Literary sites?

Well, I'm making my third trip to the UK this Christmas, and I'm wanting to go to more "historical" sites, namely literary spots.  I've been to Haworth (I nearly died, I was soooo excited  ), but does anyone have any other suggestions, other than the usual "Jane Austen Country" and Straford-upon-Avon?

Or just any cool museums/cathedrals/castles/etc (that aren't too expensive, I'm still a student!  Any advice for cheap/discounted tickets would be appreciated too! I love places where they take my american student ID but still give me discounts even when they look at me a bit funny :-D )

well, if you're not sick of the Brontes yet   you could visit Hathersage in the Peak District- it's a tiny village that has Bronte connections and was the setting of Jane Eyre.  Loxley is a few miles away (yep, as in Robin Hood!) and supposedly Little John is buried in Hathersage.

And of course, there's always Hay-on-Wye, right next to the England-Wales border.  If you love reading and books, you *must* visit- it's got the largest concentration of second hand bookshops in the world, including the largest second hand bookshop period.  I was there in April 2005 and it was well worth the visit- I spent hours browsing through the musty shelves and walking around the village. (I can also give you the name of a fabulous B&B there if you do go!)

We live in Canterbury and there is loads to see here. Canterbury Cathedral (about £8 I think) , St Augustine's Abbey (£4), a castle ruin (free entry), The Canterbury Tales exhibition, a pilgrims hospice, Rupert Bear museum, various other museums & parks.  The main literary connections are Chaucer & Christopher Marlowe. Lotos of cute little B&Bs around too.

If you're going as far as Wales, you can head for Laugharne to see Dylan Thomas's home and the shed where he wrote. He's also buried in the cemetery there. And for some authentic Dylan-ness, you can have a whisky at Brown's, the pub he used to go to -- which hasn't changed much since his times. There's also a wonderful rambling old second-hand bookshop across the road from Brown's.

Cornwall is also pretty far from London, but is chock full of literary sites. It's is full of Daphne DuMaurier connections -- her home is in Fowey at Ferryside, and Jamaica Inn is down there as well.

Penzance has a house the Brontes used to live in (and my bf's family once lived there, too!).

Cornwall is also John Betjeman country, which could be particularly interesting this year, the 100th annivesary of his birth. His family lived at Trebetherick and he's buried near Rock.

I'd like to second Andrea's vote for Hay-on-Wye. It's a fantastic place.

In London, I've always liked the Charles Dickens Museum. It was his home at one point and  is pretty cool.

I don't know if anyone mentioned yet...but if you like Jane Austen you can visit the Jane Austen house in Bath and even have tea there...here is a website my friend Kat gave me: www.jane_austen_house_museum.org

have fun

I just remembered another one - in London - the Keats House in Hampstead.

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/keats_house/keats_house.htm

I posted about the Jane Austen house before in Bath..but I had the website wrong...here is the correct one http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/

sorry about that before

There's a new map being produced of places in Children's Literature.  Looks interesting. 

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/activities/family/story/0,,1858412,00.html

I'd go for Edinburgh...Walter Scott, Burns, Robert Louis Stephenson...I'm doing this http://www.edinburghliterarypubtour.co.uk/pubtours/index.html next time I'm there.

Vicky

Sweet, all those places sound awesome, thanks guys!  I need to start making a list, and hopefully can check off quite a few in the near future   And I will have to take a look at that map when I get back from my class that I have to leave for in like, 5 minutes (modern brit lit, ironically, bwahaha :-D)

Any more fun places would be appreciated!  I love hopping on a train and travelling all around the UK...it's so pretty there, and makes me sniffle when all I see out my window here is either a train track or a cornfield *rolls her eyes*

Andrea, what's the name of that B&B? I can never tire of the Brontes!!

Kent for Dickens, Dorset for Thomas Hardy, The Lake District for Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter