Travel Advice
The best travel books of 2025 (so far)
Travel inspiration takes many forms: David Bowie, elephants, the North Pole. The experts at Stanfords pick their latest top travel reads
A Training School for Elephants
By Sophy Roberts
Having learnt of an 1879 expedition sponsored by Belgium’s King Leopold II to acquire and train elephants, the author follows in the wake of the four pachyderms that it set out school. To do so, she travels to Belgium, Iraq, India, Tanzania and the Congo, bringing to life a tale of colonial greed and a wild cast of characters, from ivory dealers to nuns.
Overnight
By Dan Richards
This celebration of the nocturnal world and those who work while we sleep is an enlightening read. Travelling by ship, train, car and on foot, Richards explores what the night means to a fascinating and diverse array of people.
Green Mountains
By Caroline Eden
Acclaimed food writer Caroline Eden’s latest travelogue-cum-cookbook journeys from Armenia to the Black Sea via Georgia, narrating histories, recipes and stories along the way. En route, she offers a colourful portrait of these lands and their enduring culinary traditions.
Return to Sri Lanka
By Razeen Sally
Born to a Sri Lankan Muslim father and a Welsh mother, Razeen left Sri Lanka after political conflict tore his family apart. Returning decades later, he explores the island, its modern-day tourist appeal and the scars of war that remain. Blending history, current affairs and travel with his own personal memoir, this intimate guide goes far beyond the usual tourist paths.
The North Pole
By Erling Kagge
In a bid to unravel our obsession with the North Pole, the Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge recounts the tale of his own journey there alongside the stories of other Arctic explorers. In doing so, he looks at what lies behind the desire to push forward, no matter what, in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet.
In Green
By Louis D Hall
Having had enough of city life, Louis D Hall sets off on horseback from Italy’s Apennines to Spain’s Cape Finisterre. Eager to fulfil a childhood dream of making an ‘uncharted’ journey, he traverses the Ligurian Alps, Pyrenees, Basque Country and Galician coast, facing down storms, snow and wolves, all in the name of the romance of adventure.
Bowieland
By Peter Carpenter
After heart surgery, the poet Peter Carpenter was told that he needed to walk more. So, moved by David Bowie’s death in 2016, he sets out to retrace the singer’s journey from Brixton to Berlin, strolling the same streets as the poets and artists who shaped Bowie. A moving reflection on place, influence and artistic legacy.
Walk Britain
By Elise Downing
This guide features 90 scenic walking routes across England, Scotland, and Wales, all accessible by public transport. From Cornwall’s coastal trails to Scotland’s remote lochs, you’ll find routes for all levels, plus maps and transport details. The accompanying GPX files are a nice touch, making it ideal for hassle-free adventures.
Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2025 winner
Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China
by Noo Saro-Wiwa
Noo Saro-Wiwa goes beyond the usual historical or political subjects that draw the focus of most books on China and instead looks at what she calls ‘Black ghosts’: the large numbers of African economic migrants living there. In doing so, she explores a little-documented world.
Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2025 shortlist
On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey through Occupied Myanmar
By Clare Hammond
While working as a journalist in Yangon, Claire Hammond finds a map that shows a web of unknown railways across Myanmar. Setting out to discover their origin, she travels from contested areas to border towns while telling a tale of colonial legacy.
Slow Trains to Istanbul …And Back: A 4,570-Mile Adventure on 55 Rides
By Tom Chesshyre
Rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre sets off on a 7,350km trip shadowing the old Orient Express route across Europe, albeit in less luxury – you and I would call it Interrailing. Across 55 trains, he shows the true value of travel by rail: where every stop offers a side adventure.
The Place Of Tides
By James Rebanks
James Rebanks recalls his time alongside an elderly woman whose job is to gather the down of wild eider ducks on a remote Norwegian island on the cusp of the Arctic Circle. It’s a centuries-old trade that has long been in decline, but in her persistence and resolve, the author gains a remarkable glimpse of a life that is ruled by the seasons.
Wayfarer
By Phoebe Smith
Former Wanderlust editor Phoebe Smith swaps globetrotting for a story that is much closer to home – emotionally and geographically. Against a backdrop of Britain’s pilgrim paths, she retreads her own tale of trauma and loss, weaving it with those of past travellers.
Wild Twin: Dream Maps of a Lost Soul & Drifter
By Jeff Young
Jeff Young drifts 1970s Europe in a haze of dives, scrapes, cathedrals and, eventually, deportation and breakdown, before returning home to care for his dying father. A poignant tale of dreams, loss and the hole that travels fills in us all.
Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place
River East, River West
By Aube Rey Lescur
Set in: The Chinese cities of Qingdao and Shanghai, against a backdrop of China’s economic boom.
The Ministry of Time
By Kaliane Bradley
Set in: A near-future London and historical Arctic.
There are Rivers in the Sky
By Elif Shafak
Set in: Iraq, London and Türkiye (Turkey), charting a story that spans centuries.
This Motherless Land
By Nikki May
Set in: Lagos (Nigeria) and England. A decolonial retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.
What I Know About You
By Éric Chacour; translated by Pablo Strauss
Set in: 1980s Cairo (Egypt) and Montreal (Canada).
You Are Here
By David Nicholls
Set in: England, spanning a series of encounters on the Coast to Coast Path.
Read next: The best travel books of 2024
