From gut-wrenching poetry to the languorous unfolding of a romantic novel, the worlds and landscapes portrayed have inspired the exploration of new places by many people. From print to screen the presentation of a country is intensely magnified. A mountain or vista only imagined before is now a comprehensible and accessible destination. This issue we review some of the best fictional works, be they books, poems, or films that depict the landscape or culture of a country in a travel inspiring aspect.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW, E.M. Forster:
Florence, Italy - Follow in the footsteops of Lucy Honeychurch through the cobbled alleys and streets of this beautiful city, from the River Arno to the stunning Duomo. Florence has some of the most impressive art galleries in Europe, such as the Uffizi, and is home to Michaelangelos ‘David’. The history of the infamous Medici family is also evident in almost every part of the city.

THE LOOP, Nicholas Evans: 
Rocky Mountains, Montana - Evans captures the beauty of the mountains in this remote landscape in this tale of a fight for a balance between man and nature.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS, J.R.R. Tolkien:
New Zealand - This trilogy of films was shot in almost every landscape the country has to offer. Visit the bleak and never-ending plains of Rohan in the South Island, eerie and ethereal Lothlorien in Glenarchy Forest outide Queenstown, or the cosy fields of The Shire in the North Island. You can even skydive over the mountains visible behind Saruman as he brings the moutain down on Gandalf and the Fellowship.

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, Ernersto ‘Che’ Guevara:
South America - From bustling Buenos Aires to the Atacama Desert and Peruvian heights of the ancient Inca capital Machu Picchu, this film beautifully illustrates how the journey of a young Che Guevara across the South American continent inspired his future as the infamous Cuban revolutionary.

'TO AUTUMN' John Keats:
England - This famous ode richly expresses the turning of the season from summer to autumn. The ‘gathering swallows’ and ‘thatch-eves’ of the Hampshire countryside inspired Keats to pen this poem on his daily walks along the river Itchen and through Winchester.