huge fiction and drama section, plus an extensive non-fiction section sorted by genre and topic.

This one takes a long time to explore, so settle in and get lost. If you want a short but satisfying loop hike nearby, look up Fryman Canyon!

Thankfully, I’m well out of my Saturn Returns now. Books have gone back to being a well-loved passion, rather than a lifeline keeping me afloat–but still, I find myself stopping by these stores every week or so.

As the literary scene in LA grows, the indie bookstores are more and more essential, quiet centers of community in a loud city.  This is just a small selection of the wonderful bookshop in Los Angeles so make sure to keep exploring!

Thank you for reading about the best Los Angeles bookstores! If you liked this article, please share it with a friend!

Hidden in a quaint village by the name of Hawarden in North Wales, six miles from the beautiful city of Chester, Gladstone’s Library is a lot of wonderful things: the only residential library in the UK, the UK’s only prime-ministerial library, and the best place, in our humble opinion, to spend a weekend on the whole bloody island.

We spent two nights at this hotel/library/paradise hybrid, exploring the grounds, reading Gladstone’s books, relaxing by the fire, and chatting with likeminded people about politics and history, enjoying perhaps the best weekend of our lives.

Gladstone’s Library: The Incredible History

William Gladstone was an amazing man. Son to a slave-trader, Gladstone dove straight into British politics out of university, serving in the Conservative Party. In a rare political shift, Gladstone became more liberal through the course of his life, eventually forming the Liberal Party, and then serving as Britain’s Prime Minister four times (to this day, he is the UK’s longest-serving PM). Gladstone moved dramatically away from everything he had come from, famously opposing the Opium War with China, fighting to rein-in unfair landlords, crusading for home rule in Ireland, and aiding Bulgaria in their fight against the Ottoman Empire.

Aside from all he did for liberal politics, Gladstone also owned and read 22,000 books in his lifetime (this averages at five books per week). He spoke several languages, including Latin, and annotated his books in detail. He was an avid reader of theology and history, specifically, and before his death he built a big shed library to house all of his books. After his death, in accordance to his wishes, this shed was dismantled to make room for the incredible Gladstone’s Library which still stands today.

Why Gladstone’s Library is Better than Disneyland

For lovers of literature, those who want nothing more than a quiet retreat for a weekend away, or those who simply enjoy the atmosphere of being around books, sitting with a glass of red by the fireside on a wing-backed chair, and talking politics, there is no better place than Gladstone’s.

The atmosphere in this place is staggering. The library is open to the public, and many local people and students some to find a quiet place to study. The rooms are quaint and homey, and purposefully lacking in TV, placing an emphasis on quiet reading and writing. Although you do get a lovely Roberts Radio to listen to.

The building itself has a stately home design, making one feel like they are living through a season of Downton Abbey. The staff are kind and helpful; they love their jobs, and I can see why. It’s a place of friendliness and chatter; the kind of place where you’ll strike up a conversation with a stranger in a way you never would out in the cold real world.

To give a personal example, we were due to start a tour of the library when a man named Gordon, who had until a few years back been Gladstone’s in-house chaplain, came to tell us a little of the building’s history. He met us again at dinner and told us everything we could ever hope to know about the man himself, William Gladstone. After retiring to the common room for coffee, Gordon introduced us to a visiting professor of British History from Tennessee who sat with us for hours, discussing American and British history, the class system, and the state of Brexit and Trump’s America. It was a wonderful experience that could only have happened at this wonderful place, the kind of place that invites these kinds of experiences.

Read More: 11 Stunning Places to Visit in Wales

Festivals and Events at Gladstone

Beyond your average weekend away, Gladstone’s also offers various events like writer’s retreats, festivals, and lessons from Writer’s in Residence. The upcoming Hearth Festival on 2^nd February invites four novelists to speak and give intimate advice to budding writers who wish to attend and learn from the best. These festival takes place in the common room, surrounded by books and bordered by a fireplace on opposite walls. The festivals and events at Gladstone’s are so much more intimate than your typical festival experience, putting comfort and friendliness at the forefront of the experience.

If you’d rather a busier literary event then look no further than Gladfest in September (6th – 8th), rooms will book fast for this one if you’re hoping to stay as there will be writers in residence.

Food and Drink

There’s a restaurant on-site ‘Food for Thought‘ which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is open for snacks and coffee throughout the day.  They even offer a beautiful afternoon tea and Sunday lunch (which need to be pre-booked). There’s plenty to choose from and it is all homemade and very reasonably priced. Eating in the restaurant with the other guests feels very cozy and wholesome, far more than anything we’ve ever experienced in a hotel before; and many of the customers are regulars from the village who want to come and enjoy the atmosphere.

If you’d like to eat out, there are some lovely cafes, a pub, and restaurants in the village that are within walking distance and you get to walk back to this stunning grade-1 listed building all over again!

Come and Stay Here

The care and love given to books and those who love them is staggering at Gladstone’s Library. To walk amongst his private collection of 22,000 books gives you goosebumps. Staying for a night or two or three means having access to such a wealth of knowledge, and a place to forget your stresses, read some books in utter peace and calm, and maybe even find the inspiration to write a story of your own.

You can book a room at Gladstone’s Library here. We’ll definitely be going back.

For more bookish fun in Wales, visit Hay on Wye – the beloved book town!

South Korean literature is among the most beloved in the world, and immersing yourself in some fantastic Korean books is sure to enrich your travel experience.

South Korea is one of the most popular countries to visit, move to, and work in right now. A lot of that is down to K-pop and K-dramas, but there is such an amazing wealth of beautiful literature and a long and fascinating history beyond all of that.

Korean Books to Read Before You Visit South Korea

This list of fiction and non-fiction books about Korea is designed to introduce readers to South Korea from a variety of perspectives.

It includes books on Korean history and the Korean war, culture, and literature. Some of the books are written by Korean authors, while others are written by those who have lived in or studied in South Korea.

Let’s jump in.

Korea: A New History of South and North by Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo

In one of the newer books about Korean history, authors Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo draw on decades of research to explore the complex story of this divided nation. They examine Korea’s unique common history, as well as the sharp differences between North and South that have emerged since the Cold War division.

The book also sheds light on the evolving identities of the two Koreas, and the prospects for unification. It is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand Korea’s past, present, and what possibilities there are in the future.

Buy a copy of Korea: A New History of South and North

Human Acts by Han Kang

Translated by Deborah Smith

Han Kang made waves in the world of literature a few years back when her novel The Vegetarian was awarded the Booker International Prize 2016 (also translated by Deborah Smith). Her book, Human Acts, however, is arguably a more raw and political story.

Human Acts sheds light on the criminally lesser-known political suppression of South Korea that lasted until the Gwangju Uprising of 1980.

From multiple perspectives, including that of the ghost of a boy killed during the uprising, we get to see the turmoil, tears, and bloodshed that led to the vibrant and prosperous nation we have today.

Read More: If you’re looking for Korean short stories then check out the Yeoyu series.

Buy a copy of Human Acts here.

At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong

Translated by Sora Kim-Russell

One of South Korea’s most prestigious novelists brought us this work in translation recently, in 2018.

It tells two stories: that of a rags-to-riches architect looking back on his life and childhood in a kind of Citizen Kane way, and that of a young woman struggling to forge herself a career in theatre.

At Dusk is a fantastic mirror held up to the disparate classes, artists, and businessmen of Korea today, and it’s a real tear-jerker to boot. Read our review of At Dusk right here.

Buy a copy of At Dusk

Our Korean Kitchen

Written by married couple Jordan Bourke and Jejina Pyo. Bourke is a renowned chef and, working together with his wife and her cultural expertise, they have welded together a fun and engaging cookbook that teaches us all the ins and outs of Korean home cooking.

Our Korean Kitchen is easy to follow and the tantalising pictures are a wonderful motivation, we had great success with the kimchi recipe! Before you head to Korea, it’s good to know what to expect, food-wise.

Maybe even cook some for yourself. You’re certain to fall in love with Korean food, so best to get a head-start. Here are six of the recipes from the book for free.

Buy a copy of Our Korean Kitchen

Read More: 12 Best Korean Cookbooks Available Now

A History of Korea by Kyung Moon Hwang

If you want an introduction to Korean history before you visit South Korea, this is the best book to pick up. A History of Korea concisely covers every major change and event that has led Korea to where it is today. It avoids being dry by favouring brevity and clarity.

Everything you need to know about Korean history can be found and enjoyed here, covering a whopping 1.5 millennia of Korean history (both North and South).

Important themes that define Korean culture are explored with detail and enthusiasm, giving you not only a lesson in Korean history but an insight into Korean social and political behaviour. A really enlightening read and an essential book to read before you visit South Korea.

Buy a copy of History of Korea

The New Koreans by Michael Breen

Written by a man who has spent many years living in and studying the world of South Korea. The New Koreans is a fascinating exploration of the economics, history, and politics of Korea today.

The country is now rich and prosperous. It builds some of the best tech money can buy. And it has the biggest pop music industry. How did it get here? Read this book to find out.

The New Koreans by Michael Breen

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

translated by Anton Hur

Love in the Big City is a queer Korean love story. It is a tale of hedonism and friendship; a book about looking at life from all angles: with love and hate and anger and fear in our eyes.

Translated elegantly and beautifully by Anton Hur, Love in the Big City considers how we live our lives when time is ticking, when there is fun to be had and things to be seen; when there are things to fear and people who want to hurt us.

