10 brilliant bookshops to visit around the world
It’s all well and good ordering books online, but nothing beats the experience of browsing in the real world. Here are our favourite examples to visit when we can travel again...
Lello Porto
Libreria Alta Acqua, Venice
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Shakespear & Co Paris
The Strand Book Store, in New York's East Village. Photo: Deposit
Atlantis Books, Oia, Santorini. Photo: Pól Ó Conghaile
Woozles book shop in Halifax
Daunt Books London
No Alibis Belfast
The Book Centre, Waterford. Photo: Aidan Ennis
Journey to the Heartland, by Michelle Walsh Jackson
Lello Porto
/
‘The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Although I agree with St Augustine’s view on travel, opening an actual book offers a journey into the unknown that can bring you literally anywhere.
The characters in my novels have revisited the places I have been in the real world, and in turn, readers have joined them. As a travel writer, I’ve also searched out some of the most delicious bookshops to get lost in around the globe. Is there anything better than opening a book as you stand in one of those aisles, after all oozing that sweet aroma of newly printed pages?
Here’s a selection to tantalise the most ardent bibliophile out of the comfort of their armchairs.
1. Livraria Lello, Porto
The architecture of this neo-Gothic masterpiece is rumoured to have inspired JK Rowling’s depictions of the library at Hogwarts. Opened in 1906 by brothers José and Antonio Lello, this stunning bookstore boasts the most sublime, curving staircase — like a giant reptile at the heart of the building. Its steps were painted yellow and grey in partnership with Pantone to signify its 115th year, as a symbol of resilience in a time of adversity — it will return to crimson this month. All of the delicious details sit under the gaze of an equally impressive stained-glass skylight that illuminates the shop.
Details: €5 entry (deducted from any purchases); livrarialello.pt/en-us/
2. The Strand, New York
While there’s really too much for book lovers to see on a visit to New York, the Strand Book Store is top of the list. Often simply called “Strand” by locals, it was founded in 1927 and has featured in numerous movies and TV shows (most recently, the Netflix romantic comedy Dash & Lily used it as the reason the main characters meet). It’s easy to get lost among the stacks of new, used and rare books in this landmark store, with over 18 miles of shelves! Lockdown has hit the business hard, but New Yorkers rallied to the Strand’s aid, and traffic to its online store has since increased tenfold.
Details: strandbooks.com
Read More
3. Atlantis Books, Oia, Santorini
A tiny Greek island might be one of the last places you’d expect to find a refuge for bookworms, but cradled in this stunning caldera is a shop that hosts as many tales as novels. Two students of Oxford University stopped by for a summer, set up this book shop, and stayed — creating an oasis of calm on an island that’s sometimes overrun with cruise ships. In recent years, they’ve taken to stocking limited editions and antiquarian books. A bed rests high among the driftwood shelves; musty with atmosphere, a stowaway for visiting writers to muse through the pages of the many gems stacked on the shelves. Expect to pay handsomely for rare titles and first editions.
Details: atlantisbooks.org
4. Daunt Books, London
When Daunt Books was first opened in Marylebone in 1912, it offered a wide range of travel books and still claims to have one of the greatest collections on the planet. It’s also the world’s first purpose-built bookshop. Although other stores under the brand have opened in Holland Park and Cheapside, among other locations, the original Marylebone store boasts a stunning gallery that sweeps through a building lined with William Morris prints. It also surprises with a wide range of jigsaws, many of which are artistic masterpieces… and collectible cotton shopping bags, too.
Details: dauntbooks.co.uk
5. The Book Centre, Waterford
The Well coffee shop is the beating heart of The Book Centre and a well-worn meeting place for Waterford’s locals. Chocoholics can feast on Leonidas in store or pop up to the mezzanine to savour home-made food and treats (post-lockdown, of course). Seán Ryan retained the authenticity of this old art-deco cinema while converting it into a novel wonderland — a mural decorates the wall where the cinema screen was once mounted, the stage area acts as a platform for events, and browsers can find everything from a new teenage section to headers like LGBTQ and Sustainability. At a time when it’s more important than ever to buy Irish, it has an excellent online presence too.
