Are you ready to escape into romance books that inspire travel? Everyone loves a romance book for the happily ever after, but why not pick a special romance book that offers more?
This book list gives the best romance books for the armchair traveler where the setting is enough to inspire your next travel plans.
When I pick a new romance book to read, I can’t wait to dive into the story and meet the characters. A really great book, is also going to whisk me away into a captivating setting where I can picture the plotline unfolding.
The Romantic Pact by Meghan Quinn inspired this book list because after reading it, I announced to my husband that traveling to Germany for the Christmas season was now on my bucket list.
This book gave so many amazing details about the Christmas markets, the holiday food and the holiday sights of Germany that I HAVE to go there and experience it myself.
I loved reading about the characters exploring this part of the world during this special holiday season, but I was so enthralled that I need to live it too.
This book got me thinking that there are so many other romance books where the setting becomes as important to the story as any character. It draws you in and makes you feel like you are there, right along with the hero and heroine of the story.
Who knew that romance books could turn any reader into the perfect armchair traveler?!
Have you read any romance books that inspire travel like that?
The books below are not only fantastic novels worth reading but they will also take you on an adventure to a different part of the world – all without leaving the comfort of your own home though they will inspire you to do so.
Pick one of these novels, become an armchair tourist, and escape into a paradise.
My Favorite Romance Books That Inspire Travel
We made a pact growing up, never to get romantic with each other – never fall in love. But now I’m on a road trip in Germany to honor my Pops with the one girl I can’t have. And I’m about to break that pact.
In this amazing book, Quinn pens the perfect friends-to-lovers romance while also taking you on this epic, romantic journey through Germany at Christmas time. Get ready to explore the holiday markets, the holiday food, the castles and more that will have you adding a similar trip to your bucket list as well. I know I have!
Calla hasn’t been back to Alaska since she was two years old, but now she’s back to repair her relationship with her father before it’s too late. She just doesn’t know if she’s more at risk from the wilds of Alaska or the obnoxious charter pilot she meets.
I have been lucky enough to travel to Alaska firsthand and it is a sight to behold. There is nothing like the vastness of Alaska and the awe-inspiring nature of this state that cannot be missed.
Alaska and its beauty is essentially another character in this book that made the storyline so much richer than if it had been an opposites attract story set in any other location. Tucker’s descriptions of this wild territory will definitely inspire you to take a trip to this amazing state.
Alex and Poppy have been the best of friends ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago. Despite being complete opposites and living far apart, every summer they have vacationed for a week together until two years ago when things were ruined.
Not having spoken since, Poppy realizes she needs to fix things and asks Alex to take one more vacation with her so that they can lay everything out on the table and make it right.
Why pick a book that takes you to one special location when you can travel to several?! Flashbacks to all of Alex and Poppy’s summer vacations totally built up the history and connection between these two friends who become lovers.
Henry takes you to so many amazing locations such as Croatia, Palm Springs, Vancouver Island, Sanibel Island and Tuscany that your travel list will fill up fast.
Related: Emily Henry Books, The People We Meet on Vacation Movie
A former combat nurse just back from the war reunites with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone circle. She’s thrust back in time to 1743 and a Scotland torn by war where she meets a young Highland warrior.
Scotland is definitely at the top of my travel list and I cannot wait to go. I fully admit that reading the Outlander series prompted Scotland to shoot up my travel list because who wouldn’t want to go explore the gorgeous countryside, find a stone circle or even their own Jamie Fraser?!
It’s not enough to just be an armchair tourist when it comes to this country. Not only do I want to see the rich nature of Scotland, but I would love to explore its historical sites too of which many are discussed throughout the Outlander series.
Related: Best Time Travel Romance Books, Books with Scottish Heroes
Stella is driving home, listening to one playlist as she recounts the years that led up to this point and to the man she’s driving home to.
If you are a music fanatic then Austin, Texas aka the live music capital should be a must on your travel list. Home to many genres of music and with ample live music venues to choose from, Austin is the place to be.
I LOVED this book that follows Stella’s dream of being a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine and how her passion for music exposes her to many musicians. It also keeps you guessing from the world go and tugs on all your heartstrings. It’s a must-read.
Related: Best Rock Star Romance Books
Roxie Callahan’s career as a private chef to Hollywood’s elite has tanked, finding her back home in upstate New York, running the family diner.
When gorgeous local farmer Leo Maxwell delivers her a lovely bunch of organic walnuts, Roxie wonders if a summer back home isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Not only did I want to visit every farmers market and diner in upstate New York after reading this book, I also wanted to own my own farm as well!
You’ll want to visit the Hudson River Valley for a weekend getaway as well after reading this book which is the first in a series to inspire your travels to this area.
Nina Sheridan needs some time and distance to rethink her engagement. Traveling from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina’s cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.
Even if you’re not contemplating your own engagement, this book will have you wanting to escape to a mountain cabin in Colorado for some R&R. The scenery and majesty of Colorado is just one aspect to this rich romance that’s full of suspense and small town mysteries.
Related: Best Forced Proximity Books
Billy Winston and Claire McClure (aka Scarlet St. Claire) once found the deepest, soul-yearning love in a forest in the backwoods of Tennessee, but cruelty and circumstances drove them apart.
Secrecy and silence has kept them separated but Billy’s family has seen enough and is ready to step in and push these two together if it’s the last thing they do.
Shenanigans ensue on a family trip to Italy where Billy and Claire or forced together but it remains to be seen if the forced proximity will bring them back together or tear them further apart.
Does one ever need an excuse to visit Italy? While I’ve never been to Venice, I felt like I was there, riding in a gondola with Billy and Claire in this epic conclusion to Reid’s Winston Brothers series.
While the previous books in the series will have you itching to visit the backcountry of Tennessee, this book will have you booking the next flight to Italy in a heartbeat. This was such a wonderful second chance romance that you shouldn’t pass up.
Olive’s identical twin sister is getting married, forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man. Though things finally seem to go her way when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning sparring her and Ethan, leaving an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.
Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, a little white lie forces her and Ethan to pretend to be loving newlyweds.
Get ready to head to the sandy beaches of Hawaii as an armchair tourist with this fun read from the amazing duo Christina Lauren. I wanted to stake my claim in paradise right along with Olive and Ethan but instead lived vicariously while reading their enemies to lovers, fake relationship romance.
Related: The Unhoneymooners Movie
Actress Emma needs a change of scenery. After losing her job and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman, she’s ready for the escape and relaxation promised at the Rosemont estate. She finds the estate gorgeous, and the owner’s grandson, ex–hockey player and current recluse Lucian Osmond, equally so yet with such pain in his eyes.
The two avoid each other despite their growing attraction but in staying apart they only seem to grow closer, healing each other in the process.
This romance between two people down on their luck will have you booking a retreat at your earliest convenience. Emma and Lucian are tucked away at a beautiful estate in California, but your retreat could be anywhere you find beautiful accommodations, a pool outside your door and a chef that creates masterpieces just for you. Sign me up!
Author Olivia Rossi hasn’t been able to write a word since tragedy struck two years ago and ripped her world apart. Heartbroken and still haunted by the past, she accepts an offer to spend the summer at a friend’s apartment in Paris in search of healing and her lost muse.
What she finds instead is James, an enigmatic stranger who ignites in her an unexpected and all-consuming passion and the two embark on a torrid affair.
Get ready to be whisked away to Paris is this mind-blowing romance. Just the idea of renting an apartment in Paris and finding your own lover for the summer is reason enough to read this romance and follow Olivia’s escapades. Be forewarned, while this romance is H-O-T, it has the mother of all surprises in it. Seriously, you’ve been warned!
With no family or friends, Sydney Evans has poured everything she has into her career as general counsel for Blackstone Holdings. Now her boss offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but in return she has to marry his good-for-nothing son.