Love in the Big City paints a raw and honest but ultimately kind picture of love and life in the modern day, and for that, it is one of the finest modern Korean novels.

Buy a copy of Love in the Big City

The Korean War by Max Hastings

I don’t know about you but the Korean War was not covered at all when I was in school. Hastings’ book is not an easy read, but it is an essential one for anyone who wants to understand the Korean War and its impact on the world.

His writing is clear and concise, and he does an excellent job of explaining the complex military and political issues that were at stake. We found a traumatic, bloody, and captivating story of civil unrest, political divides, and Western interference.

The Korean War by Max Hastings will teach you everything you need to know about the story of the Korean War. Everyone should know more about what divided the North and South and the lasting legacy of that decision.

Buy a copy of The Korea War

Read More: Here are some useful travel articles to check out before you visit South Korea.

The Court Dancer by Kyung-sook Shin

Translated by Anton Hur

Based on a true story — set in the final years of 19^th century Korea as China, Russia, and Japan are threatening the nation trapped between them — The Court Dancer is being described as a love story first and foremost: the romantic tale of a man and a woman from two different worlds, colliding in a moment of beauty.

This is the tale of a woman born without a family, adopted into the courts of the Joseon Dynasty, romanced by a French diplomat, whisked away across the waves to foreign shores, and all the while trying to find the time to understand who she is, what she is, and what she wants out of a life that has never really been hers.

If you want to understand pre-Korean War history and see what European globalisation looks like from an Eastern perspective, this book will prove illuminating.

Visiting Korea’s beautiful palaces after reading this book is a real treat. Read our review of The Court Dancer right here or learn more about Anton Hur.

Buy a copy of The Court Dancer

Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu

In a sea of books about Korean culture, this one is an easily accessible and colourful exploration of the country and culture that has captivated the world. From its rich history and unique customs to its vibrant pop culture and global exports, this book has something to offer everyone.

Go beyond the surface of Hallyu and discover the real Korea. Learn about the country’s long and fascinating history, from its days as the Hermit Kingdom to its modern-day status as a global powerhouse. Meet the people who have shaped the country and its culture, from the incredible haenyeo divers of Jeju Island to the K-pop stars who have taken the world by storm.

Of course, no book about Korea would be complete without a discussion of its food and fashion. From the diverse varieties of kimchi to the popular glass skin beauty trend, you’ll learn all about the culinary and fashion delights that Korea has to offer.

Buy a copy of Hello, South Korea

Read More: Best Korean Snacks and Where to Buy Them

Drifting House by Krys Lee

Written by a woman born in Seoul but raised in the US, this is a gripping and desperately sorrowful collection of short stories which shine a light on the darker side of Korean society over the past hundred years.

Drifting House looks at the salarymen of Seoul, the starving children of North Korea, and the alienated immigrants attempting to settle in the US.

It is Korea and Koreans as viewed from every angle, and a truly wondrous book that teaches us empathy, history, politics, and humanity. An absolute must-read.

Buy a copy of Drifting House

Flowers of Fire by Hawon Jung

Flowers of Fire is a must-read for anyone interested in feminism, gender equality, and the #MeToo movement. Jung, the former Seoul correspondent for the AFP, draws on her on-the-ground reporting and interviews with many women who became activists and leaders to tell the story of the South Korean #MeToo movement.

The book highlights the courage and resilience of South Korean women in the face of threats, defamation lawsuits, and a criminal justice system that often sides with abusers. Jung’s writing is both informative and inspiring, and she does an excellent job of explaining the complex issues at stake.

Flowers of Fire is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the #MeToo movement in South Korea and its impact on the global conversation about feminism and gender equality.

Buy a copy of Flowers of Fire

Read More: Thinking of taking a trip to Japan or China? Here’s what to read before you go

The hotel is striking from the moment you approach it, stretching across sixteen 17th century canal houses on Herengracht and Singel, the heart of old Amsterdam. It’s the epitome of romantic, with a view of the canal and colourful houses opposite.

It’s no surprise that the hotel was named one of the top five independent hotels in the world for art lovers when you step inside and start to notice the artwork.

These are the first glimpses that make up the collection of 800 works by COBRA artists displayed here. These pieces include sculptures and paintings by artists such as Corneille Eugene Brands and Theo Wolvecamp.

This alone would make the Ambassade Hotel a worthy choice until you look left and catch a glimpse of The Library Bar which houses over five thousand signed books. This is not simply an impressive collection but a memento of every author who has stayed at the hotel.

You’ll even find a shelf of books where the hotel has been specifically mentioned showing how important this space is to the literary community and what an impression it makes.

The bar itself is a perfect place to while away the evening after exploring historic Amsterdam or indulging in a fabulous three-course dinner at the Brasserie Ambassade.

Read More: Beautiful Bookshops in Amsterdam

Staying at the Ambassade Hotel is a unique experience and can easily be considered an Amsterdam attraction in its own right. Find out what to expect from your stay at the Ambassade Hotel and what they offer specifically for art, literature, and history lovers.

A Cultural Haven in the Heart of Amsterdam

The location of the Ambassade Hotel is ideal for exploring the nearby museums of Amsterdam, in fact, you can reach almost anywhere within twenty minutes of walking or a shorter cycle.

Next to the famous Nine Streets area brimming with boutique shops, art galleries, and vintage stores, there’s no better location for exploring, and for those looking to do some book shopping, you’ll find Amsterdam’s best bookshops within a few minutes.

You’re also on the doorstep of the romantic Jordaan District known for wonderful modern art galleries, speciality shops, and restaurants.

Places to visit in Central Amsterdam

Anne Frank House – One of those unmissable places to visit, here you’ll wander around the former space where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis and learn about the events that lead up to her death. With interviews, excerpts from her diary and her original diary on display.

Woonbootmuseum – An unusual and unique visit, the Houseboat Museum lets you experience life on a houseboat set within a traditional cargo ship.

Gallery Vassie – A leading authority in the European fine art photography scene, this is a must-visit for lovers photography. The museum features a diverse collection of work from both key historical and established photographic artists.

Oudemanhuispoort – A must on any book-lover’s Amsterdam itinerary! ‘Old Man House’ is an ancient passage filled with stalls selling used books was once visited by Vincent Van Gogh. Make sure to take a peek at the beautiful courtyard through the windows.

Don’t forget to pick up some delicious waffles while you’re wandering

For those who want to enjoy a cultural and historical overview of Amsterdam, the hotel also offers tailored art and history tours with a guide.

My guide, Michael, took me on a walking tour around the centre of Amsterdam meaning that I saw the highlights of the historical centre of the city.

Like all good guides, Michael shared his vast and encyclopedic knowledge of the area and pointed out things that I certainly would have missed. These cultural insights are priceless and the fact that this can be booked as part of your stay is incredibly convenient.

Staying at The Ambassade Hotel, Amsterdam

Staying at the Ambassade Hotel is undoubtedly luxurious, the kind of place to stay for a special occasion or if you simply want to treat yourself.

The service is top quality and the staff are genuinely interested in making your stay perfect, they’re also incredibly helpful if you want to know more about Amsterdam and are happy to book excursions and attractions for you.

The room is large with beautiful views and unique art above your bed. It’s perfect whether you want to relax, take a bath, or spend a few hours writing at your desk.

There are plenty of added extras you can request to meet you when you get there from champagne on arrival to chocolate in the room.

If you’d like a relaxing experience while you’re here then don’t miss the opportunity to try floating or experience a relaxing massage at Koan Float which is just a few doors up from the hotel.

A Fine Dining Experience

Breakfast is served every morning in the beautiful Brasserie Ambassade which includes a continental breakfast with fresh coffee, tea, and juice as well as a choice from the menu.

I couldn’t resist having eggs both days which were perfectly scrambled and poached and served alongside a range of sides like mushrooms or bacon. You can enjoy more COBRA art as you eat your breakfast and enjoy a morning view of the canal.

It’s also very worth having at least one dinner there as the menu is full of wholesome French classics and light dishes that are made with fresh produce. Even the table bread and butter were particularly moreish and difficult to resist.

I’d highly recommend the duck confit which it one of my favourite meals and didn’t disappoint and the salmon and avocado starter which was perfectly balanced in flavour.

With flares like vibrant pink beetroot powder garnish, the refined meals at Brasseries Ambassade are as pleasing to the eye as the stomach. You can view their menu online and make a booking even if you’re not staying at the hotel.

The Library Bar 

A snug library bar with leather chairs surrounded by shelves lined with thousands of books sounds too good to be true, but, thankfully, the Ambassade Hotel Library Bar is available for anyone who wants to visit and enjoy the experience.

Like any good bar, the drinks menu is extensive with everything from coffees to cocktails, and a whiskey menu with options from Japan, Taiwan, Ireland to name but a few. Tables are also set up with backgammon and chess for a classic game of wits post-drink. 

The hotel is a favourite among Dutch publishers who consistently book rooms for their authors here which explains why the cross-section of contemporary international literature displayed here is so dynamic and enlightening.

The guest book is well worth taking a look at with notes from writers such as Salman Rushdie, Isabel Allande, and John Le Carre.

As you might expect you’ll find select pieces of COBRA Artworks in the library and sitting unassumingly behind a glass case you’ll also see a gift from Rex Cowan who is known for salvaging  Dutch East India Company shipwrecks.

The oxidized wine bottle was salvaged from The Flying Deer Ship built in 1729 and still contains its contents.