Details: thebookcentre.ie
6. Shakespeare and Company, Paris
The current incarnation of the famous Parisian bookshop was founded by American George Whitman in 1951 at 37 rue de la Bûcherie. Whitman named the shop in homage to Sylvia Beach, who opened the original in 1919, and continues its tradition as a meeting place for anglophone writers. From the day it opened, it has been a refuge for artists and intellectuals — Henry Miller, Ethan Hawke and Ireland’s own Sebastian Barry have rested their heads for the night in this oasis. Struggling like most independent book stores to survive Covid,it has creatively launched a ‘Year of Reading’, delivering a selection of books to readers three times this year via subscription. Its classic tote bag is a screen-printed image of the store on organic cotton and makes a charming gift. At €10, it’s a steal.
Details: shakespeareandcompany.com
7. Woozles, Halifax Canada
The oldest children’s bookshop in Canada began its life when Liz Crocker converted a classic Nova Scotian home in 1978 (she was having difficulty sourcing decent books for her one-year-old daughter). On its first day, 600 people passed through the door and it has gone on to become an institution much loved by generations of Haligonians. The old armchair at the back has become a symbol of the store, holding many absorbed young readers through the years. Although Liz says the pandemic has been tough on booksellers, she is gratified by the huge support for her online store.
Details: woozles.com
8. City Lights, San Francisco
Could there be a greater thrill for book lovers than to sit on the poet’s chair in City Lights, overlooking Jack Kerouac Alley? This may be where “the road” ends in spectacular fashion, and freedom and philosophy live to inspire another generation. When poet and City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti opened the store in 1957, he created a venue that welcomed the beatnik generation and a safe place that allowed free-thinkers and left-wing Americans. Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and the obscenity trial that followed, put this three-storey independent bookstore and publishing house on the map, and it has remained an institution of San Francisco’s North Beach ever since.
Details: citylights.com
9. Libreria Alta Acqua, Venice
The bookshop of the “High Tide” is a resilient landmark in Venice, creatively dealing with the city’s rising waters by stocking books in waterproof basins. Walk down the wacky stairs made from old books and enter the cornucopia of nods to this nautical city. The fire exit leads straight out the back door to the canal, while the main thoroughfare is a book-stacked gondola with wood-carved fish hanging from the ceiling. The labelling system is somewhat temporary too, with Post-it stickers marking the categories and authors. Visitors happily share this shop with the numerous cats that call it home.
Details: libreriaacquaaltavenezia.myadj.it/v/libreriaacquaaltavenezia
10. No Alibis, Belfast
The crime genre has boomed in popularity in recent years, and Botanic Avenue’s No Alibis is the place to start your sleuthing. In the autumn months, the quirky store is often packed with textbook-seeking students from nearby Queen’s University, but local authors love the place, too. Novelist Glenn Patterson is a fan, and Colin Bateman wrote his crime novel Mystery Man about an independent bookshop in Belfast bearing a striking similarity to this treasured place. With frequent events and friendly staff, it’s a must visit in Belfast.
Details: noalibis.com
Michelle Walsh Jackson’s novel ‘Journey to the Heartland’ is out now, published by thenovelpress.com. See thenoveltraveller.com for more.
Most Watched
Play
Play
Play
Play
Play
Latest Travel
- Heythrop Park: Check into a ‘cruise ship on land’ in Oxfordshire
- Pól Ó Conghaile Opinion Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Could holidays help recovery after the earthquake?
- Hotel Review: Channel your inner superstar at Le Bristol in Paris
- 20 of the best Irish-owned stays abroad – from a B&B in Naples to chic chateaus in France
- Owners of thousands of Airbnb properties in rental hotspots have no planning permission
Most Read
- 20 of the best Irish-owned stays abroad – from a B&B in Naples to chic chateaus in France
- ‘Irish people are the funniest in the world’ – Sharon Horgan stars in new tourism campaign
- Heythrop Park: Check into a ‘cruise ship on land’ in Oxfordshire
- Hotel Review: Channel your inner superstar at Le Bristol in Paris
- What’s it like being a tourist in Ireland? ‘Five minutes in Temple Bar and I’ve already spotted a man in a leprechaun suit and a hen’
Latest
- Ireland’s gems shine in David Attenborough’s new series but his warning of nature’s decline hits home
- Jennifer Zamparelli: We can’t make women feel like terrible mothers because they have to work eight hours a day
- ‘If you take away the computer evidence, my fear is there’s not enough to say he killed my father’
- Landlords ordered to pay over €30,000 for illegal evictions, invalid termination notices and retaining deposits
- Arson attack at former County Wexford school just weeks after copper piping was ripped out of building by vandals