10 Greatest Travel Books of All Time
National Geographic Traveler, World Hum (and Others) List Favorites
Jul 19, 2008
National Geographic Traveler, WorldHum.com, BraveNewTraveler.com, Outside Magazine, and Conde Nast Traveler have all published such lists.
Some of them adhere to the traditional perception that travel writing is non-fiction. Others allow novels based on imagined travels or other experiences in exotic locales.
Here is the cross-section of the 10 books which were most commonly named on these publications’ “Best Travel Books” lists. The top 10 travel books appeared on at least three of the five publications’ lists.
Top 10 Travel Books
Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger (1959). A classic. Thesiger journeyed among the nomadic camel-breeding peoples of southern Arabia, and wrote an account of his experiences that has lured the dreamy-eyed reader ever since.
In Patagonia, by Bruce Chatwin (1977). From Amazon.com, “Fascinated by Patagonia since an early childhood lust for Grandma's scrap of hairy Giant Sloth skin, Chatwin's also intrigued by odd miners and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy in Cholila. In 1977 the London Observer called it ‘a brilliant travel book.’”
Video Night in Kathmandu: and Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East, by Pico Iyer (1988). From National Geographic Traveler, “The contents page of this tour de force reads like a backpacker's fantasy—Bali, Tibet, Nepal, China, the Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Japan. Indeed, this crafty, kinetic, outrageous book by Iyer—an earnest sort of smart-ass—continues to intoxicate wanderlusters.”
The Great Railway Bazaar, by Paul Theroux (1975). From BraveNewTravler.com, Theroux’s “Bazaar” captures the idiosyncrasies of train travel. Rich in observation and detail, the route is from London’s Victoria Station to Asia and finally through the Trans-Siberian express. The circumstances Theroux finds himself in, as well as the characters he encounters, are a comical portrayal of life on the road.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America, by John Steinbeck (1961). "When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch," Steinbeck begins. Steinbeck’s itch didn’t receive its soothing scratch until, at 58, he took to a road trip from Maine to California—accompanied by his poodle, Charley.
The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin (1987). From National Geographic Traveler, “More lyrical than anthropological, The Songlines explores the ‘labyrinth of invisible pathways which meander all over Australia,’ the ‘dreaming-tracks’ or ‘songlines’ of the Aboriginals. But in the end, this, like so many of his books, is a tale of Chatwin's ecstatically nomadic tilt.”
In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson (2000). From WorldHum.com, “Bryson travels from Sydney to Perth and throughout the continent’s Martian-like desert middle, and his affection for Australia’s people and its varied landscapes is obvious. If an armchair trip through Australia in the company of Bryson doesn’t make you want to go there, it’s doubtful any book will.”
Old Glory, by Jonathan Raban (1981). From Outside, “There are grander adventures than Raban's on this list, but few as eloquent. ‘I found that I had landed up in a tree slum,’ Raban writes during his journey in a 16-foot aluminum boat down the Mississippi. Though Raban's wit is always intact, we do sometimes question his fortitude. (What's up with his mortal fear of birds?)”
West with the Night, by Beryl Markham (1942). From Conde Nast Traveler, “A bush pilot and the first person to fly solo, east to west, across the Atlantic, Markham writes vividly about her discoveries, explorations, and narrow escapes. Recent evidence that her husband may have written it casts doubt on her legacy but not on the power of her story.”
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, by Eric Newby (1958). From WorldHum.com, “In ‘A Short Walk,’ Newby sets out to climb one of Afghanistan’s highest peaks with just four days of mountaineering experience under his belt. His inexperience shows. Like his contemporary, Wilfred Thesiger, Newby was an intrepid explorer who helped define the modern travel narrative with sly commentary on our common humanity.”
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