List of travel books

Travel books have been written since Classical times. Those that are by notable authors and are themselves notable are listed here. Other books, even if by notable travel authors, are not included.

Note: Listed by year of publication of the majority of the writer's notable works.

Ancient Near East
  • Wenamun, Egyptian priest
    Story of Wenamun, account of his travels through the Mediterranean sea.

Classical Antiquity
  • Xenophon (431–355 BC)
    Anabasis - about the expedition of Cyrus the Younger, a Persian prince, against his brother, King Artaxerxes II. The book then moves on to Cyrus' Greek troops travels through Asia Minor back home to Greece.
  • Lucian of Samosata (c. 125 – after c. 180)
    True History – documents a fantastic voyage that parodies many mythical travels recounted by other authors, such as Homer; considered to be among the first works of science fiction.
  • Pausanias (fl. 2nd century)
    Description of Greece
  • Decimus Magnus Ausonius (c. 310 – 395)
    Mosella (The Moselle, c. 370) – describes the poet's trip to the banks of the river Moselle, then in Gaul.
  • Faxian (c. 337 – c. 422), Chinese traveler to India and Ceylon
    A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fâ-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline
  • Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (fl. 5th century)
    De reditu suo (Concerning His Return, c. 416) – the poet describes his voyage along the Mediterranean seacoast from Rome to Gaul.
  • Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (c. 512-530) – describes Saint Brendan's alleged voyage to North America.
  • Cosmas Indicopleustes (fl. 6th century), Byzantine traveler who made several voyages to India during the reign of emperor Justinian.
    Christian Topography (c. 550)

Tang dynasty
  • Xuanzang (602 – 664)
    Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (646) – narrative of the Buddhist monk's journey from China to India.
  • Hyecho (704-787)
    Wang ocheonchukguk jeon (723 – 727/728), travelogue by Buddhist monk Hyecho, who pilgrimaged from Korea to India.
  • Ennin (c. 793 or 794 – 864), Japanese Buddhist monk who chronicled his travels in Tang China
    The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (838-847)

10th century
  • Ibn Hawqal, Arab writer, geographer, and chronicler. Travelled to remote parts of the European Mediterranean, Asia and Africa. Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ (صورة الارض; "The face of the Earth").
  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan, Kitab ila Mulk al-Saqaliba (A letter to the king al-Saqaliba, Ibn Fadlan's account of the caliphal embassy from Baghdad to the King of the Volga Bulghars, c. 921)

11th century

12th century

13th century

14th century
  • John of Montecorvino (1247–1328), Italian Franciscan missionary, founder of the earliest Roman Catholic missions in India and China. Archbishop of Cambalec.
    Letters (1305-1306)
  • Odoric of Pordenone (1286–1331), Franciscan missionary who visited China
    Viaggio del beato frate odorico di porto maggiore del friuli...
  • Ibn Battuta (1304 – 1368 or 1369), Moroccan world traveler
    Rihla (1355) – literally entitled: "A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling".[1]
  • Giovanni de' Marignolli
    Cronica Boemorum
  • John Mandeville, fictional character.
    The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (c. 1356),[1] an imaginary account of his travels in Asia based on a variety of true sources about the eastern countries, such as Pordenone's.

15th century
  • Johannes Witte de Hese (c. 1400)
    Itinerarius, a fictional account with fantastic elements and impossible geography
  • Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo (died in 1412), Spanish ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur.
    Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand AD 1403-6.[1]
  • Ghiyath al-din Naqqash who wrote, in Persian, a detailed account of his travel from Herat to Beijing on a diplomatic mission in 1420-1422. It became one of the most detailed accounts of China in the Persian and Turkish literature for the next century or two.
  • Ma Huan (ca. 1380 - 1460) and Fei Xin (ca. 1385 - after 1436), each of whom wrote a book about the lands visited with Zheng He's fleet.
  • Niccolò de' Conti (1395–1469), an Italian merchant who explored India, China and Indonesia from 1419 to 1444.
    His travel account was written by request of Pope Eugene IV and is included in Book IV of "De varietate fortunae" by Poggio Bracciolini.
  • Pedro Tafur (c. 1410 – c. 1484) Spanish diplomat of king Juan II of Castile. He travelled across Europe, Morocco and the Near East.
    Andanças e viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos.[1]
  • Afanasy Nikitin (? – 1474), Russian merchant, traveler and writer, A Journey Beyond the Three Seas
  • Conrad Grünenberg, Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1486)
  • Christopher Columbus (c. 1450 – 1506), Journal of the first voyage

