Locations

Antrim Coast

Lewis spent his childhood among the rolling hills of County Down and the rugged Antrim Coast. The landscapes were instrumental in his creation of the imaginary snowbound land, populated with talking animals and mythological creatures.

Visit the lamppost that inspired the one in Narnia at Crawfordsburn Country Park (www.ehsni.gov.uk/crawfordsburn.shtml). Nearby, the breathtaking limestone cliffs on the Antrim Coast sweep up to Dunluce Castle. Said to have inspired Lewis' Cair Paravel from The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, this 17th-century Anglo-Norman castle looms over the enchanting Mermaid's Cave and a quaint wishing well at the water's edge.

While in Antrim, you can’t miss the legendary World Heritage Site, the Giant's Causeway. Some say this strange landscape, made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea, was the work of a giant. One story says; the giant fell in love on the Scottish island of Staffa and built this colossal pathway to bring his beloved home to Ireland.

Oxfordshire

While Lewis was a northerner at heart, he spent most of his adult life in and around southern England. Lewis studied and later taught at Magdalen College (www.magd.ox.ac.uk/), part of the prestigious Oxford University. Why not visit the college, or even attend a May Day Celebration on Magdalen Bridge?

On the outskirts of Oxford, you can take in a pint at The Eagle and Child (www.headington.org.uk/oxon/stgiles/tour/west/48_49_eagle.htm) on the magnificent St Giles thoroughfare. Lewis went to this rustic pub with his circle of literary friends 'The Inklings' so often that there's a C.S. Lewis Chair dedicated to his memory.

Lewis' former home, The Kilns, is also located in Oxfordshire. This once isolated home's wild grounds, lake and wooded hills gave Lewis endless inspiration as he wrote his Chronicles of Narnia. In nearby Headington, you can see another of Lewis' homes, 10 Old High Street where a plaque commemorates his residence.

J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis' brother Warnie, and other Oxford literary stars frequently visited this home, making it a creative centre in its own right. The Holy Trinity Church (www.hthq.org.uk/wordpress/) in Oxford is Lewis' final resting-place, and home to a memorial stained glass Narnia Window. Designed by artist Sally Scott, the window hangs above the pew where Lewis and Warnie would often sit.