While we often think of books transporting us to another world, real-life locations around the world also inspire authors to create masterpieces. OnBuy.com identified destinations that birthed some of the most popular books. The company then analyzed Instagram activity to discover the most popular ones. As they inspired the writers, perhaps they can inspire your next trip.
The top 20 most popular destinations include Glencoe, Scotland, and the Harry Potter series; Beach Haven, New Jersey, for Peter Benchley’s Jaws; and Great Neck, New York, in The Great Gatsby. Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, from the children’s favorite Winnie the Pooh; and The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, notable from Stephen King’s The Shining, also ranked. Piazza Navona and the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome, featured prominently in Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, took the top spot. Following in main character Robert Langdon’s footsteps, the fountain has 395,507 hashtags and posts on Instagram.
The second-most popular real-life book location is Glencoe, with 384,369 Instagram hashtags. In third place is Giant’s Causeway in Bushmills, Northern Ireland — which inspired George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series and amassed 288,839 hashtags on Instagram.
The countries with the most appearances on this list include No. 1 England, with nine; and the United States at four. All tied for No. 3 with two appearances each are Scotland, Italy and Northern Ireland.
OnBuy researched different locations that inspired 50 popular, bestselling books. Then, OnBuy used Instagram to analyze the locations’ popularity based on hashtags, using the most popular hashtags for each location. The locations were then ranked based on the number of hashtags to determine popularity, with all data collected Aug. 14.
Have you been inspired to travel to a destination based on a book? Has a destination inspired you to write? Tell us about it. Email us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com. Please include your full name and location.
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