Book inspired travel destinations.

When you read you enter a completely different world and become involved with the people and the journey. So when books are inspired by real life places it's only right that we travel there and embrace the fictional-real-life-world cross over.

The Hobbit- Hahei, New Zealand.

So although the place in New Zealand is the Hobbiton movie set, there are a lot of places in New Zealand that inspired J.R.R Tolkien for the Hobbit. And what better way to immerse yourself into the world of The Hobbit than visiting Bilbos hobbit hole and having a drink at the Prancing Pony or the Green Dragon Inn?!

(Pictures from: Insider and Twisted Sifter)

The Crossing Places- Norfolk, UK.

One of my favourite book series is by Elly Griffiths, known as the Ruth Galloway series. The series follows Ruth as she works closely with the police to solve old and new murders using her archaeology expertise. Ruth lives in a small cottage on the border of the marshlands in Norfolk. Elly Griffiths has such a way with setting the scene and describing the marshlands that it encourages all readers to set off and explore the marshes.

(Pictures from: Norfolk wildlife trust, Pintrest, Wanderlust)

Harry Potter series- Edinburgh, UK.

Edinburgh Castle and Victoria Street are just a few of the places in Edinburgh that inspired JK Rowling when she moved to Scotland and started writing her books. There are places all over Edinburgh that not only inspired Harry Potter but are also important places where JK Rowling spent a lot of time writing the books.

Dracula- Transylvania, Romania.

A wonderful spooky classic read with a gothic castle housing an infamous vampire. This classic is said to be inspired by Bran Castle in Romania. To this day there are still rumors of vampires living in Transylvania with locals hanging garlic outside their doors...

(Picture from: Wikipedia)

Wuthering Heights- Yorkshire, UK.

Another classic inspired by the beautiful Yorkshire Top Withens and Haworth. Now known as 'Bronte Country' this area of Yorkshire offers beautiful walks, views and locations that are clear to see where the Bronte sisters got their inspiration.

(Pictures from: On Heath and Moor, Welcome to Skipton and Independent)

In the Cotswold Series- Cotswolds, UK.

Rebecca Tope has a long running book series following Thea on her house sitting jobs all over the Cotswolds. Each book is set in a different village, each as beautifully described as the last. Some of the best, traditional Cotswolds villages (in my opinion) are Burton-on-Water, Stow-on-the-wold and Upper/lower Slaughter. Each village is unique and has it's own reasons to visit.

The Lord of The Rings- Sarhole Mill and The Forest of Dean, UK.

Yes, I have circled back to J.R.R Tolkien but this time I'm referencing The Lord of The Rings. The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire is said to have inspired the many scenes of beautiful rolling trees in middle earth. An hour or so up north you can visit Sarhole Mill where you can see the industrial side of Birmingham that inspired the two towers but also the beautiful woodland and trees of Moseley Bog. You can also see the house where J.R.R Tolkien lived, just over the road from Moseley Bogs.

(Pictures from: View Britain, Visit Birmingham and Hotels.com )

As always, if you visit any of the places mentioned in the blog please send us your pictures of tag us on instagram (@bilbo.h) we love to see them!

Happy reading and happy travelling.