Ad: Jackie Lapin On Exploring History on Your Doorstep—and the Books that Make It Come Alive!

If you love history, whether on vacation or a business trip that can be extended for a day or two, nothing can be more joyful than exploring the past right on your hotel doorstep. What makes the experience even more enriching is reading up on the location, its history, or the people who were the catalysts for what evolved.

That doesn’t mean you must endure a dry academic history tome. Historical novels and mysteries are often so well researched that they offer an engaging way to access history while enjoying a delightful read.

A great place to start is with the venerated masters of place-based historical fiction, such as James Michener, Edward Rutherford, Leon Uris, or Ken Follett (who has just launched a prequel to his masterpiece The Pillars of the Earth). You can also gain perspective from some of the newer writers climbing the charts, such as Fiona Davis, whose novels all take place in New York City’s historic landmark buildings. Then there’s a group of top-selling writers who focus on fictionalising the lives of real historical figures and the places they lived—Stephanie Dray, Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict, Allison Pataki, and Laura Morelli. Add Dan Brown’s incredibly well-researched and thrilling romps through historic landmarks, and you’ll be salivating before you even board the plane.

At The Historic Traveler —the online destination for people who love history, travel, and historical novels—we’ve created a directory of 8,000 historical novels, histories, and biographies, sortable by location—city, state, province, or country—to make it easy to find books that illuminate a specific place. We’ve also launched The Hot 25, a monthly list of new historical novels currently climbing the bestseller lists.

You can also search for articles posted on The Historic Traveler about your destination. Three new features are published each week, spotlighting a location, its history, what to see from a historical standpoint, stunning illustrative photography, and book recommendations for each site. Couple that with the 80-page quarterly digital Historic Traveler Magazine, and you’ll have a wealth of fascinating information to inform your journey and ignite your travel lust. Each issue features an interview with an expert on history and an internationally bestselling historical novelist.

After travelling and photographing more than 500 historic locations around the world—while simultaneously running several of my own companies—I finally stepped back and asked myself what I wanted to do with my remaining years. For me, it was clearly the opportunity to share what I’d learned about historic places, my thousands of photos, and my love of historical reading. Many of the books we recommend come straight from my personal library of 1,500 novels, mysteries, history books, and biographies. (Image: Jackie with her first Guiness)

Furthermore, my vision is to continue travelling and sharing. To that end, I will begin leading tours with partner organisations in the latter part of 2026. These will be announced in our twice-monthly newsletter, along with book reviews, updates on historical events around the world, travel partner opportunities, newly posted articles, and more.

One of the key visions for The Historic Traveler has been to become a hub for all things related to historic travel. We not only have the book directory but also one for historical TV dramas, another listing the top 200 historically themed films, and directories of historical museums and restaurants. More importantly, we offer a community and forum where people can make new friends and share their passions, travel tips, favourite tour guides, hotels, and more—along with a monthly book club. It’s a place for people of like minds to gather. All this is free with membership—it requires just a quick two-minute registration.

Every hotel is a nexus for historic exploration. Even in a relatively modern town, there are vestiges of what once was, often within walking or driving distance. Enrich your experience, your cultural context, and your love of life by reading and wandering—become your own Historic Traveler.