Travel Books

The 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time by Conde Nast Traveler

Along the Ganges Ilija Trojanow (2006)
Arabian Sands Wilfred Thesiger (1959)

An Area of Darkness V. S. Naipaul (1965)
As They Were M.F.K. Fisher (1982)
A Barbarian in Asia Henri Michaux (1933)
The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer Eric Hansen (2004)
Bitter Lemons of Cyprus Lawrence Durrell (1957)
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon nRebecca West (1942)
Blue Highways William Least Heat-Moon (1982)
Captain John Smith: Writings (2007)
Chasing the Monsoon Alexander Frater (1993)
Chasing the Sea Tom Bissell (2003)
Cross Country Robert Sullivan (2006)
Dark Star Safari Paul Theroux (2003)
Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville (1835)
Down and Out in Paris and London George Orwell (1933)
Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff Rosemary Mahoney (2007)
The Emperor Ryszard Kapuściński (1978; translated by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand)
Endurance Alfred Lansing (1959)
Eothen Alexander William Kinglake (1844)
"Exterminate All the Brutes" Sven Lindqvist(1996)
Farthest North: The Voyage and Exploration of the Fram, 1893–1896 Fridtjof Nansen (1898)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson (1972)
The Fearful Void Geoffrey Moorhouse (1974)
From a Chinese City Gontran De Poncins (1957; translated by Bernard Frechtman)
Great Plains Ian Frazier (1989)
The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Theroux (1975)
Hindoo Holiday J. R. Ackerley (1932)
The Histories Herodotus (circa 440 b.c.)
The Impossible Country Brian Hall (1994)
In a Sunburned Country Bill Bryson (2000)
India: A Million Mutinies Now V. S. Naipaul (1991)
The Innocents Abroad Mark Twain (1869)
In Patagonia Bruce Chatwin (1977)
In the Country of Country Nicholas Dawidoff (1997)
In Trouble Again Redmond O'Hanlon (1988)
Iron & Silk Mark Salzman (1986)
I See by My Outfit Peter S. Beagle (1965)
The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Journey to Portugal José Saramago (1981)
Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North American Indians George Catlin (1841)
Letters from Egypt: A Journey on the Nile, 1849–1850 Florence Nightingale (1854; published 1987)
Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain (1883)
London Perceived V. S. Pritchett (1962)
The Long Walk Slavomir Rawicz (1956)
The Lycian Shore Freya Stark (1956)
Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found Suketu Mehta (2004)
The Muses Are Heard Truman Capote (1956)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches Matsuo Basho (1694)
News from Tartary Peter Fleming (1936)
The Nomad: Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt (1987)
No Mercy: A Journey into the Heart of the Congo Redmond O'Hanlon (1997)
Notes from the Century Before Edward Hoagland (1969)
Old Glory Jonathan Raban (1981)
The Pillars of Hercules Paul Theroux (1995)
The Pine Barrens John McPhee (1968)
The Places in Between Rory Stewart (2006)
Riding the Iron Rooster Paul Theroux (1988)
The Rings of Saturn W. G. Sebald (1998)
The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan Winston Churchill (1899)
The Road to Oxiana Robert Byron (1937)
Rome and a Villa Eleanor Clark (1952)
Roughing It Mark Twain (1872)
Sandstorms: Days and Nights in Arabia Peter Theroux (1990)
Sea and Sardinia D. H. Lawrence (1921)
Shah of Shahs Ryszard Kapuściński (1982; translated by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand)
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush Eric Newby (1958)
Siren Land Norman Douglas (1911)
Skating to Antarctica Jenny Diski (1997)
Slowly Down the Ganges Eric Newby (1966)
The Songlines Bruce Chatwin (1987)
Southern Baroque Art Sacheverell Sitwell (1924)
Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue Paul Bowles (1963)
A Time of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor (1977)
To a Distant Island James McConkey (1984)
Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty (1888)
Travels in the Interior of Africa Mungo Park (1799)
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (circa 1355)
Travels Through France and Italy Tobias Smollett (1766)
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes R. L. Stevenson (1879)
Travels with Myself and Another Martha Gellhorn (1978)
Two Towns in Provence M.F.K. Fisher (1983)
A View of the World Norman Lewis (1986)
West with the Night Beryl Markham (1942)
The Worst Journey in the World Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1922)
Wrong About Japan Peter Carey (2004)

Yes, no word on the Philippines. Too many books on India and Arabia. Well, come to think of it, you just might write the best travel story on the Philippines. Blame this jury: André Aciman, Monica Ali, Julia Alvarez, Tom Bissell, Geraldine Brooks, Vikram Chandra, Jim Crace, Jared Diamond, Linh Dinh, Anthony Doerr, Jennifer Egan, Stephen Elliott, Nuruddin Farah, Nell Freudenberger, Peter Godwin, Peter Hessler, Uzodinma Iweala, Sebastian Junger, Robert D. Kaplan, Mary Karr, Erik Larson, Rosemary Mahoney, Peter Mayle, Tom McCarthy, John McPhee, Adrienne Miller, Jan Morris, Stewart O'Nan, Francine Prose, Jonathan Raban, Graham Robb, Akhil Sharma, Matthew Sharpe, Jim Shepard, Darin Strauss, Robert Sullivan, Manil Suri, Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron, Lynne Tillman, Luis Alberto Urrea, Gore Vidal, Sean Wilsey, John Wray, and Lawrence Wright.