Literary Salons

Of course, the bookish experience doesn’t stop there. The hotel holds monthly literary salons where authors are interviewed or topical themes discussed in an intimate setting.

The experience is then followed up in the bar where you can get your book signed or mingle with everyone involved.

The salons are free but you must reserve in advance as seats are claimed fast. A musical salon is also held three times a year in partnership with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Samsara Publishing

The hotel also manages a publishing company named Samsara where you can pick up a number of books in Dutch and some in English.

One of the highlights is the introduction to COBRA artists which really helps you understand how special the hotel is from an artist’s perspective.

The hotel is also planning to open a bookshop named Samsara Books & Art which will be located right around the corner of the hotel.

Being able to browse their books as part of your hotel experience is an exciting new addition to an already special literary hotel.

My stay at this special literary and art hotel is one that will stay with me for life, I’m very grateful for my chance to stay there and thank the Ambassade Hotel for hosting me for two nights.You can make a reservation with the Ambassade Hotel on their website.

Some of these bookstores are well-known landmarks, easily recognizable by their iconic storefronts or towering shelves.

Others are tiny holes in the wall you’ll find between breweries waiting to be discovered. But regardless of their size or location, each of these bookshops is a treasure trove of literary delights.

Essential Toronto Bookstores

Whether you’re a longtime resident or a first-time visitor, be sure to carve out some time to explore these wonderful Toronto bookstores.

1) Glad Day Bookshop

In Toronto’s LGBTQ+ hub on Church St, you will find the world’s first-ever gay-owned bookshop, Glad Day. And they’ve been living up to that amazing feat for over 50 years. 

Glad Day Bookshop is the place to go for coffee, drinks, reading events, drag brunches, and queer literature. They have a wide selection, with emphasis on Two-Spirit and Indigenous literature, trans stories, and QTBIPOC books. 

It won’t surprise you to see an array of pride buttons, flags, and excessively friendly, chatty patrons and bartenders alike. It’s a rare gay who hasn’t gone to an event at Glad Day and left with a couple new friends, and perhaps a couple of new lovers, as well.

Visit the Glad Day bookshop website

2) Re: Reading

If Re: Reading isn’t the nerdiest used bookshop in Toronto, it’s certainly the most unique. If I simply call it a second-and book shop in East York, I’d be doing it no justice.

The massive range of books, a movie collection, and an entire room for fantasy and sci-fi are just the beginning. 

Re: Reading hosts a monthly scavenger hunt around their store where participants must solve riddles to win gift cards, but if challenges aren’t your thing, you can swing by to see the amazing and constantly changing decor.

From monster masks in the horror section, Star Trek nicknacks at the front of the store, and some amazing art on the floor keep a bookworm’s mind busy as you rifle through boos and take pictures of every nook and cranny. 

There’s no bookstore in Toronto with so much character, and because it’s in the east end, it’s a hidden gem to most Torontonians…or a weekly visit for east enders.

Visit the RE: Reading bookshop website

3) Sellers and Newel

You might go to Sellers and Newel for the second-hand books, the incredible selection of poetry, the horror books displayed in a used coffin, the books on music…or the actual music. 

Sellers and Newel is the only bookshop in Toronto to double as a music venue. Performers include Juno Award winners, international artists, and Toronto’s hometown musicians.

It’s small and intimate, and tickets for the shows sell out fast; they’re a must-visit for anyone looking for something unique and artsy to do in Toronto. 

Visit the Sellers and Newell bookshop website

4) Little Ghosts

Although Little Ghosts has only been around for a couple years, it’s left a huge mark on Toronto’s reading scene. Tucked away in hipster capital, Kensington Market, this shop has a very modern, extremely fun vibe. 

As the city’s foremost horror bookshop, it sits perfectly between cute-spooky and scary-spooky, with black bookshelves, a mirror that reminds you that we’ll all be ghosts someday, and a giant (and I mean giant!) skeleton on their charming back patio.

Sip the coffee or beer you buy – they have both, in true Toronto fashion. And don’t forget to ask the highly knowledgeable staff for their recommendations: they’ll set you up.

Go upstairs and stare at the analog TV for an undisclosed amount of time, buy some of their merch, or pick up the first novel published by the bookstore themselves; there are plenty of options.

Little Ghosts also hosts many author events, so readers and writers have an excuse to turn up at this spooky shop as often as possible.

Visit the Little Ghosts bookshop website

5) Queen Books

Queen Books is an independent bookstore for everyone. Despite being quaint, with charming storefront displays and beautiful wallpaper, it’s absolutely overflowing with popular books. 

Queen Books is one of the best places in Toronto to go if you want a modern read (but of course, you can buy your Fitzgeralds and your Shakespeares there as well) without going to a corporate store.

While a lot of bookshops pride themselves on their enjoyable clutter, Queen Books is clean and neat. 

Once you make your way through all the beautiful books at the front, and stop to have a chat with the passionate staff, you’ll get to the back of the store.

Given the beautiful wallpaper, you might think you’ve found the classics, but this is, in fact, where the kids and young adult books can be found.

As someone who grew up in a dull little suburb near Toronto, I can only envy kids that get to go to this beautiful area to pick out their next read.

Visit the Queen Books bookshop website

6) Another Story

Another Story is an independent bookshop surrounded by charming cafes and breweries in Toronto’s west end. While other bookshops are where you go for a sense of calm, Another Story is where you go when you’re angry about the state of the world.

With bookshelves displaying books on social justice, trans rights, and “urban politics and cycling,” there are endless possibilities for growing your brain and learning something new. 

The children’s area is probably bigger than the adult section, and they offer an educator discount and deals for book fairs, making it easier than ever to promote diversity and inclusion to children in Toronto.

Visit the Another Story bookshop website

7) Bakka-Phoenix

 As Toronto’s oldest sci-fi and fantasy bookshop, Bakka-Phoenix is a store that can boast a long and, dare I say, storied history.

In the 70s, the shop, originally just Bakka, split off into the beloved Toronto Comic Book store Silver Snail, another great spot to visit as you tour Toronto.

The bookshop has hosted the likes of George RR Martin and been a day job to a handful of Torontonian authors like Robert J Sawyer.

Nowadays, you can read from a massive and magnificently categorized selection of books. The best part of touring its shelves is the cute and useful notes they leave.

Think: Bookstagram you can touch.

Visit the Bakka-Phoenix bookshop website

8) The Scribe

When you enter The Scribe in Toronto’s East End, you’ll be greeted by the ever-important smell of old books.

And of course you would; you’ve just entered a comfortably small shop with walls lined with old books, a window nook full of old books, and a beautiful backroom stuffed with, you guessed it, old books. 

On top of offering a huge and wildly diverse (everything from the Oz series to comics written by Simpsons creator Matt Greoning to vintage Playboy magazines to occult literature) selection of rare and second-hand books, The Scribe also offers services like appraisals and book repairs. 

If you manage to pull yourself away from a conversation with the incredibly helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable staff and exploring the crowded shelves, you’ll find that the back of the store contains the real treasure trove.

The rarest books can be found here, secured behind glass and looking awfully photogenic. 

Breaking up these spaces is a gorgeous writing desk beside a wall literally covered in beautifully scrawled pages. It’s an experience to look into the window of the Scribe; being within its walls feels like an adventure in literature.

Visit The Scribe bookshop website

9) The Monkey’s Paw 

Frankly, I wish I could live at The Monkey’s Paw. 

The shop smells like my grandparents’ place – beyond the lovely scent that old books give off, it gives off a cottagey vibe. It’s probably the tiniest shop on this list, which makes it extra cozy, with floor creaks when you walk. 

You might think this is the perfect recipe for a horror bookshop, but what The Monkey’s Paw actually offers is the quirky and the funky of the literary world, all of which is out of print.

They pride themselves on not buying popular books or books published after 1980. 

So, what do they have? If I read a book off each shelf, I’d learn philosophy, Chinese religions, how to cook fish, and how to set tables like a proper lady. Or I could read a selection of short works by Hunter S Thompson. Depends on my mood. 

But the most unique thing The Monkey’s Paw has to offer is the Biblio-Mat, the world’s first randomizing machine of old books. You never know what you’re going to get, with a selection so simultaneously large and niche.

Visit The Monkey’s Paw bookshop website

Lindsay Clarke is a Toronto-based writer, an alum of George Brown College’s Novel Writing program, and a professional closet-crier. She has been previously published in QT Literary Magazine, Game Cupid, and The Mistress of the House of Books. You can find her at instagram.com/lindsay.p.clarke.writes.

The city of Bath has a museum dedicated to Jane Austen (with a gift shop and tearoom), the historic Roman baths which gave the town its name, the magnificent Royal Crescent and, of course, several of the most fabulous bookshops in the country.

You can even catch the Jane Austen festival, thrown every September.

Bath provides everything that a bookworm could want. Eat at a centuries-old pub, wander the friendly cobbled streets, visit some of the unique museums, and pay a visit to all of these wonderful Bath bookshops. Every bookworm is at home in Bath, and the bookshops of Bath are a big reason why.

1) Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights

A bookshop with a name this glorious couldn’t live anywhere but Bath. It fits this friendly city so perfectly. Once inside, you’ll immediately see the appeal of Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights.

This award-winning Bath bookshop is flooded with natural light, and is also the right kind of cramped, where every turn of the body yields a new bookshelf or display to admire and be tempted by.

