How many times have you had to rely on the company of a book while waiting for a friend who has a loose concept of timekeeping? Choose your bar well, however, and you could be kept company by the spirit of the writers themselves. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in London’s Fleet Street was a favourite of Dr Samuel Johnson, Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Brendan Behan was a fixture in McDaids in Dublin. Zola, Proust and de Maupassant chewed the fat in Paris’s Café de la Paix. And there are no fewer than six bars in Madrid regularly frequented by Ernest Hemingway, including Museo Chicote. Jot down a few lines and tell us about your favourite literary hangout in the UK and Europe. If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

Keep your tip to about 100 words

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet, will win a £200 voucher to stay at a Sawday’s property – the company has more than 3,000 in the UK and Europe. The best tips will appear on the Guardian Travel website, and maybe in the paper, too.

We’re sorry, but for legal reasons you must be a UK resident to enter this competition.

The competition closes on Tuesday 29 November at 9am

Have a look at our past winners and other tips

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