History’s most creative talents know the environment is key in inspiring great works and that occasionally they might need to go hibernate in some awe-provoking holidays spots to enflame their creative minds. Let’s take a tour of some of the unique holiday sites that’ll fire your own imagination too – starting from home….
Olumo Rock, Abeokuta
The ‘Olumo Rock’ defines the landscape of the bustling ancient city of Abeokuta. Literarily translated as ‘What God moulded,’ this natural wonder of giant boulders piled on top of one another like hand-made obelisks and slanting skyward gives you an awe-inspiring feeling of the supernatural presence of God, and lifts your creative spirit to the high heavens.
Now fitted with stairways and lamp posts that wrap round the rock right to its upper level, connecting one boulder to another and a covered veranda at the summit, Olumo Rock is an equivalent of a 17-storey building or a total of 412 steps. The tourist destination guarantees to energize your creative juices with soul-reviving fresh air and panoramic towers of elevator that offers a scenic view of the city.
Obudu Mountain Resort, Obudu
The Obudu Mountain Resort has never ceased to amaze visitors, inspiring them for repeated visits to inhale the soul-embalming feel its unique climate and wonder topography generates. The mountain’s plateau temperate climate and natural sculpted roads that snakes round the landscape in phenomenal picturesque beauty is sure to invoke divine inspirations to the creative mind to better practice their craft. Little wonder this premier holiday and tourist resort centre - about 332 kilometres drive from the charming city Calabar – has become some Mecca of some sort to recording artists to shoot inspirational videos for their songs. The Obudu Mountain Resort is the creator’s paradise; nature’s own gift to Nigeria.
St Petersburg’s Famous Literary Museums
Most famous Russian writers find their muse in the beautiful landscape of St Petersburg which is graciously dotted with literary museums. This includes the House of Pushkin (whose writing tackled the snobby superficiality of the St Petersburg wealthy) and the digs
of Dostoevsky, whose Crime and Punishment novel contrastingly focused on the city’s deprived. What better way to stimulate the gentle flames of literary genius than inspirational solitude in a city of literary museums and home to writing legends.


Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
The Gallery Chemould in Mumbai, India is one of many top tourist sites in the Bollywood capital that have long showcased top contemporary talents including the Progressive Arts Movement, which shaped modern Indian artistic identity.
The Gallery’s exotic collections of colourful artworks in Mumbai’s sizzling cultural scene is the perfect inspiration for budding talents to create their own cutting-edge art. Renowned writers like Salman Rushdie, whose classic, Midnight’s Children is partly set in the city, and gives credence to Mumbai’s strong literary tradition.
This definitely plays a key role in why India and Bollywood are the hub of the global movies industry today, churning out the highest volume of films for the viewing pleasure of its growing audience.

Vatnajökull glacier, Reykjavik (Iceland)
The dramatic landscape, unique culture and unpredictable weather conditions of Iceland, and in particular the tourist haven of the Vatnajökull glacier in the capital city, Reykjavik have helped cultivate an influential body of literature by authors from around the world. The magical Vatnajökull glacier, Europe’s largest ice cap, was a prime location for George RR Martin’s imagined world in the Game of Thrones.
Iceland has a higher percentage of writers in its population than any other country in the world, and the Vatnajökull glacier in its capital city, Reykvajik is at the heart of the inspiration the land evokes. Not unexpectedly, in 2011, Iceland’s capital Reykjavik became a Unesco City of Literature, continuing the country’s literary traditions with a growth of events, tours and sites that celebrate the nation’s love of storytelling.

Charles Dickens Museum, London
Who hasn’t read or heard about the classic novel, Oliver Twist, which has and continues to inspire not only writers but music artistes and other creative talents, generation after generation? So, how about visiting the Charles Dickens Museum in London for the right muse that can also propel you to legendary writer? The Charles Dickens Museum, which bewitches the tourist with an eclectic array of the works of classic and contemporary geniuses, is one of the city features that immortalises London in the eyes of writers as the holy pilgrimage for literary talents. While in London, you can also take a tour of the Sherlock Holmes’ fictional house at 221B Baker St, a museum to the sleuth nearby; and the Regent’s Park, which inspired Willkie Collins to write The Woman in White after witnessing a lady screaming from a balcony.

Edinburgh
Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh has influenced most of its notable writers, significantly contributing to the country’s rich literary output. The ‘Writers Museum,’ off the Royal Mile, presents a personal side to the lives of Scotland’s authors, and includes exhibits like Robert Burns’ writing desk. When in the city, also take a tour of the bizarre ‘Surgeons’ Hall Museum’ and discover Arthur Conan Doyle’s inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, among other medical oddities.
San Francisco
City Lights Books in San Francisco is the writer’s hallow ground to set him a trance of celestial inspiration. Owned by onetime Beatnik Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights published Allan Ginsberg’s then-radical Howl poem in 1956. Maybe you could get a glimpse of Ferlinghetti himself whilst browsing at City Lights Books. Also visit the Mission District for some moving murals and other San Francisco world-famous street art that resonates with its colourful past.