There are three floors: the ground floor, which has the newest stock and most of the fiction, as well as delightful window displays and the friendliest staff.

The basement is where all the history and philosophy can be found, as well as a toilet that was hand-decorated by the legendary Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell.

Upstairs hides a fantastic little secret: the reading room. This is a tiny but bright and comforting space, a few chairs to perch upon, and a quiet calm in which to read as you flick through a few chosen temptations. 

These simple details make it one of the best Bath bookshops for a reading retreat.

The store also offers something very special. For £80 you can buy yourself or a loved one a ‘Book Spa’. This includes a visit to the bookshop where you’ll be treated to some bibliotherapy: a member of the store will sit down with you and chat about your favourite books, listen to your tastes, and return with a stack of books tailored to your tastes.

You’ll leave with £55 worth of new books, a mug, a tote bag, and a gift card. We cannot think of a better gift for a bookish friend.

Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights is located in the town centre, just off from the main street, around the corner from the aforementioned Jane Austen Centre, and a few doors down from an excellent pub with an excellent name: The Raven.

Website | Address: 14-15, John St, Bath BA1 2JL, United Kingdom

Read More: 21 Must-Visit Independent Bookshops in the UK

2) Topping & Co, Bath

We frankly adore this shop. Everyone who works in Topping is so incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about literature and what they do.

I can’t tell you how many authors, publishers, and translators we’ve been introduced to thanks to the staff here

It’s very easy to while away an hour on a quiet day chatting with the staff about your favourite indie publishers and Latin American authors, as we have done in the past.

Note: The Bath branch of Topping has since moved location (to the address below) but the shop’s iconic aesthetics remain. In fact, they now have Roman columns and a balcony!

The shop is a beautiful display of traditional ladders that are lifted straight out of Beauty and the Beast. And you can actually use them to help you to reach up to those top shelves, with the shop stretching back as far as the eye can see.

They also wrap many of the books in soft plastic coverings that make them look like irresistible gifts for yourself. No bookshop makes buying new books more deliciously tempting than Topping & Co.

The books themselves are separated into specific and useful sections, which is always appreciated and, despite it being a relatively small shop, I have never not found what I’ve been looking for, including special editions of specific titles.

The wealth of books on offer here matches the sheer antique beauty of the shop itself.

Another area where Topping & Co excel is in their selection of first editions and signed-by-the-authors editions.

Tucked in amongst the normal books, you’ll find these gems everywhere and they’re rarely more expensive than their unsigned counterparts.

Topping & Co. also host literary events throughout the year so it’s well worth keeping an eye on their website. They have other branches in the UK, including in the historic city of Ely.

Website | Address: York St, Bath BA1 1NG

Read More: Visit Hay-on-Wye – the UK’s Beloved Booktown.

3) Persephone Books, Bath

Persephone Books was a beloved London indie bookshop haunt before they announced their recent exciting move to the city of Bath. This move felt so right, given how Bath is one of the most celebrated literary cities in Britain.

With a uniform design that has become so iconic — a dove grey cover and spine with unique and colourful paper inlays (of which you can usually buy off-cuts for craft projects) — Persephone Books publishes out-of-print women writers, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries, that otherwise might have been lost to history.

This small bookshop is incredibly aesthetic with piles of these iconic numbered books and unique postcards, tote bags, and bookmarks you won’t find anywhere else.

If you fall in love with this independent publisher and Bath bookshop, which is highly likely, they have subscription services where you can receive one of these special books every month, right to your door.

Read More: A Perfect Bath Day Trip for Culture Lovers

Website | Address: 8 Edgar Buildings, Bath BA1 2EE

4) Bath Old Books

While Mr B’s Emporium and Topping both fit that mould of meticulously designed fairy tale book shops, Bath Old Books is Bath’s answer to the old guard of booksellers that revel in being cluttered with stacks and shelves of beautiful old tomes. In other words, Bath Old Books is a true cave of wonders.

Carpeted rooms lined with wooden bookcases from floor to ceiling make for a literal house of books where anything and everything is possible. Bath Old Books provides hours of browsing possibilities.

Along with the Jane Austen museum and the baths themselves, Bath Old Books is an historic and essential part of the city of Bath. Without it, Bath would not be Bath.

What sets this Bath bookshop apart is its selection of antiquarian books from centuries passed. If you’re in the market for old and rare books in Bath, this is where you must take yourself.

Website | Address: 6A Margaret’s Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP, United Kingdom

Read More: Check out some of our favourite independent bookshops in London

5) Skoob Books

Who doesn’t love a good second-hand bookstall? Centrally located in Guildhall Market, with stacks of books to dig through, this is where you’ll find battered and beloved Penguin Classics and all the latest paperbacks.

At wonderfully affordable prices, you are sure to pick up a book or two, or three.

Website | Address: 40 – 42 Guildhall Market, Bath BA2 4AW

Read More: Pay a visit to Gladstone’s Library, the UK’s only Residential Library

6) George Bayntun

George Bayntun was a bookbinder, and a legend of one at that. Though he died back in 1940, his legacy continues in this, the oldest bookshop in Bath.

In his last few years of life and work, Bayntun’s shop was often visited by Queen Mary, wife of King George V, who spent her golden years living in the Bath area.

Today, George Bayntun is a specialist in antiquarian books of the rarest and most beautiful variety. Beyond this, the bindery which was set up by George Bayntun, and by which he was best known, is still in operation today.

If you’re looking to have a rare and broken book rebound, or a new book bound, consider turning to the historic George Bayntun for their services.

Website | Address: 23 Manvers St, Bath BA1 1JW, United Kingdom

Read More: A Complete Bookish Guide to Norwich, UK

7) The Beaufort Bookshop

Found in the charming district of Larkhall, northeast of the centre of Bath, you can find this lovely independent bookshop run by former Head of English, James Thomas, and a number of volunteers.

They mainly sell secondhand books so this is the ideal place if you’re looking for something unique or simply want to find a bargain.

Like all the best secondhand bookshops, be prepared to scour the shelves and browse the piles of books in the hope of finding that special something, the lack of organisation certainly adds to the charm here.

Endlessly passionate about books, if you’re looking for a recommendation then be sure to ask the friendly staff.

Website | Address: 1 Beaufort Pl, Bath BA1 6RP

8) The Oldfield Park Bookshop

Found on the bustling Moorland Road, a favourite amongst locals in Bath for its collection of independent eclectic shops and cafes, you will find this local bookshop that does its best to give back to the local community.

Run by two book-lovers Harry and Phillip, they’re always on hand for a friendly book chat and put huge effort into making the book displays as tempting as possible. With a diverse range of books to suit everyone, make sure to pay this charming bookshop a visit.

Website | Address: 43 Moorland Rd, Bath BA2 3PN

9) Oxfam Bookshop

One of the UK’s most beloved charity bookshop chains, the Oxfam bookshop may not be an independent bookshop in the same way as the other’s on the list but it does mean you shop for secondhand books while also giving to a good cause.

The branch in Bath is particularly good and often have some of the latest hardbacks for a fraction of the price that you’ll find elsewhere.

Address: 4, 5 Lower Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1QR

10) Waterstones Bath

Though this is a chain bookshop, sometimes you do just need to visit a branch of Waterstones.

The Bath branch is excellent and is also the only bookshop in this list to have a cafe located onsite though Bath does have a wide range of independent cafes to choose from so you certainly won’t have trouble finding coffee.

This Waterstones has two floors to enjoy, bathrooms, and has a wide selection of books including their own special editions.

Website | Address: 4-5 Milsom St, Bath BA1 1DA

Read More:

• Discover more independent bookshops in nearby Bristol
• Get Lost in Literary Covent Garden with this Bookish Guide
• Visit the Literary Sites of Yorkshire
• Discover These Five Literary Cities in the UK
• Spectacular Day Trips from London

Japan’s literature and culture are so rich and the best way to learn more is to tuck into a few Japanese novels by some of the best Japanese authors, as well as some fantastic travel and history books. With that said, here are seven books to read before you visit Japan, land of the rising sun.

You think ancient Japan, you picture samurai, geisha, and ninja. You think modern Japan, you picture anime, robots, and neon-lit streets.

More than any other nation, Japan is famous in equal parts for its history and its modern culture. It has done such a good job of both separating and marrying the two together. As such, its tourism grows every single year.

Before you visit Japan, you can also get in the mood with our custom playlist of songs inspired by Japan!

Beautiful Books to Read Before you Visit Japan

We visit Japan from all over to see the Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto, to climb Mt. Fuji, to shop for anime merchandise in Akihabara. But before we do any of this, we should really get a better understanding of what makes Japan special.

What is it that the Japanese value? How does their country work with so much harmony and peace? Why is their art as unique and beautiful as it is?

To help answer these questions, here are the best Japanese books — Japanese novels, history books, and culture guides — to read before you visit Japan.

Pure Invention by Matt Alt

Pure Invention — or, to give the book its full title, How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World — is an essential and captivating history lesson for anyone curious about how such things as anime and manga, video games, karaoke, kawaii culture, and Hello Kitty came to dominate global pop culture.

If you grew up on Japanese anime and video games, if you’ve ever owned a Walkman or a karaoke machine, or if you were ever curious about the economic boom of Japan in the second half of the 20th Century, Pure Invention is for you.

