Best Travel Writing - Non-Fiction

1

In a Sunburned Country

by Bill Bryson

9,825 members

246 reviews

4

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, valeriepatton
Explanations: ahef1963: Australia

2

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

by Bill Bryson

18,388 members

501 reviews

4

2 Members: ahef1963, valeriepatton
Explanations: ahef1963: USA

3

In Patagonia

by Bruce Chatwin

3,624 members

102 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: Cecrow, Opinionated, ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Argentina

4

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

by Eric Newby

1,473 members

30 reviews

3.8

3 Members: Cecrow, Opinionated, ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: From London to Afghanistan

5

Notes from a Small Island

by Bill Bryson

10,536 members

227 reviews

3.8

2 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: UK

6

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

by Bill Bryson

7,800 members

127 reviews

3.8

2 Members: ahef1963, valeriepatton
Explanations: ahef1963: USA

7

Seven Years in Tibet

by Heinrich Harrer

3,205 members

45 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Cecrow, ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Tibet

8

Sailing Alone Around the World

by Joshua Slocum

1,986 members

33 reviews

4

Member: Cecrow

9

On the road to Babadag

by Andrzej Stasiuk

220 members

4 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Wonderfully atmospheric recounting of sporadic journeys in eastern Europe.

10

In Sicily

by Norman Lewis

128 members

3 reviews

3.8

Member: Opinionated

11

The Shadow of the Sun

by Ryszard Kapuściński

2,307 members

53 reviews

4.2

2 Members: Opinionated, ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Widely diverse countries in Africa

12

Kon-Tiki

by Thor Heyerdahl

4,606 members

60 reviews

4.1

Member: Cecrow

13

A Goddess in the Stones: Travels in India

by Norman Lewis

177 members

6 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: Opinionated

14

Mobile (French Literature)

by Michel Butor

63 members

3.9

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: The US. Good if not altogether contemporary picture of the place in a written collage of telling adverts, documents, and observations.

15

Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson

by James Boswell

572 members

11 reviews

3.8

Member: Cecrow

16

Coasting

by Jonathan Raban

420 members

12 reviews

3.9

Member: Opinionated

17

Autonauts of the Cosmoroute

by Julio Cortázar

362 members

13 reviews

3.8

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Charming amusing quirky melancholy travel account of rest stops on a French motorway.

18

Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork

by Simon Majumdar

52 members

2 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: hipdeep

19

Never Cry Wolf

by Farley Mowat

3,051 members

66 reviews

4.1

Member: Cecrow

20

Old Glory: A Voyage Down the Mississippi

by Jonathan Raban

597 members

11 reviews

3.9

Member: Opinionated

21

The Best American Travel Writing 2010

by Bill Buford

114 members

6 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: hipdeep

22

By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy

by George Gissing

111 members

1 review

4

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: A Victorian novelist's account of travels in what seems a godforsaken Calabria. Surprisingly interesting. Source of the word 'paparazzi' as well.

23

The Great Railway Bazaar

by Paul Theroux

3,083 members

73 reviews

3.8

Member: Opinionated

24

Paris to the Moon

by Adam Gopnik

2,981 members

33 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: hipdeep

25

The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain

by Bill Bryson

2,870 members

132 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: UK

26

A Tramp Abroad

by Mark Twain

1,293 members

23 reviews

3.8

Member: Cecrow

27

Grand Canal, Great River: The Travel Diary of a Twelfth-Century Chinese Poet

by Philip Watson

24 members

2 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Excerpts from a journal kept during a journey via canal and the Yangtze. Not gripping but interesting, partly because the author, a poet, lived in the 12th century. Well illustrated.

28

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown

by Paul Theroux

2,324 members

62 reviews

3.9

Member: Opinionated

29

Frost on my Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer

by Tim Moore

277 members

8 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Iceland. I once read one of Moore's travel books on a bus. Won't do that again.

30

The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas

by Paul Theroux

2,025 members

33 reviews

3.9

Member: Opinionated

31

The Journals of Captain Cook

by Captain James Cook

390 members

2 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Captain Cook went almost everywhere.

32

Paddle to the Amazon: The Ultimate 12,000 Mile Canoe Adventure

by Don Starkell

218 members

4 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Canada to USA to Mexico to South America along the Orinoco & the Amazon Rivers.

33

Eothen

by Alexander William Kinglake

512 members

9 reviews

3.8

Member: Cecrow

34

On the Shores of the Mediterranean

by Eric Newby

359 members

3 reviews

3.9

Member: Opinionated

35

The Voyage of the Beagle

by Charles Darwin

3,467 members

30 reviews

4.1

Member: Cecrow

36

Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World

by Ewan McGregor

1,328 members

22 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Around the world London - Europe - Asia - USA - on motorcycles.

37

Long Way Down

by Ewan McGregor

750 members

11 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: From the tip of Scotland to the tip of South Africa.

38

In Trouble Again: A Journey Between the Orinoco and the Amazon

by Redmond O'Hanlon

650 members

10 reviews

3.8

Member: Opinionated

39

Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey

by V. S. Naipaul

1,404 members

17 reviews

3.8

Member: Opinionated

40

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

by Richard Crane

32 members

1 review

½ 4.3

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: By bicycle through Bangladesh, the Himalayas, and north to the world's geographical centre. Awe-inspiring.

41