16th century
  • Ludovico di Varthema (1470 – 1517), italian traveler, first non-Muslim european to enter Mecca as a pilgrim.
    The Itinerary of Ludovico Di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1508
  • Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (1483-1531), founder of the Mughal Empire
    Baburnama, memoirs, including his descriptions of the places he lived and/or conquered.
  • Duarte Barbosa (?–1521), Portuguese writer and explorer who died in Magellan's circumnavigation
    The book of Duarte Barbosa: an account of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants (1516, originally known through the testimony of Italian Giovanni Battista Ramusio)
  • Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1491 – c. 1531), Venetian explorer.
    Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524).[1] An account of the first circumnavigation of the globe.
  • Gaspar da Cruz (ca. 1520–1570)
    Tratado das cousas da China became the first book-length work on China in Europe; it also told about the author's experiences in Cambodia and Hormuz
  • Piri Reis (died in 1553) Turkish geographer known for his World Map.
    Kitab-ı Bahriye(Book of Navigation), a detailed book about the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1488/1490 – 1557/1558), Spanish conqueror and explorer
    La Relación (1542). An account of his eight year's captivity and exploration in North America.
  • Fernão Mendes Pinto (1509–1583), Portuguese explorer and writer
    Peregrinação (meaning "Pilgrimage", published posthumously in 1614) – memoir of his travels in the Middle and Far East, Ethiopia, Arabian Sea, India and Japan, as one of the first Europeans to reach it in 1542.
  • Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1485–1557), Venetian geographer and compiler
    Navigationi et Viaggi ("Navigations and Travels") (1555-1559);[2] a large collection of explorers' first-hand accounts of their travels around the world, the first one of its kind.
  • Luís de Camões (~1525-1580)
    Os Lusíadas (1572)
  • Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616), English priest and travel writings compiler
    The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589) – a foundational text of the travel literature genre.[1]
  • Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), Turkish sailor.
    Mirat ul Memalik (The Mirror of Countries) about his voyage to India
  • Anthony Knivet (fl. 1591–1649), British sailor and privateer, who was held captive in Brazil by the Portuguese and then by the indigenous Tupí.
    The Admirable Adventures and Strange Fortunes of Master Antonie Knivet, which went with Master Thomas Candish in his Second Voyage to the South Sea (1591)
  • Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563 - 1611), Dutch merchant, trader, and historian who traveled throughout India and Southeast Asia as a secretary to the Portuguese Viceroy.
    Itinerario (1596), published in English as Discours of Voyages into Y East & West Indies (1598)

17th century
  • Samuel de Champlain, (1567-1635), French explorer, founder of New France & Quebec City.
    Des Sauvages: ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouages, faite en la France nouvelle l'an 1603 (1604)
    Brief Discours des Choses plus remarquables que Sammuel Champlain de Brouage a reconneues aux Indes Occidentalles au voiage qu'il en a faict en icettes en l'année 1599 et en l'année 1601, comme ensuite
    Voyages de la Nouvelle France (1632)
    Traitté de la marine et du devoir d'un bon marinier (1632)
  • Samuel Purchas, (c. 1577–1626), English cleric and travel writings compiler.
    Purchas, his Pilgrimage; or, Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages, (1613) [1]
    Purchas, his Pilgrim. Microcosmus, or the historie of Man. Relating the wonders of his Generation, vanities in his Degeneration, Necessity of his Regeneration, (1619)
    Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and others (4 vols.), (1625).[1]
  • Thomas Coryat, (c. 1577–1617), English traveller
    Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels (1611) [1]
  • Pedro Páez, (1564–1622), Spanish jesuit missionary in Ethiopia
    History of Ethiopia (1620), includes the first account of one of the sources of the Nile River ever written by a European.
  • Evliya Çelebi, (1610–1683), Turkish traveller
    Seyahatname
  • Johann Sigmund Wurffbain (1613–1661)
    Reise Nach Den Molukken Und Vorder-Indien, 1632–1646 (Travel to the Moluccas and the Middle East Indies, 1632–1646) (1646)[3]
  • François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz (1623–1668)
    Les voyages et observations du sieur de La Boullaye Le gouz (1653 & 1657) – one of the very first true travel books.
  • Edward Terry (1590–1660)
    A Voyage to East-India (1655)
  • Pietro Della Valle, (1586–1652), Italian who traveled throughout Asia during the Renaissance period
    The travels of Signor Pietro Della Valle, a Noble Roman, into East India and Arabia deserts... [1]
  • Jerónimo Lobo (1595–1678), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary in Ethiopia.
    Itinerário.[1] This book was translated by Samuel Johnson in 1723 and inspired his own work The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia.
  • François Bernier (1625–1688), personal physician of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb during his long stay in India.
    Travels in the Mogul Empire (1671) [1]
  • Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689), gem merchant who made several trips to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668
    Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1675) [1]
  • Jean Chardin (1643–1713), jewellery trader who travelled to Persia and India
    The Travels of Sir John Chardin in Persia and the Orient (edited bit by bit between 1686 and 1711).[1]
  • Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)
    Kashima Kiko (A Visit to Kashima Shrine) (1687)
    Oi no Kobumi, or Utatsu Kiko (Record of a Travel-Worn Satchel) (1688)
    Sarashina Kiko (A Visit to Sarashina Village) (1688)
    The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (trans. 1967)

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

References
  1. Godfrey Cox, Edward (7 February 2018). "A Reference Guide To The Literature Of Travel Vol I". By The University Of Washington. – via Internet Archive.
  2. Cox (1935), p. 28.
  3. Works by or about Johann Sigmund Wurffbain in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
  4. Head, Dominic, ed. (2006). The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Travels through France and Italy (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1124.
    • Rome, Naples et Florence [par] Stendhal. Texte établi et annoté par Daniel Muller, préf. de Charles Maurras (1919), Paris: E. Champion. Volume I et Volume II
  6. Works by or about Emily Kimbrough in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
  7. "LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION". Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  8. "awards - Christopher P Baker - Travel Writer Photographer - travel writer, photographer, tour leader, lecturer, adventure motorcyclist". Christopher P Baker - Travel Writer & Photographer.
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