Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books for Armchair Travelers. It’s always fun to “visit” new places via fiction, and this week, I’m spotlighting a few of my favorites.
My top ten are:
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Armchair Travel Destination: Scotland
The Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery
Armchair Travel Destination: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Armchair Travel Destination:
Bath, UK
My Italian Bullozer by Alexander McCall Smith
Armchair Travel Destination: Tuscany
How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
Armchair Travel Destination: Antarctica
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Armchair Travel Destination: Australia
Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra
Armchair Travel Destination:
Mackinac Island, Michigan
The Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow
Armchair Travel Destination:
Alaska
The Love Haters by Katherine Center
Armchair Travel Destination:
Florida Keys
The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
Armchair Travel Destination:
Japan
Where has your reading taken you to? Any favorite books that help you feel like you’ve been to new destinations?
If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
The Anne of Green Gables series is a nice choice for this theme.
Those books made me determined to get to PEI someday — hasn’t happened yet, but it’s still a travel goal!
💚💚💚The Thorn Birds💚💚💚
so happy to see The Thorn Birds listed.
Such a wonderful book! I’d like to reread it someday.
I’ve read many of these! Great list! 🌻
Thanks! Such a fun topic!
Outlander is one of my favorite travel books! I also like the Scotland series by Alexander McCall Smith, though I haven’t read the one you about Italy. I’m curious about How the Penguins Saved Veronica.
I thought the penguin book was really sweet! Outlander is one of my all-time favorites. I’ll have to check out the AMS Scotland series too!
A great list with some of my favourite books, Outlander, Anne of Green Gables, Persuasion and The Thorn Birds. Recently I armchair travelled to Hawaii by reading Moloka’i and Korea and Japan by reading Pachinko, both excellent reads.
I loved Pachinko! So powerful. And I’ve had a copy of Moloka’i on my shelf for years now — I really must read it!
I’m not surprised you liked Pachinko. I had Moloka’i on my shelf for 15 years, so glad I finally read it.
I’d love to visit PEI to see Green Gables.
Here’s my TTT post: https://readbakecreate.com/time-to-plan-that-vacation-books-featuring-travel/
It’s such a dream of mine!
Wish I had thought of the Anne books! Great choice!
https://gypsireads.blogspot.com/2026/02/top-ten-tuesday-armchair-travels.html
Thanks! I do love the Anne series… and really hope to make it to PEI someday!
I couldn’t finish the Penguin book.
Oh, that’s too bad! I enjoyed it, and I’ve read a couple of others set in Antarctica that I also really liked.
OMG The Thornbirds! I have so many fond memories both reading the book and watching the TV show😁
Same here! I remember being obsessed with the mini-series! I’d love to reread the book eventually.
Prince Edward Island is definitely on my bucket list
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
mine is here https://bookdout.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/top-ten-tuesday-books-for-armchair-travelers/
I really hope to get to PEI someday!
This list is so good! Outlander is a great one and so is Anne! Jane Austen is also a great choice.
I picked up a book about Jane Austen’s England a few years ago, and it made me want to go to every single place she’s written about!
I agree with her books making you want to travel. I love that about books!
I meant to take part in this and in fact had a few books lined up. I’ve read four of these so been to some of your destinations already.
Lovely list.
Lynn 😀
That’s awesome! I love exploring new places through books… and keep more and more destinations to dream about actually traveling to someday!
I really want to try Outlander sometime but it looks like such a lengthy series that starting it feels daunting 😂 it definitely seems like these books are set in a variety of places. Ive only visited Bath in person and read none of these so far 🙈 Its always fun learning about new to you places in books though.
I’d love to go to Bath someday (and/or do a big tour of Jane Austen locations!). Outlander is a big series… but it does go very quickly! I’d say read the first book and see if it appeals to you!
I hope you get to one day, its very picturesque. Im sure a tour like that would be lovely too. And I do plan to try it soonish. I moved it up my TBR when I heard that the villian was a strong one 😅
Great selection! I loved How The Penguins Saved Veronica.
It was such a good book! I haven’t followed up to see what this author has written since — I know I really enjoyed her previous novel too.