Field Notes & Itineraries
A running log of our latest bookshop tours, festival dispatches, and reading retreats across South Africa. Each entry marks a place we have walked, a shelf we have browsed, or a page we have turned.
A practical itinerary for the Franschhoek Literary Festival, with tips on sessions, bookshops, and wine-country logistics. We mapped the shuttle system, the pop-up bookstalls, and the best coffee stops between panels.
A self-guided walk past independent bookshops, heritage libraries, and hidden reading corners. We noted the second-hand stores with rare Africana editions and the Victorian houses turned into cozy book nooks.
Three days of structured reading sessions, quiet writing time, and evening discussions under the Karoo sky. We visited a restored farmhouse near Prince Albert and a minimalist eco-lodge outside Matjiesfontein.
A route through Johannesburg's independent bookstores, from the creative hub of Maboneng to the leafy suburb of Melville. We tracked down small press titles, zines, and a poetry open-mic venue that runs every Thursday.
A behind-the-scenes look at a publisher open day in Stellenbosch, where we browsed limited-edition zines, met regional authors, and learned about the print process from the people who run the presses.
A log of Durban's poetry open-mic venues, from a beachfront café to a community hall in the Berea. We noted the regulars, the featured readers, and the best nights to catch emerging voices from KwaZulu-Natal.
Our Journey
From a single walking route in Cape Town to a network of curated bookish itineraries across South Africa. Here is how Tourmalivre grew, one chapter at a time.
March 2021
Tourmalivre launched with a single self-guided walking tour connecting six independent bookshops in Cape Town. The route was tested over three weekends with a small group of local readers, and the feedback shaped our approach to practical details like safe crossing points and coffee stops.
September 2021
We partnered with a regional novelist to design a walking route through Stellenbosch's university quarter, stopping at the library archives, a small press office, and the bookshop where she held her first launch. The walk sold out in four days.
June 2022
Our first festival-specific itinerary went live, covering the Franschhoek Literary Festival with session schedules, shuttle logistics, and a curated list of wine-country bookshops. It became our most-downloaded guide that year.
November 2022
Following a research trip through Prince Albert and Matjiesfontein, we launched a new category of slow literary escapes. The retreat profiles included practical notes on semi-desert travel, seasonal weather, and what to pack for a week of reading.
April 2023
We began stocking limited-edition zines and collectible local fiction from independent publishers across the country. Each title is selected with the same care as our routes, with a focus on regional voices and small print runs.
February 2024
We introduced custom itinerary planning, matching readers with routes based on their preferred genres, mobility needs, and travel style. Each personalised route is built by hand, drawing on our growing archive of bookshop visits and festival notes.