Matt Alt, a Japan-based writer and translator, begins this book with World War II and the man who created the toy car: a little metal Jeep with a working axel and rolling wheels; the kind that countless children have owned over the decades. From here he looks at how this led to anime and Hello Kitty.

The journey that Pure Invention takes us on really is a captivating one. It explores politics and economics, design and aesthetics, and even Japanese philosophy and ethics to look at how toys, games, and cartoons from Japan ended up, as the book’s title rightly says, conquering the world.

If you’ve always wanted to visit Japan because you have found yourself fascinated by the nation’s pop culture, or because you grew up on it and love it to this day, Pure Invention is essential reading for you before you visit Japan.

Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton

Polly Barton is the Japanese-to-English translator of such books as Aoko Matsuda’s Where the Wild Ladies Are and Kikuko Tsumura’s There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job. She cut her teeth on Japanese culture as a teacher on the JET programme, and this is her memoir/essays on life and language in Japan.

This is an essential read before you visit Japan, and for people intrigued by Japanese language and culture. It tells of one British woman’s journey to discovering, appreciating, and living the Japanese language while living on a quiet, remote Japanese island.

Fifty Sounds is a wonderful introduction to the unique beauty of the Japanese language. It follows the life of a writer (and future translator) as she learns the language through experiencing love and work. It paints a unique picture of discovering Japanese language and culture; there is nothing quite like it.

The essays in Fifty Sounds are philosophical, funny, intimate, and eye-opening. These expose the unique quirks and mechanics of the Japanese language while providing readers with a uniquely linguistic lens, through which to view the culture of modern Japan.

Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson

We’re not starting with one of the best Japanese novels, nor even one of the great Japanese authors. Instead, we’re starting with a grump Canadian man.

Story time: Before I lived in Japan (the first time), I was gifted this book by a friend. What I thought would be a fun book that would familiarise me with the roads and trains and cities of Japan turned out to be an illuminating story about living as a foreigner in Japan, the post-war growth of Japanese society and infrastructure, and a journey filled with as many laughs as tears.

Hokkaido Highway Blues treats you to fascinating anecdotes about Japanese folklore, language, history, fashion, food, everything. It’s such a great place to start when getting used to modern Japan. In other words, and quite surprisingly, it is one of the best books on Japanese culture.

A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun, and Zen by Jonathan Clements

Speaking of the best books on Japanese culture, this book is a fantastic place to start before you visit Japan. We’ve read a few books on the history of Japan, but none hit the mark quite like this one.

Clements is an expert on both Chinese and Japanese language and culture, and his unwavering adoration for Japanese culture — both ancient and modern — shines through in this fun, fluid, vibrant book.

If you want to learn the truth about Zen, how the Samurai truly worked and behaved, and how exactly Japan paved its own road through Asian history, this is the book you need to dig into. It’s written with wit, wisdom, and playfulness, but packs a real knowledge punch.

While Clements is an expert and someone with a clear and intense adoration for Japanese history and culture, he’s also someone capable of coming at certain topics from a different angle.

The way that he explores the religious history of Japan, for example, is truly eye-opening. When you see how thin this book is, you’ll wonder how he packs so much in, but Clements finds a way. This us truly one of the best books on Japanese culture right now.

How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart by Florentyna Leow

How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart is a short collection of personal essays bound together to make one moving memoir about the personal and professional life of a woman living in Japan’s old capital. Florentyna is a Malaysian woman who studied in London before moving to Tokyo, and then Kyoto. In this book, we learn about how the city and its people challenge and change her.

We learn about her work as a tour guide, what its like seeing the tourist hotspots of Kyoto through the eyes of someone who has visited them all dozens of times. We read touching and humorous anecdotes about locals, tourists, famous places, and hidden gems. We learn about her favourite spots; places that make her feel at home, like she belongs in Kyoto.

We also read about her friendships, her heartbreak, her personal struggles and crises. This is a touching personal tale that paints a vibrant and vivid picture of Kyoto, its citizens, what makes it so unique and beautiful, and what it’s really like to live and work there as a foreigner trying desperately to belong.

Before you visit Japan, and Kyoto specifically, this is a very touching little memoir to enjoy.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

One of the best Japanese novels to come out of the country in years was 2018’s Konbini Ningen (or Convenience Store Woman). It’s a short novel that tells the story of a woman who has worked in a convenience store for 18 years.

This is the peak of modern Japanese novels, and it holds the state of modern-day Japanese life under a lens by force. It brings to light the fragility of Japanese society, how it behaves like clockwork so long as all the cogs are greased. And the job of a convenience store person is very much one of these cogs.

If you want to really dig into the psychology of Japan’s culture before you visit Japan, this book is also a wonderful look at how your average Japanese person observes mental health, strangeness, and the ladder of work and family that we all must be on because of reasons. Sayaka Murata is one of the best Japanese authors writing today.

Read More: Our full review of Convenience Store Woman

Bending Adversity by David Pilling

This book was a huge success that went beyond Japan, striking a nerve with journalists, economists, politicians, and writers across the world. It’s an informative and infinitely well-researched book that examines the post-war Japanese economy.

Bending Adversity discusses the bubble burst at the start of the ‘90s; it touches on issues of feminism and inequality. It interviews Japans most famous writers and artists to get an insider perspective.

If you want to know how Japan’s modern-day infrastructure, economics, and politics work (but you also don’t want to be bogged down with jargon and numbers).

This book is overflowing with heart, making it a must-read before you visit Japan as well as one of the best books on Japanese culture, especially in the modern day.

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri

Translated by Morgan Giles

Newly released in 2019, this phenomenal novel is a chilling indictment of the invisible class system that plagues modern-day Japan.

Yu Miri, a Korean-born Japanese citizen presents us with a tragic protagonist who worked his entire life, barely surviving (until he no longer can) under the weight of Japanese bureaucracy, class, and government.

Most tragic of all is the fact that he is born on the same day as the emperor. And yet the emperor will be remembered while our protagonist dies alone and nameless.

Tokyo Ueno Station is not a friendly novel in many respects, but it is a truthful and transparent one, and it would be valuable in the hands of anyone who puts too much faith in capitalism and the actions of the government.

It’s always good to be up-to-date on the latest literature before you visit Japan, and this is one of the very best Japanese novels of the 21st century, proving Yu Miri to be one of the best Japanese authors around.

Read More: Our full review of Tokyo Ueno Station

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Translated by Allison Markin Powell

This novel, by one of the best and most beloved Japanese authors, is a delight. The story of a young woman who meets one of her old teachers in a bar, forms a tight friendship with him which steadily and awkwardly grows and grows, and struggles to reconcile her adoration for him with her frustration at his archaic ways.

Strange Weather in Tokyo very much a clash of old and new. The old Japan that now exists in temples and museums is alive in Tsukiko’s sensei, but doesn’t really have a place in the world she is now thriving in. So what you have here is a very vivid show of how Japan has changed and evolved in such a small space of time, personified as two wholly likeable and hilarious characters.

Of all the Japanese novels I’ve ever read, this has stayed with me as one of the best. It’s also one of the few Japanese novels that doubles as one of the best books on Japanese culture.

Read more: Our full review of Strange Weather in Tokyo

Lost Japan by Alex Kerr

Alex Kerr has a thing for traditional Japan, as such he has here produced one of the very best books on Japanese culture. He has studied its tea ceremonies, kabuki and bunraku theatres, and is a master calligrapher.

In Lost Japan, Kerr takes us on a personal and intimate journey through a life spent uncovering the parts of Japan that are vanishing. He decries pachinko and the crushing existence of sad salarymen, and he romanticises the arts of Japan which are unparalleled across most of the world.

To truly peer into the heart of Japanese art, architecture, and history, you need to read this beautiful book. Kerr cares, and he’ll have you caring, too. Before you visit Japan, let Kerr teach you about its deep artistic and cultural history.

Read more: Our full review of Lost Japan

The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman

The Bells of Old Tokyo begins with a scene-setting: “The Five O’Clock Chime sounded, its notes drifting across Shiba Park.” Shiba Park sits at the edge of the iconic Tokyo Tower, and houses the Buddhist Zōzō-ji Temple. Herein we can immediately see the book’s greatest strength.

Sherman has chosen a human approach to historical exploration: she weaves together a journey through Tokyo’s greatest and darkest moments, changes, people, and parts with a stunning narrative that often paints a vivid, vibrant picture.

It sets a calming tone and makes Tokyo feel tangibly alive and breathable on the page.

The Bells of Old Tokyo is a love letter to Japanese culture – both antique and modern. It’s at once celebratory and mournful.

It’s driven by a personal story and peppered with cultural and historic facts that light up the brain like a plasma lamp. It is the answer to all the questions we have when we visit Tokyo

Read More: Our Full Review of The Bells of Old Tokyo.

The Only Gaijin in the Village by Iain Maloney

As the title suggests, Iain is the only gaijin in the village.

He is a native Scot who moved to Japan back in 2005, found love, built a life, and eventually decided to move out into the countryside, since both he and his wife grew up rural in their respective countries and were itching for a return to green hills and wide views of the horizon.

His organic method of storytelling almost makes The Only Gaijin in the Village a hard book to define. It’s certainly a personal memoir, but it’s also a book that enlightens us about aspects of Japanese tradition, history, language, and politics that we had never even considered until now.

Read More: Our Full Review of The Only Gaijin in the Village.

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro is also, as I’ve already mentioned, my favourite author, and An Artist of the Floating World is my favourite Ishiguro novel. It’s a complex piece of historical fiction set after the events of World War II.

