Travel Advice
6 thought-provoking travel reads to pick up this summer
We ponder pilgrim trails, rail history and our relationship with rivers, as Stanfords’ experts pick some thought-provoking summer reads
Is a River Alive?
by Robert Macfarlane
Stanfords Book of The Month for May 2025
Macfarlane takes the idea that rivers are not simply for human use, but living beings, and runs with it in his inimitable style. In doing so, he skips from Ecuador, where rivers are threatened by goldmining, via the polluted waterways of southern India, to north-eastern Québec, where he meets activists protesting the building of dams. The result is a thoughtful meditation on our relationship with nature.
Peach Tree to Lobster Lane
by Felicity Cloake
This coast-to-coast US adventure on two wheels sees the author set out to prove that there’s more to American food than burgers and doughnuts. What she finds are warm welcomes and some weird and wonderful dishes, from sauerkraut balls to Memphis barbecue, as well as the wild stories behind them.
Angels in the Cellar
by Peter Hahn
Twenty years ago, a burnt-out Peter Hahn found a second career as a winemaker in Le Clos de la Meslerie, a tiny farm in the Loire Valley, where he makes small-batch organic wines. This gently moving book charts a year spent working with nature on the vineyard, and all that entails, while also serving as a quiet yet powerful treatise on the ills of mass production.
Slow Trains Around Britain
by Tom Chesshyre
Stanfords Book of the Month for June 2025
With 2025 marking 200 years since the steamy dawn of passenger railway, the author sets off on a rail tour of where it all began: the UK. He begins and ends his journey in Darlington – a stop on the first passenger rail route in 1825 – and ricochets between historical tales, reports on the current state of British railways and ever-entertaining musings on why we still love rail travel.
On This Holy Island
by Oliver Smith
Pilgrim trails have a timeless appeal, and not just to those of a religious nature. They offer moments to reflect and to recant, but their spirit is also still very much part of the modern world. Here, the author embarks on a journey through ‘sacred Britain’, exploring not only holy roads, Neolithic tombs, cathedrals and standing stones, but modern places of pilgrimage, such as football stadiums and music festivals, in a bid to unravel just why they are so appealing.
Mexico City
by Thibault Mommalier and Juery Franck
This engaging travel guide sets out to explore the lesser-documented side of Mexico City, backing up its well-won advice with extensive photography. Wander with the authors through the Tacubaya triangle of market stalls, galleries and mansions, then learn how to book a table at the city’s buzziest eateries.
Plus one for little travellers
Hike It!
by Iron Tazz
Stanfords Children’s Travel Book of the Year 2025
For those trying to get their kids into the outdoors, this adorable book by TikTok star and avid hiker Iron Tazz might be a way to cut through any resistance. From navigation and equipment to what to do with your poop, it speaks to the little explorer in us all.P
