Fans flocked to the locations in his novel One Day after it became a Netflix good luck.
But now David Nicholls has been forced to tell readers that the settings in his latest book, You Are Here, don't exist.
The 57-year-old award-winning novelist told the audience at the Hay Literature Festival: 'They really are all made up.
'The first night they stay in a pub on the shore of a lake, that pub does not exist. Don't try to book it.'
His sixth novel follows two middle-aged protagonists on a walk through the Lake District.
David Nicholls (pictured) has been forced to tell readers that the settings in his latest book, You Are Here, don't exist
After Leo Woodall (right) starred as Dexter Mayhew in the Netflix adaptation of Nicholls' 2009 novel One Day, with Ambika Mod (left), fans have made it their mission to find the real-life locations
Nicholls has been in a relationship with his partner, Hannah Weaver, for more than twenty years
The book contains a disclaimer from the author explaining that although he 'tried to describe the landscape as accurately as possible, the pubs, hotels and restaurants along the way are all completely fictional'.
The author added that he also “took a few minor liberties with the route.”
After heartbreaking Leo Woodall starred as Dexter Mayhew in the Netflix adaptation of Nicholls' 2009 novel One Day. Fans have made it their mission to find the real locations.
The 14-part series aired in February and La Maison Highbury, a small cafe in London, has seen queues since appearing for ten seconds on the show as Dexter's workplace and going viral on TikTok.
Nicholls has been in a relationship with his partner, Hannah Weaver, for more than 20 years and said the modern world of dating apps “haven't had a date since 1997” and “seems like such a different experience, a lot in many ways.” more direct and candid than anything he experienced during his lifetime.