Our protagonist, Ono, was once a great painter, but during the events of WWII he began making right-wing propaganda art which, after the war ended, discredited him as a traitor to the ideals and morals of Japan.

This novel is an intense exploration of personal politics, moral duty, and betrayal. It follows Ono closely and allows us time to live with him and his decisions, as well as how his family and friends now treat him. An absolute masterpiece of Japanese historical fiction.

Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn

Japanese Ghost Stories is the perfect place to start if you’re looking for some Japanese folklore books to read all about the ghosts, fantastical beasts, and yokai of Japanese history.

It’s a beautiful collection of eerie, strange, romantic, unsettling ghost stories from across Japan’s history, recorded here in English for us to enjoy.

Read More: Books on Japanese Mythology

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

The Tale of Genji has quite the legacy. Not only is it the first Japanese novel, but it is widely considered to be the first novel ever written. Written by the Kyoto noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the 11^th century CE, The Tale of Genji takes us on a journey alongside the son of an emperor: Hikaru Genji.

Genji is no longer in the line of succession, and spends much of the novel’s story forming and then ruining relationships with various women in Kyoto.

The novel is a fascinating insight into the lives of Japan’s nobility back when Kyoto was the capital of Japan. It’s also a witty and smart novel that still holds up as one of the great works of classic Japanese fiction.

If you’re interested in more wonderful Japanese literature and non-fiction then check our archives for a wealth of goodies.

Related:

Books to Read Before Travelling to China

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Taking a tour of the towns and villages, the houses and homes of Jane Austen’s life — everything from her birthplace to her resting place — gives Austen fans the opportunity to step into her world; the world that directly inspired her novels.

From Chawton House (the place that inspired “the big house” of Austen’s novels) to her beloved and beautiful cities of Bath and Brighton, there is so much to see on a Jane Austen tour of England. Allow us to be your guides.

Read More: Iconic Jane Austen Quotes

A Complete Jane Austen Tour of England

We will begin with the historic city of Bath, before moving on to Chawton House and Jane Austen’s House Museum, then too many of the historic and regency places that were visited by Austen or that inspired her in some vital way.

From the cradle to the grave, here is your complete Jane Austen tour of England.

Bath

We’ll begin our Jane Austen tour with Bath, partly because it is the English city best associated with Jane Austen (you’ll see exactly why in a moment), but also because Bath is a tremendously beautiful and friendly historic city in its own right.

Famous for its Roman baths, Royal Crescent, charming Bath bookshops, literary culture, and iconic Bath stone buildings, Bath is a small city overflowing with things to see and do. But today we’re here for Jane Austen.

First is the Jane Austen Centre: an immersive and interactive experience that lifts the veil on the period in which Jane Austen lived and worked. Period decorations, actors in regency dress, and themed exhibits bring her world to life for each and every visitor.

From the moment you arrive, you’ll be greeted by dedicated and professional Austen fans (one of whom, who performs as Mr Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, is said to be the most photographed man in England!)

One of these Austen aficionados will be your guide, teaching you about Austen’s life, family, and her connections to Bath. You’ll then be given a chance to dress up in period costumes and be photographed with Mr Darcy. An afternoon at the Jane Austen Centre is one full of silly fun and laughter.

The exhibits at the Jane Austen Centre make it an essential stop on your Jane Austen tour of Bath, but so do the Regency Tea Rooms. You can visit the tea rooms by themselves but a ticket to the Jane Austen Centre gives you 10% off your bill at the tea rooms.

The Regency Tea Rooms provide homemade cakes, afternoon cream tea, and light snacks. For a short time, you can live the life of Jane Austen herself.

The bookshops of Bath are also a must-visit. The iconic Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights and Topping & Co are essential Bath bookshops for any bookworm to explore, as is the fantastic feminist bookshop Persephone, which made a move from London to Bath in 2020.

Jane Austen herself also lived in Bath for five years, between 1801 and 1806. If you head to the Visit Bath website, you can download a free audio walking tour of the city: “In the footsteps of Jane Austen.”

Read More: A Perfect Bath Day Trip for Culture Lovers

Chawton House 

The village of Chawton, Hampshire is where Jane Austen did most of her living, writing, and editing. But, before you visit Jane Austen’s house itself, a Jane Austen tour of England must also include a visit to Chawton House (aka The Big House).

Many of Austen’s novels feature a local home known as The Big House, and Chawton House is what these places in her books were based on.

Austen was personally tied to Chawton House when her brother, Edward Austen — later Edward Knight — became the owner, after his adoption into the wealthy Knight family. With the power and money he inherited, Edward provided his sister with her cottage.

Today, Chawton House is a museum to itself, featuring original furniture and furnishings from Austen’s time. It is also a museum to women’s writing, featuring manuscripts and first editions of books by the likes of Mary Wollstonecraft and George Elliot.

Impressively sized, Chawton House was frequently visited by Jane, whose own house is only a five-minute walk away. She would spend afternoons at “the big house”, whiling away her time reading, dining, and playing with her brother’s children (especially Fanny, Jane’s favourite niece).

When visiting Chawton House on your Jane Austen tour of England, you’ll see the dining room (which includes the places at which Jane and Edward sat), an upstairs room in which Jane often sat and read, and a library beside the gift shop which houses a gorgeous collection of old tomes.

The walk from Chawton House to Jane Austen’s House Museum is also a delightful one, leading you past the grounds and onto the most awe-inspiring part of your Jane Austen tour of England.

Read More: Bookish and Cultural Day Trips from London

Jane Austen’s House (Chawton)

It’s no surprise that Jane Austen’s House Museum is going to be the most impressive part of your Jane Austen tour. What is a surprise, however, is just how intact the building and its interiors are. The details and features of Jane Austen’s house are flabbergasting.

The red brick house itself remains perfectly intact, as does her garden. But it’s when you get inside that your jaw really drops. From the kitchens to the bedrooms, everything you see is an original or a painstakingly researched and recreated copy.

The most impressive original feature of Jane Austen’s House Museum is her writing desk: a tiny round table which sits in the corner of a small study, one chair tucked underneath it, with a grandfather clock ticking behind it.

Jane Austen wrote all six of her novels — from Sense and Sensibility to Persuasion — at this tiny table. In the room’s other corner is a tea cabinet which Austen herself kept locked. The servants were not permitted to attend it at all.

In Jane Austen’s bedroom, you’ll find laid out on the bed a dress worn by Anne Hathaway in the movie Becoming Jane. In a nearby room is a large quilt stitched by Jane’s favourite sister Cassandra.

There is also, naturally, a gift shop that sells several different editions of Austen’s novels (including our beloved Chiltern Classics).

Read More: A Perfect Day Trip to Jane Austen’s House and Chawton House

Winchester

Not far from Chawton (around a twenty-minute drive), you can visit Winchester where Jane Austen spent the final years of her life and died.

Jane Austen’s grave can be found within Winchester Cathedral. It’s also a beautiful city in its own right with preserved buildings, cobbled streets, and an old bookshop said to have been frequented by Austen herself.

Tip: The No 64 bus runs from Winchester bus station to Chawton and back.

Steventon

In North Hampshire, you can visit Steventon where Jane Austen was born and spent the first twenty-five years of her life. While all that remains there is a lime tree, planted by Austen’s brother, marking the spot of the rectory where her father and brother worked and the family used to live. In Steventon, you can also visit the local church which has memorials to James Austen and his nephew William Knight.

Seven miles away in Basingstoke, where Austen visited frequently and attended gatherings, a Jane Austen bronze statue was recently unveiled to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of her death.

To extend your trip in Steventon, you can walk part of the Wayfarer’s Walk to Deane and take in some of the beautiful Hampshire countrysides.

Chatsworth House

A perfect reason to visit the gorgeous Peak District National Park and visit one of the UK’s grandest estates and famous filming locations.

It is believed that Jane Austen based Pemberley on Chatsworth House, as she wrote the first draft of the novel while in nearby Bakewell (to forget to try the Cherry Bakewell cakes while you’re there).

The stately home in Derbyshire has been owned by the Cavendish family since 1549 and was famously the setting for Pemberley in the 2007 film Pride and Prejudice. Take some time to explore the house and grounds, enjoy the farm shop as well as the restaurant and cafe.

Lyme Park Estate

Also in the Peak District, you can visit Lyme Park Estate which was the filming location used for Pemberly in the famous BBC series adaption. There’s also a two-mile National Park Pemberley Walk that you can take from the estate which takes you in the footsteps of the BBC series to fully enjoy all of the filming locations. 

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see Colin Firth rising from the lake but you will, in fact, be able to see the lake which is the next best thing. Take some time to explore the house, gardens, and follies, and structures dotting the grounds. The shop and cafe are the perfect way to end your trip.

Westminster Abbey – Poet’s Corner

More than 100 poets and writers are buried or have graves or memorials at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey including Jane Austen. The first poet to be buried there was in fact Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400 and since then the legacy of honouring writers here has continued making it a pilgrimage site for literature lovers across the world.

Highclere Castle

While this grand home is most closely associated with the British tv show Downton Abbey these days, many don’t know that it actually has connections with Jane Austen too.

Austen visited the Lord Carnarvon-owned grounds and wrote of her visit there in a letter to Cassandra Austen in 1800. A perfect excuse to see one of the UK’s finest stately homes and carry on your Austen tour of England.

Lyme Regis

A beloved town of Jane Austen, as mentioned in her letters, on the UK’s South West Jurassic Coast. Persuasion is most famously set here and the 2007 adaptation was also filmed in the town.

Whether you’re interested in fossil hunting, fudge, antiques or simply some afternoon tea overlooking the ocean and charming ammonite street lamps, follow in Austen’s footsteps and find out why she loved this town so much. 

Stourhead – Temple of Apollo

A gorgeous place to visit and instantly recognisable to fans of the Pride and Prejudice movie starring Keira Knightly and Mathew Macfadyen as the site of the rain proposal scene.

The Stourhead landscaped gardens, on the border of Wiltshire and Somerset, is a wonderful day out and National Trust owned so if you have a membership you can enter for free and enjoy over a thousand hectares of land. There’s also a lovely shop and restaurant onsite.

Brighton

A fantastic city to visit for so many reasons, including its wonderful collection of independent bookshops, Brighton was also a location mentioned in Pride and Prejudice with Lydia Bennett exclaiming “If one could but go to Brighton!”.

We don’t know if Austen ever visited Brighton and her opinions on it but Brighton was considered a healthy seaside escape during the period and a popular swimming spot.

Read More: How to Spend a Perfect Day in Brighton

Jane Austen Hotels and Places to Stay

Fans of Jane Austen who have set out on the great pilgrimage that is the Jane Austen tour of England will want some Austen-inspired places to stay. Here are your finest options.

Oakley Hall Hotel

This luxury hotel housed in an 18th-century house is not only a wonderful hotel but also has links to Austen who was born in Steventon and regularly visited her friends Wither and Mary Bramston at the estate. The window transparencies at the estate which she mentions in her letters are also thought to be referenced in Mansfield Park within Fanny Price’s East Room. 

Jane Austen Courtyard Residence Bath

It doesn’t really get better than staying in Jane Austen’s Bath home. Built in 1794, 4 Sydney Place was the Austen family home from 1801 to 1805. This Grade I listed, period-feature-filled courtyard apartment will help you live out your period drama dreams.

Discover other literary day trips and cultural visits:

• A Gothic Day trip to Walpole’s Strawberry Hill
• A Day Trip to Audley End
• A Visit to Blenheim Palace and Woodstock
• A London Literary Itinerary
• Bookish Places in Devon and Cornwall
• Visit and Stay at Gladstone’s Library
• Literary Things to do in Stroud
• A Bronte Themed Weekend in Haworth

A pastiche of Walpole’s absurd imagination and the gothic places he visited on his grand tour of Europe, Strawberry Hill House is a surprise and an eccentric gothic experience, comprised of themed rooms and careful fostering of artful, campy tones.

The Gothic Legacy of Horace Walpole

Anyone who enjoys gothic literature will have heard of Horace Walpole and The Castle of Otranto, widely considered to be the first ever supernatural and gothic novel.

While The Castle of Otranto is certainly a strange (and arguably silly) read by today’s standards, it undeniably set the groundwork for later works of iconic gothic literature, such as Matthew Lewis’s The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.

Many of these works, including The Castle of Otranto, are also referenced in Jane Austen’s gothic parody, Northanger Abbey.

The story of The Castle of Otranto centres around Princess Isabella, whose young betrothed is suddenly crushed by a giant knight’s helmet. She must then escape before Manfred, her fiancé’s father and lord of the castle, divorces his current wife and forces Isabella to marry him instead.

By the time that he had the nightmare which inspired The Castle of Otranto, Walpole had already built, and was living at, Strawberry Hill House.

Son of the UK’s first prime minister, a close friend of the poet Thomas Gray — who accompanied Walpole on the Grand Tour — Walpole was a fascinating and strange individual outside of being a gothic writer, and that strangeness can certainly be seen and felt throughout Strawberry Hill House.

How to Get to Strawberry Hill House

Strawberry Hill House is open from Sunday to Thursday every week, and is easily accessed by public transport or car.

By Train: Strawberry Hill House can be easily accessed by train which runs on a circular route from London Waterloo to Strawberry Hill, with 4 trains per hour, Monday to Saturday, and 2 trains per hour on Sundays. The station is a 5-10 minutes’ walk from the house. 

London Underground: Take the District Line westbound to Richmond. From there you can catch the R68 from bus stop Z towards Hampton Court and alight at Michelham Gardens.

By Car: Strawberry Hill House is easily accessed by car and has its own limited free parking next to the house. If the parking s full then there are a number of pay-and-display car parks in Twickenham town centre.

Tip: Strawberry Hill House is just a fifteen-minute drive (or bus) to Hampton Court if you’d like to do both places in one trip.

Strawberry Hill is also an Art Pass destination meaning your entry tickets will be half price if you have a membership. Art Pass get you a discount or free entry to hundreds of historic sites and art exhibitions across the UK.

Find out more and book tickets on their website.

The History of Strawberry Hill House — The Toy House by The Thames

“It’s a little plaything-house that I got out of Mrs Chenevix’s shop and is the prettiest bauble you ever saw’ – Horace Walpole, June 1747

This bauble was once two small attached cottages by the river in Twickenham, both of which Horace bought when he was thirty. Soon after, they had been transformed into one of the most influential buildings in English architecture.

Walpole set about turning the building, which had been known locally as Chopp’d Straw Hall, into Strawberry Hill House: his own personal Gothic castle. The house existed in huge contrast against the prevailing neoclassical style of its time period.

Not just localised to the house itself, this abstract gothic style extended to the garden where he rejected the idea of a traditional formal garden favouring a ‘poetical’ and fluid style.

Throughout the house and garden, he kept in mind ‘sharawaggi’, a Chinese word meaning ‘for want of symmetry’ which you can absolutely feel as you go through the house and just feel that lack of symmetry for yourself.

He also coined his own word for the aesthetic inside the house ‘gloomth’ conjuring gloomy yet cosy vibes which he achieved through clever angles, light play, and stained glass windows for colour.

After Walpole’s death, having no wife or children of his own the house started to move through the line of distant heirs and through marriage ended up in the hands of George the 7th Early of Waldegrave who was a drunk and often in trouble with the law. 

He sold off all of Walpole’s gathered treasure which had angered the house the reputation as a ‘house of curiosities’ in what was called The Great Sale of 1842.

It was deemed one of the biggest sales of the century, with a huge marketing campaign behind it. The precious items were sold over thirty days on the lawn outside the house which was then left to become derelict.

No account of the history of the house would be complete with mentioned Lady Frances Waldegrave who had inherited the now derelict Strawberry Hill House and began work restoring and adapting it in 1846. 

Her adaptions kept the spirit of the house but made it grander and loftier making extra rooms for guests and enjoyment.

Strawberry Hill House once again became one of the most famous houses in England but she lamented late in her life that Horace Walpole would get the credit for her improvements “Strawberry is more like a fairy palace than ever. (…) I now constantly find young people thinking that Horace Walpole made all my pet creations’.

What to Do at Strawberry Hill House

Note: You can download the Strawberry Hill House app and take a guided tour of the inside of the house for free before or during your visit to the property.

Take a glimpse of our trip to Strawberry Hill House on Instagram.

The Hall

The entrance and hall are the first point of entry and immediately set the scene for the rest of the house.

Walpole himself described this as ‘the most particular and chief beauty of the Castle’ and that’s immediately obvious when seeing the arched doorways, the traced wallpaper modelled after the tomb of Prince Arthur in Worcester Cathedral, and the grand staircase designed by Richard Bentley in 1753 and based on the staircase at Rouen Cathedral.

Perhaps most striking is the colourful replica of Bentley’s ‘lanthorn’ hanging down into the hall.

The Great Parlour

This is one of the first and larger extensions that Walpole added to the original building; it was used for entertaining large parties and displays the portraits of family and friends. In here you can see large portraits of Walpole’s three nieces and his parents as well as a first edition of The Castle of Otranto on display.

The Library

Perhaps the most awe-inspiring part of the house, particularly for bookworms such as ourselves, is the library. White bookcases pierced gothic arches, that opens on a hinge to easily reach the books hidden behind the tip of the arch, enclose the room and are modelled on the door in St Paul’s Cathedral. 

The ceiling was designed by Walpole and follows a crusades theme which you can trace throughout the house. This room was kept deliberately sparse when Walpole lived here as he regarded it as a place of study.

The Holbein Chamber

So named after the famous artist Han Holbein as tracings of Hans Holbein’s Portraits of the members of Henry VIIIs court on oil paper by George Vertue hang in the room. 

Given a Tudor theme and decorated in purple, one of the most impressive items in the room, aside from the portraits, is Bentley’s screen which is based on the one at Rouen Cathedral which was burnt down the eighteenth century making this a fine preservation of art that would otherwise have been lost. 

Likewise, the papier-mâché ceiling was copied from the Queen’s Dressing Room at Windsor Castle which has also been lost. The impressive chimney which is (also by Bentley) is based on the tomb of Archbishop Warham at Canterbury.

The Gallery

Nothing so far compares to the splendour and grandeur of The Gallery, commented on by Walpole himself when he wrote that:

“I begin to be ashamed of my own magnificence; Strawberry is growing sumptuous; it will scarce be any longer like the fruit of its name or the modesty of its ancient demeanour”

Walpole blamed his acquisitions and growing art collection which was displayed around the house and primarily in the gallery. It is an opulent red and gold hall featuring a fan-vaulted ceiling based on the side aisle of Henry VII’s Chapel of Westminster Abbey and overall inspired by the historic French chateau of Chantilly. 

