Mention literary destinations and many people immediately conjure up images of 19th-century Britain – dingy Dickensian London and the rolling hills of Wordsworth’s beloved Lake District – or the United States, with its Beat poets in New York and San Francisco, and Mark Twain’s tales of life on the Mississippi. Of course, literature has left its imprint far and wide across the globe. Here is just a smattering of other novel (excuse the pun) locations.

The Tour d’Afrique is an annual transcontinental bicycling odyssey that starts at the pyramids near Cairo, Egypt, in January, and then traverses 10 countries and every kind of road surface imaginable before spinning into Cape Town, South Africa, some four months and 11,800 kilometres later. It attracts nomadic souls and cycling enthusiasts of all ages and abilities, from triathletes to retirees.