In the 1980s and 90s there was a small flowering of travel books by and about women, starting with our dear abbess Etheria and on to our charming Victorians Isabella Bird Bishop, Marianne North, May French Sheldon, Kate Marsden and Mary Kingsley, then on to more current adventuresses. They are a bit old-fashioned now, but just the thing for a fall day, reading and day-dreaming of far-off places.

Aitken, Maria. A Girdle Round the Earth: Adventuresses Abroad

Allen, Alexandra. Travelling Ladies

Birkett, Dea. Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers

Bond, Marybeth. A Woman’s World

Govier, Katherine. Ed. Without a Guide: Contemporary Women’s Travel Adventures

Hamalian, Leo. Ed. Ladies on the Loose: Women Travelers of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Keay, Julia. With Passport and Parasol

Middleton, Dorothy. Victorian Lady Travellers

Morris, Mary, ed. Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers

Robinson, Jane. Wayward Women: A Guide to Woman Travellers

Russell, Mary. The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt: Women Travellers and Their World