Scott Blackstone used to be a party animal, but he has since moved to Wyoming, bought a failing cattle ranch, and turned it into a profitable business. Now one phone call from his father threatens everything. He has to marry a woman who can’t stand him or lose everything.
If the beach or a bustling city is not your idea of the ideal vacation, then perhaps you’d want to escape to a ranch in Wyoming. Take in the open plains, ride a horse and just soak up some quiet. Sounds perfect if you ask me! Sydney travels from NYC to Wyoming for a marriage of convenience in this wonderful romance.
Holland Bakker has developed a crush on the guitarist who busks for cash in the subway station near her apartment in New York City. When Calvin McLoughlin rescues her from a drunken attacker one night, Holland is determined to pay him back by arranging an audition with her uncle for the hottest Broadway show.
The only problem is Calvin is in this country illegally so the only way he can perform in her uncle’s show and gain the fame he deserves is if he gets married…to Holland.
The sights and sounds of New York City will be calling your name while reading Roomies. If you’re a musical theater buff, it will also have you booking your next ticket to a Broadway show! I loved the inside look at a Broadway production in this moving, marriage of convenience love story. It’s one of Lauren’s best.
One night a hot NHL hockey player walks into Dean’s London bar and it’s chemistry at first sight. It was only supposed to be a 5-day fling but love had other plans.
Want to talk a walk around London with two hot men? You’ll want to check out Blakely’s MM romance! Dean gets to be the tour guide for the American hockey player while he’s in town and then some.
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More Romance Books that Inspire Travel
Marin is the sister that’s always played it safe, refusing to set foot outside the state of Tennessee while her younger sister, Sadie, has trotted the globe.
When Sadie returns from a tough assignment needing some R&R, Marin reluctantly agrees to a sisters’ spa weekend on the tropical island of Saba. The trip does not go as planned, but for the first time in a long time, Marin has to step outside of her comfort zone as she explores the island with Lucas, the handsome stranger, and learn what she’s been missing out on.
This book has me at spa weekend and tropical island. Could anything be better for a planned vacation? If sunshine, beautiful beaches and a tropical paradise is something you’d like to envision while reading a romance, this should be your pick.
Two weeks in Alaska isn’t just the top item on Zoey Caldwell’s bucket list. It’s the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she’s smitten.
But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham Barnett’s world, she may just find there’s more to the grumpy local than meets the eye…and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.
If you’re looking for a small town, romantic comedy that takes you to Alaska, this is the romance book that inspires travel for you. It also looks to be a great, opposites attract love story!
Since the loss of her fiancé, Anna has been shipwrecked by grief—until a reminder goes off about a trip they were supposed to take together. Impulsively, Anna goes to sea in their sailboat, intending to complete the voyage alone.
But after a treacherous night’s sail, she realizes she can’t do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Much like Anna, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it’s never too late to chart a new course.
Something about this book just screams read me as I can’t wait for Anna and Keane to find a happily ever after that seems so deserving. The fact that they fall in love while sailing is just a huge bonus. If you love the open water or just envision sailing around the world, this is the perfect romance book to inspire your travels.
After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She’s got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, but then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone — the absurdly gorgeous man she’s held a secret grudge against for years — is on her flight.
When their plane encounters mechanical problems, she’s now stuck at a luxury resort in Belize with her nemesis. Only the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him.
I’ve never been to Belize or anywhere in South America for that matter which is why I’ll be anxious to pick up this romance. I’m also always up for a great enemies to lovers romance and one set in paradise is the perfect choice.
Marketing manager Henley Evans couldn’t be more excited that she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, only to discover that Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.
Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands…together.
But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.
OMG, you don’t have to twist my arm to read this enemies to lovers romance. And one set in the Galápagos Islands sounds too good to be true. I am sure I’ll be booking a trip there after reading “the end” with this romance.
Have you read a romance book that inspired your own travels? Share in the comments below!
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