The Round Drawing Room

Leading on from the gallery is the cosy Round Drawing Room which immediately draws your eye to the stained glass bay window featuring various kings through history which was an addition by Lady Waldegrave.

The grand fireplace based on Edward the Confessor’s tomb at Westminster Abbey was created and improved by Robert Adam who was one of the last architects to work on the house.

The Tribune

The stunning tribune which could only be viewed from behind a screen during Wlapole’s day is named after the room at Uffizi Palace in Florence and where Walpole kept the most treasured items of his vast collection. Decked in blue and gold with more impressive stained glass, this is once again pure opulence. 

In this room you will also see the famous vase where one of Walpolew’s pets met a tragic end by drowning as eulogized in his friend (and almost certainly lover) Thomas Gray’s famous poem Ode on the death of a favourite cat:

Presumptuous maid! with looks intent

Again she stretched, again she bent,

    Nor knew the gulf between.

(Malignant Fate sat by and smiled)

The slippery verge her feet beguiled,

    She tumbled headlong in.

The poem was also illustrated by William Wordsworth, work which you can also see in Strawberry Hill House.

Visit the Strawberry Hill House Shop and Cafe

You’ll finish your tour of the house in the gift shop where you’ll find copies of The Castle of Otranto and other relevant souvenirs, local products, and garden items. There’s also a book swap outside if you want to take along anything.

The award-winning cafe is also a must-visit and wonderful way to extend your visit and look out over the garden. Focusing on using seasonal and local produce they serve a wide range of sandwiches, paninis, light bites and cakes as well as full drinks menu.

Discover other literary day trips and cultural visits in the UK:

• Cultural Day Trips from London
• A Perfect Day Trip to Jane Austen’s House and Chawton
• A Day Trip to Audley End
• A Visit to Blenheim Palace and Woodstock
• A London Literary Itinerary
• Bookish Places in Devon and Cornwall
• Visit and Stay at Gladstone’s Library

Chawton is also a stone’s throw from the historic city of Winchester, in which you can visit several other significant Austen sites, including Jane Austen’s grave.

Discover everything you should do as an Austen fan in Chawton, as well as where to eat and Austen-related places to stay at nearby if you’d like to extend your trip. We also have a full guide to the best Jane Austen places to visit in England if you would like to extend your trip.

How to Get to Chawton 

Chawton by train: You can take the train to Alton, which takes an hour and a half if you’re coming from or changing in London. From London, the trains to Chawton are hourly. From the station you can walk 1.8 miles to the house, take the frequent number 38/64 bus for fifteen minutes or you can call a taxi from the station.

Chawton by car: Chawton is around an hour’s drive from London, through Hampshire, and you’ll find a number of places for parking including in front of Chawton House and next to Cassandra’s Cup tea room.

Tip: You can get half-price tickets to both Chawton House and Jane Austen’s house if you have an Art Pass. This also gets you free or discounted tickets to hundreds of other places and exhibitions across the country.

My Dearest Frank, I Wish You Joy

“Our Chawton home, how much we find

Already in it, to our mind;

And how convinced, that when complete

It will all other Houses beat

That ever have been made or mended,

With rooms concise, or rooms distended.”

Jane Austen, 26 July 1809.

Chawton House and Library

Mentioned numerous times in Jane Austen’s letters as ‘the great house’, Chawton House belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, who inherited the home from Thomas and Catherine Knight, but was also enjoyed by Jane Austen as much as her own home. Over four hundred years old, the house was built in the 1580s.

Austen frequently dined at Chawton House, and the Knight family dining table where Austen sat is still there to be seen today. Many people believe that Mr Knightley’s Donwell Abbey in Austen’s Emma was modelled upon Chawton House.

It’s also a museum to early women writers; you will be able to see first editions of Austen’s works as well as works by Mary Wolsetencraft, Mary Astell, George Elliot, and many more.

Her brother’s early travel journals and suit are also in the museum as well as the Knight’s private library, featuring a number of their original rare books which are thought to only exist at Chawton House.

“I went up to the Great House between three and four, & dawdled away an hour very comfortably,”

Jane Austen

What to do at Chawton House

The House: Spread over two floors, there’s a lot to see in the house itself and you’re welcome to sit on and touch anything that hasn’t been designated otherwise. Numerous portraits associated with the Knight family are present, the books mentioned above, and Mary Lawrance’s Sketches of Flowers from Nature.

You will follow a linear path through the house after a short introduction from the staff and end at the gift shop and library. There are numerous copies of Austen’s books to purchase as well as other souvenirs.

The Old Kitchen Tearoom: Sit outside in the courtyard and enjoy some cake, tea, soup, and sandwiches. Gluten-free bread is available, and the sandwiches are generous and truly excellent. You can also take a sandwich away and go sit in the parkland. They’re open from 10 am to 4 pm daily. 

The Gardens: Take some time to wander the glorious gardens and woodland of Chawton, the highest point of the grounds is the Walled Garden which was built by Edward Austen and also referred to in Jane Austen’s letters. A garden map is available here to view and follow.

Make sure to catch the Elizabeth Blackwell Herb Garden inspired by her work A Curious Herbal which you can see inside the house. 

You can also follow the parkland walk to really make the most of the grounds here or follow The Jane Austen Garden Trail which is a unique walking route around the grounds featuring quotations from Austen’s writings.

Tip: You can even enjoy a local falconry experience.

The Tea Shed: Open to ticket holders and non-ticket holders, you can visit the tea shed for refreshments to take on your walk. You will find it opposite St Nicholas church on the walk into Chawton House.

Find out more and book tickets on the Chawton House website.

‘Chawton may be called the second, as well as the last home of Jane Austen; for during the temporary residences of the party at Bath and Southampton she was only a sojourner in a strange land; but here she found a real home amongst her own people.’

A Memoir of Jane Austen, James Edward Austen Leigh

Read More: A Day Trip to Strawberry Hill House: Home of Horace Walpole

Jane Austen’s House

Just eight minutes walk down the road from Chawton House is Jane Austen’s House. This is where Jane Austen lived for the last eight years of her life and is a beloved museum dedicated to Jane Austen. It was in this cottage that Jane Austen revised, wrote, and had published all six of her novels.

Smaller and more intimate than Chawton House, your journey through the building will take you through the simple life that she, her mother, and her two sisters lived in from the drawing-room to the dining room, and bedrooms.

One of the most splendid features of Jane Austen’s house is her original writing desk: a tiny round thing with a simple wooden chair. She wrote everything there, at a place in the corner of the room only big enough for a few sheets of paper.

It’s said that she was a very private writer. If she heard any creaking footsteps outside the door, she would stop writing immediately.

Every space is filled with fascinating information about Austen and her family. You will also discover many items that belonged to Jane Austen, as well as first editions of her work, and get a chance to explore the quaint cottage garden.

Jane Austen’s house is a true time capsule; it shows every visitor how she spent her days, what items and foods her life was filled with; the views she saw and the space she inhabited. These are the spaces and things that inspired her novels.

Your tour will end at the shop which is almost entirely dedicated to Austen and as a huge number of editions of her books. Including my personal favourite: Chiltern Editions. We also took Lucy Worsley’s Jane Austen at Home where you can learn lots of facts about the house and her life in it.

Find out more and book tickets on the Jane Austen’s House website. Your ticket to the Jane Austen museum is also valid for a year so you can come back anytime for free.

Jane Austen Circular Walk, Chawton

This 4.5-mile circular walk starting at the centre of Chaton allows you to enjoy some of the beautiful Hampshire scenery as well the key Jane Austen spots in the area including the village of Farringdon.

“…and the plan is that we should all walk

with her to drink tea at Faringdon” 

Letter to Cassandra, 29 May 1811

There is a downloadable leaflet (link here) that gives you a detailed account of the route and the significance of each stopping point. 

Cassandra’s Cup Tea Room

Directly across the road from Jane Austen’s house with a lovely view of the cottage, you can enjoy an afternoon tea or light meal at Cassandra’s Cup Tea Room which is named after Austen’s sister Cassandra. They also have a bathroom and WIFI available to catch up on the day and a selection of local produce and food-related souvenirs.

Visit Winchester

On 24 May 1817, Jane left Chawton with Cassandra and moved into lodgings in Winchester, to be near Dr Lyford at the County Hospital. In Winchester, you will be able to visit Jane Austen’s grave at Winchester Cathedral.

Where to Stay in Chawton

Oakley Hall Hotel: This luxury hotel housed in an 18th-century house is not only a wonderful hotel but also has links to Austen who was born in Steventon and regularly visited her friends Wither and Mary Bramston at the estate.

The window transparencies at the estate which she mentions in her letters are also thought to be referenced in Mansfield Park within Fanny Price’s East Room. 

The Anchor Inn: A traditional country pub with an idyllic waterside setting with an excellent breakfast and an award-winning restaurant for dinner.

Alton House Hotel: A charming and convenient hotel in Alton with four poster beds and situated on spacious grounds.

Tip: See an Instagram video of our day in Jane Austen’s Chawton for inspiration.

Discover other literary day trips and cultural visits:

• Cultural Day Trips from London
• A Day Trip to Audley End
• A Visit to Blenheim Palace and Woodstock
• A London Literary Itinerary
• Bookish Places in Devon and Cornwall
• Visit and Stay at Gladstone’s Library