'Read and Recharge' in Scotland's top Bookcation destination
Travellers are swapping bucket lists for book stacks as reading retreats become the wellness break of 2025. “Bookcations” are booming across the UK and Europe as burnt out professionals seek digital detox and mental restoration through escapes designed for rest, reading, and cosy literary immersion.
Dimitris Floros, CCO at Welcome Pickups says: “Bookcations blend the nostalgia of old‑school reading with modern desires for digital detox, wellness, and slow travel. Rather than ticking off tourist hotspots, more people are seeking a different form of R&R - they want to Read & Recharge, and there’s no better way to do that than by getting lost in a good book for some meaningful downtime.”
Whether you’re looking for a solo bookcation or a reading retreat with the whole book club, Dimitris reveals some less obvious bookish destinations that are perfect for literary lovers.
Shetland, Scotland
The rugged island of Shetland is a quietly powerful bookish destination thanks to its unique blend of landscape, literary output, and cultural depth. With its windswept coasts, moorlands, and isolation, Shetland offers the perfect backdrop for a bookcation.
The island’s pace of life encourages slow, immersive reading. Whether in a croft house, by a peat fire, or on a quiet cliffside walk.
Shetland has inspired a growing body of both fiction and non-fiction. From crime novels (like Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series) to poetic meditations on land and sea, its literary scene is grounded in a deep sense of place. In short, Shetland is ideal for readers seeking solitude, scenery, and stories.
Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Arguably the ultimate bookcation destination in the UK, Hay-on-Wye is full of year-round bookish charm. World famous for having over 20 bookshops in a town of just 1,500 people, the small town is also the world's first official “Book Town”.
Bookish highlights include “honesty bookshops” set among castle ruins, where visitors can browse and pay via donation, and also the internationally acclaimed Hay Festival, which draws thousands of readers and authors every year for talks, readings, and workshops.
Nestled near the River Wye and Brecon Beacons, Hay offers reading enthusiasts quaint café nooks, market-town charm, and a deep literary spirit welcoming any book lover.
Margate, Kent
With sandy beaches, big skies, and restorative sea air, Margate invites slow travel and quiet reading, perfect for bookcations. The Kentish coastal town has a vibrant arts and indie culture, with vintage bookshops, literary cafés, and creative hubs that foster the reading (and writing) life.
Margate and its neighbouring towns have inspired generations of writers, and the area's Georgian and Victorian resorts, chalk cliffs, and smugglers’ bays have featured in the works of writers like T.S. Eliot and Charles Dickens.
There are a number of self-guided walks that will introduce visitors to the bookish highlights of this quintessential seaside town, including one of the unlikeliest Grade II listed buildings in the country: Nayland Rock promenade shelter. It is here where Eliot is said to have written the poem The Waste Land.
Dimitris adds: “The increasing demand for relaxed and uncurated holidays reflects a broader shift towards travel that nourishes the mind and soul rather than just seeing new sights. Bookcations and loosely planned reading retreats fulfill this demand beautifully.
“From a travel services standpoint, this trend means tailoring not just the accommodation or transport, but also the environment. Quiet reading nooks, local bookshop tours, literary dinner events, mindfulness spaces will create a seamless experience for guests.”