As it turns out, Dorothy Parker never said "I like to have a martini, two or three at the most. After three I’m under the table, after four I’m under my host." But it’s not surprising the ditty is frequently attributed to her -- the writer’s wit was dry as the most merciless martini, and today she’s almost as well known as a member of the famously soused Algonquin Round Table (aka the Vicious Circle) as she is for her short stories and poems.

It was at the Algonquin Hotel, in midtown Manhattan, that Parker and her confreres -- Robert Benchley, Harold Ross, Alexander Woollcott, and George S. Kaufman, among others -- met for (mostly liquid) lunches and created literary legends, fashioned in their own images. Today, the hotel retains little of what made it a hangout for Parker and her crew, but it’s worth a visit.

The round table is still there, as is resident literary cat Matilda -- the latest incarnation of which even has her own Facebook page. Once you’ve paid homage to the Vicious Circle’s spirits, check out some of these equally literary watering holes around the world.

Café de Flore

It’s a wonder Ernest Hemingway ever wrote a word while living in Paris, since it seems he spent his every waking hour (and more than a few not-quite-conscious ones) in the city’s famous cafes. He immortalized several of them in his books, including Café de Flore, which he writes about in The Sun Also Rises.

The café has become such a beacon for writers, it now awards a yearly literary prize, the winner of which is entitled to one glass of white wine a day for the duration of the year.

El Floridita

Hemingway wasn’t stingy when it came to namechecking his favorite watering holes, and this Havana, Cuba bar has enjoyed the fruits of his admiration ever since he wrote about it in Islands in the Stream. Hemingway loved their daquiris, and they continue to love Hemingway, with a life-sized bronze statue and memorial bar stool, among other memorabilia.

Vesuvios

While in San Francisco, you can look for inspiration into the Beat lifestyle in the stacks of City Lights Bookstore, or you can do what Kerouac, Cassady, and Ginsberg did, and head across the street hoping to find inspiration in the bottom of your glass. The alley behind this venerable saloon is named for the author of On the Road, but after a few cocktails here, you might want to stick to the sidewalk.

Davy Byrne’s

As Leopold Bloom wends his way through Dublin over the course of one momentous day, his passage through the streets is aided by the libations provided by one Davy Byrne, proprietor of an eponymous pub. Anyone who’s read Ulyssess knows the importance of Davy Byrne’s to Mr. Bloom, who describes the bar as a "moral pub," a "nice quiet bar. Nice piece of wood in that counter. Nicely planed. Like the way it curves." What more can you ask for in a place to get a drink?

The Eagle and Child

You think your writing group is a tough crowd? In the 1930s and 40s JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and others met in a back room in this Oxford pub to critique each others’ first drafts. The group called itself The Inklings, proving even the most high-minded of literary types weren’t above a pun now and then. The walls bear their memorabilia, including signed odes to the owner, thanking him for his hospitality, and his ham.