The Best Travel Books of All Time, According to Authors

These are the books known to cause extreme wanderlust.

There are an astounding number of travel books out there. How to choose the best of the best? You can start by asking the experts. Back in 2007, Traveler enlisted a literary all-star jury that included Monica Ali, Vikram Chandra, Jennifer Egan, Francine Prose, Paul Theroux, and more to create a comprehensive list of the best travel books of all time. This year, we reached out to another batch of authors—Pico Iyer, Julia Phillips, and Imbolo Mbue, to name a few—to see what travel books have made a mark on them—an even more meaningful question in a year when travel was extraordinarily limited for most. We wanted to know which books, regardless of genre, changed the way they considered a certain culture or place or people; the books that inspired them both to write and to get out into the world themselves.

As you'll see below, the picks—old and new—carry their weight, proving many of the greats are just as relevant today as they were when first published. From David Sedaris's 2000 Me Talk Pretty One Day to Herodotus's 440 B.C. The Histories, read on for dozens of passionately endorsed and beloved travel books, presented in alphabetical order.

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Along the Ganges, Ilija Trojanow (2006)

An emigrant from Cold War Bulgaria who has lived in Germany, Kenya, South Africa, and more, Trojanow brings a pan-religious enthusiasm to his writings on Asia in this book nominated by novelist Nuruddin Farah. In his journey from the Ganges's source to the chaotic cities along its course, Trojanow treats the river and its Hindu devotees with fascination, respect, and an eye for detail.

Among the Cities, Jan Morris (1985)

Nominated by author and veteran traveler Pico Iyer, Among the Cities features 37 essays written throughout Morris's lengthy career, spanning back to the 1950s and encompassing her travels to cities from Houston to Beirut. “It was really [Morris's book], with its virtuoso evocations of many of the great cities of the world, from Singapore to Rio, that sent me out across the seas with my notebook, and a sense that places could be as involving, as complex, as life-changing as people are,” says Iyer. “Morris’s particular gift is for combining unparalleled descriptive power with a rigorous and playful sense of factual accuracy; she is always reporter and portrait-painter all at once, in love with life but wise to its follies.”

Arabian Sands, Wilfred Thesiger (1959)

Born in Ethiopia to a British diplomat, the writer-explorer was disenchanted with the West and spent five years traveling among the bedouins along the Arabian Peninsula, detailing their disappearing way of life. For his dedication and his eloquence, Paul Theroux puts him “on my classics list.”

An Area of Darkness, V. S. Naipaul (1965)

This is old-school Naipaul—the travelogue that made his name and expertly defined the India of the early sixties (even the writer's former protégé turned nemesis Paul Theroux confesses admiration). The poet Linh Dinh calls it “penetrating, taut, and funny.”

Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez (1986)

Illustrator and children's book author Jan Brett recommends Lopez's exploration of the Arctic—its wildlife, environment, and indigenous peoples included. “Arctic Dreams has fueled my imagination and given me a rare glimpse into an original, mysterious world,” she says. “[Lopez] describes the Arctic like a visual artist and, like many great writers, seemingly suspends time. The maps, appendices, and his field observations—especially of musk oxen—make me yearn to see his vision through my own eyes.”

As They Were, M.F.K. Fisher (1982)

The late British author Peter Mayle, who credited the brilliant food writer's Provence books with inspiring him to first visit the region, nonetheless recommended the book that comes closest to being Fisher's complete memoir. “She has the rare gift of letting the reader know exactly what it was like to see what she saw, hear what she heard, taste what she tasted, and feel what she felt," said Mayle. “A book not to be missed.”

A Barbarian in Asia, Henri Michaux (1933)

For those who would have liked to imagine Rimbaud as a reporter, the louche French poet Michaux might make the perfect guide to the East in the thirties. John Wray calls the book “hilarious, bizarre, and wildly self-indulgent”—not always a bad thing. “He was apparently hell-bent on alienating half the planet, or at least those parts he traveled through," Wray says. "Not to be read by anyone looking to get a feel for what life is like in India, China, or Japan.”

The Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino (1957)

One of the late Italian writer's classics, The Baron in the Trees tells the story of Cosimo di Rond, a young man who rebels against his parents by living life in the trees—all while watching the Age of Enlightenment transpire below. “Sometimes, I feel like climbing up a tree and staying there,” says novelist Min Jin Lee. “I would do this for a good long while, then maybe find a way to float up to the sky. I think the young baron, Cosimo, would be fine company."