The Bookish Travel Trend That’s Changing the Way We Experience Top Destinations

Among my writer friends, the Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is something of a Shangri-La: an eclectic gathering born in 2006, on the lawns of the city’s Diggi Palace. Authors debut new work, writers hold forth in panel discussions, and fans line up for autographs; the legendary editor Tina Brown called it “the greatest literary show on earth.”

After attending a pop-up version of the JLF in New York last September, I decided to make the trip to India. Stepping onto the sprawling grounds of the Clarks Amer hotel, the festival’s home since 2022, I reached for comparisons: Monsoon Wedding meets Coachella? Or maybe a literary Cirque du Soleil? There were seven stages and a five-day calendar of events, all attended by writers, publishers, actors, directors, chefs, politicians, and, well, me.

Trying to put it into perspective, I sought out Geetanjali Shree, the winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize for her novel Tomb of Sand. She’s been attending JLF for years and has seen the festival grow. “It has expanded into what in Hindi is called a sangam,” she explained, “a place where the various rivers meet—the various cultures and languages and dialogues—and something vibrant happens.”

That feeling of convergence has been central to other “lit fests” that have sprung up elsewhere in the world, too. Take, for example, the Macondo Literary Festival in Nairobi, dreamed up by the Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, who was frustrated that existing gatherings didn’t cater to African writers and members of the diaspora. In 2019, she created her own. “It is a crossroads and meeting ground for many nations and peoples,” she told me.

When Kwame Dawes, Jamaica’s poet laureate, began the Calabash International Literary Festival in 2001, his mission was to help propel Caribbean writers to a larger stage. Dawes cofounded the event with the novelist Colin Channer and Justine Henzell, whose family runs Jakes Hotel in Treasure Beach, in southwestern Jamaica, where the event takes place.

A compelling destination, of course, is important. But what these festivals really have in common is the act of turning books—and reading—into community.

I saw that with my own eyes one day in Jaipur, as I shadowed JLF’s tireless producer, Sanjoy K. Roy. He wove his way through the crowds, greeting friends, posing for selfies, checking in with an army of volunteers. While hustling to another roundtable, Roy paused to take in the scene. “This goes beyond just the authors and audience,” he said. “There’s something in the air.”

Four of the Best Lit Fests

Jamaica’s Calabash International Literary Festival has a low-key sensibility, with authors and festival-goers gathering at the island’s iconic waterfront Jakes Hotel.

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, in Bali, leans in to its location by putting a strong emphasis on Asian, and particularly Indonesian, authors with events at many top resorts.

Conceived by author Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and journalist Anja Bengelstorff, the Macondo Literary Festival is held at the Kenya Cultural Centre in Nairobi.

Big names including Michael Cunningham, Joyce Carol Oates, and Reese Witherspoon are scheduled to attend this year’s Charleston Literary Festival, at the Dock Street Theatre.

A version of this story first appeared in the November 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “The Smart Set.”