Travel texts are a unique literary genre that capture the authors’ impressions from their journeys and attract scholars from various disciplines. These texts offer insights into the topography, history, and both tangible and intangible cultural heritage of a place. Although they reflect the personal ideology of the traveler, they still serve as a valuable source of knowledge about the past. They function to a large extent as early tourist guides, providing information for the preparation and duration of a tour, fulfilling a dual role: to inform and to encourage (corresponding to the Greek word πρό(σ)κληση which means “challenge” and with the addition of “σ” in the same moment “invitation”) a new journey. This research presents data on the nature, culture, religious monuments, maps, gastronomy, customs, and traditions observed by past visitors to locations in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes, Karpathos, and Crete. The information derived from these texts is compared with modern travel guides in an attempt to highlight the common elements of cultural interest, both tangible and intangible, to further develop them in tourist routes.