Art, music and literary tours can take you across the globe in search of great writers, Latin sounds or art galleries. In each region these are completely varied. For example a music festival could have you hanging out with Tuaregs in the desert regions of Mali or in the concert halls of Salzburg. Literary trails can chase the Da Vinci code around European churches or Hemingway into Cuban bars. And there’s the active operas of Beijing or the traditional Russian versions in Moscow.

  1. Da Vinci Code

    This is possibly the hottest of today’s literary trails that travelers are following with book in hand through sites in Italy, France and England. The added bonus is that the trails don’t end with the book, but also on to the Knights Templar which can also be tracked in long-forgotten castles and chapels.

  2. Broadway shows, New York

    This wide avenue in midtown Manhattan is the razzle-dazzle center of an ever-changing array of plays and musicals.

  3. Elvis Presley, Tennessee and Mississippi

    Fans of “The King” and Southern music will love discovering the life of this rock star. Visit his birthplace in Tupelo and journey to Memphis where he grew up and cut his first disc. It’s also possible to tour his mansion Graceland and Meditation Garden where Elvis and his family have been laid to rest. In Nashville you can see Elvis’ Gold Cadillac at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

  4. Mozart, Salzburg, Austria

    Catch up with Mozart on a journey to the birthplace of the famed composer.

  5. Hemingway, Cuba

    Down a daiquiri at Hemingway’s favorite bar, the Restaurante El Floridita in Havana where he had more than a few himself. Hemingway made Cuba the most permanent home he ever made anywhere. You can visit all his favorite haunts including his room at the Hotel Ambros Mundos where he wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and his 15-acre estate and museum La Finca Vigia.

  6. Out of Africa with Karen Blixen, Kenya

    This autobiographical novel about the Danish expatriate running a coffee plantation can come to life when you visit the house she lived in, near the Ngong Hills beyond Nairobi. The house is now open to the public as a museum.

  7. Festival in the desert, Mali

    This annual world music and Tuareg culture festival is a one-of-a-kind experience. It is modeled on traditional gatherings and celebrations of the Tuareg people and you get to interact with them and see their traditional singing and dancing. The festival also features musicians from Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Ethiopia and many other countries.

  8. Beijing Opera, China

    For an almost swashbuckling production of action, singing, dialogue, mime, acrobatic fighting and dancing head to Beijing’s old opera houses, most of which now have nightly performances for tourists.

  9. Music, art and literature, Moscow

    The music, ballets and operas of the great Russian composers and the writings of the Russian literary greats are famed. And the wealth of the Russian Tsars and the patronage of late 19th century industrialists helped form some of the world’s greatest art collections. In Moscow you can visit a wealth of art treasures during the day, including the Old Tretyakov, Armoury and Pushkin museums. And then spend a night at the Bolshoi Theatre (opera or ballet) or listen to a concert at the Moscow Conservatory or the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.

  10. Highlands show, Papua New Guinea

    For a real insight into tribal dance and culture visit the colorful highlands shows of Goroka and Mt Hagan. Over 100 tribes can meet to gather and perform dressed in feathers, mud, skirts and piercings.