The Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- A fun literary goal I'd like to set for myself is to visit some of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. Here I share pictures, discuss some I've been to and other gorgeous bookshops I'm hoping to visit one day. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.
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Bookshops discussed:
Lello Bookstore, Porto, Portugal
Cook & Book, Brussels, Belgium
Carturesti Carusel, Bucharest, Romania
Boekhandel Dominicanen, Maastricht, Netherlands
Desperate Literature, Madrid, Spain
Bart's Books, Ojai, California, USA
Livraria da Vila, São Paulo, Brazil
Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice, Italy
Pro qm, Berlin, Germany
Shakespeare & Company, Paris, France
Cafebrería El Péndulo, Mexico City, Mexico
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I live in Mexico City and I love El Péndulo, beautiful places to spend the time.
Minoa bookshop in istanbul is gorgeous! And a bookshop/cafe
When in Scotland visit Leakey's Bookshop in Inverness. It's amazing.
I’m so glad someone mentioned this one! How about that open fireplace in the midst of all those books? I spent a wonderful afternoon there in 2008.
One of my favorites was a little jewel box of a store called The Biography Book Store on Bleeker and 11th street in the Village in NYC, right across the street from Magnolia Bakery. There was also a park nearby so you’d get a book, cupcake and coffee and read in the park on a nice day. They got priced out, but miraculously the designer Marc Jacobs bought the space and opened a store called Bookmarc with an emphasis of books on art and fashion. Not exactly the same, but at least it still exists as a bookstore and has a lovely curated selection to fit the small space.
Off the beaten path is one called The Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It’s in a cavernous space with great murals and has antiquarian collections as well as new books as well. There’s a cafe and an impressive calendar of events with local and national authors. The owner actually became the mayor of Harrisburg a few years back. Definitely a bright spot and and amazing find in an out of the way place that is unexpected.
Eric, love this so much. I’m of the opinion traveling & books go hand in hand. Happy to add some new dream destinations to my list
Thanks! Definitely. 📚
Barter books in Alnwick is worth visiting. Pretty cool bookstore in a former train station. Great video! Thanks.
I live in the Netherlands, close to Zwolle. There’s a store there called “Waanders in de Broeren”. It’s based in a church from the 1500’s, kinda like the Dominican shop. It’s probably not as beautiful as Dominican, but still very impressive.
It's on the more small and quirky side, but I fell in love with Word on the Water in London (King's Cross) recently 💕📖 Who wouldn't love a bookshop on a canal barge!
Yes! It's lovely. I like to have a wander by there before doing my shopping at the nice Waitrose nearby. 😄
Hi Eric, if you're ever in Lisbon, you must check out Livraria Ler Devagar :)
Lello in Porto is gorgeous. They had to start charging a fee because the lines to get in just got insanely long and not everyone goes in to buy or browse books. You get the money back if you do buy a book though, which I think it's fair :)
Thanks so much! We loved Portugal so definitely want to go back. And yes, I'd totally forgot about being able to redeem the ticket price which I did with Saramago novel I bought.
I can't say that I've ever been inside any bookshop that was as wonderful as these you've shown here. Thanks.
One funky bookshop I like is Farley's Bookshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
I've been to Barts Books in Ojai and loved getting lost in the various rooms. My hometown is a beach community just miles from Ojai.
What a great video Eric. I haven’t been to any of the bookshops mentioned but I have been to El Ateneo in Buenos Aires which is glorious and there is another pretty quirky one in Santorini called Atlantis Books. Maybe you can add these to your list . The shop in Portugal looks stunning. One day!!
I visited Shakespeare and Co. in Paris several years ago, and I would say it is the most beautiful bookstore I've ever been to. This was a fun video - very inspiring!
I like the idea from "The Shadow of the Wind" that says there are bats in the bookshops to keep the bugs away. Maybe you should organize s You Tube book lovers field trip to these bookshops. I used to frequent some amazing bookstores in Toronto, thoughI don't remember their names. One had books from around the world...Always wanted to go to the Shakespeare Bookshop.....
That was super fun. I have visited Lello in Porto and Carturesti in Bucharest, which are both beautiful. The other bookshop that I loved was El Ateneo in Buenos Aires, which is a former theatre. The café is on the stage... A real thrill.
I've been to Libreria aqua alta and Bart's Books! Both were amazing. I would love to visit all of these stores. Ojai and Venice are two of my favorite places, too. 😊
If you are ever in Berlin, the Ocelot bookstore is well worth visiting (one of the most famous independent bookstores in all of Germany), and also Dussmann, which is probably the biggest, a huge place of books with a great English bookshop too!
What a wonderful video Eric ! I hope you will come again to Shakespeare and Co in Paris. I love the bouquinistes all along the Seine. I am looking forward to your next upload !
Thanks! 😊📚
If you go to Buenos Aires, Argentina you can visit El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a bookstore in what used to be a theatre, and Eterna Cadencia, another beautiful place to buy books and have a coffee. Cheers!
es británico
So inspirational. Let's hope the world opens up again to enable travel to see most of these.
Hello! I live in Bucharest. Indeed, Carturesti Carousel is an amazing bookshop. Thank you for talking about us 🙂
Check out pictures of Munro Bookstore in British Columbia, Canada. One of the founders was writer Alice Munro. It is a really beautiful bookstore! Thank you for this. I have added more bookstores to my list!
Unlucky of me I spent some days in Oporto without knowing of that beautiful Book Shop and I also went to Inverness without knowing of that Majesty Book Shop either! But in Paris I had great pleasure visiting Shakespeare's English Books. I really enjoyed watching your Video. Stay Safe and Greetings from Spain 🟥🟥
Thank you! 📚
You will have to come visit the bookstore that won the best of the year (in the An Post awards)in Ireland. It’s in Galway. However there are some wonderful book shops in Donegal,Derry and Dublin.
Ooh yes, I’ve been to some of the lovely ones in Dublin. Need to do an Irish road trip!
Well, that was fun!
this was a lovely video Eric!
Thanks! 😊
World love a top 10 list of libraries 🙂
Absolutely breathtaking bookshops. What a wonderful video. The only one of these I’ve been to is Shakespeare & Company, but I am definitely putting the bookstore in Belgium on my list. That looks fascinating. The most beautiful bookstore I’ve ever been in is the long-gone-away Scribners bookstore on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, very near Rockefeller Center, followed by the smaller, dark wood-paneled and incredibly atmospheric Books & Co on Madison Avenue in the mid-70s in Manhattan, sadly also long gone. The memories, luckily, linger.
I have been in the Maastricht one, and it is really cool. Also Shakespeare and co. I need to go to all the other ones as soon as COVID is over. I am surprised the list does not include El ateneo in Buenos Aires, it is a remodelled old cinema, and I really want to go!
That sounds great and my partner is keen to visit Argentina so thanks for the suggestion.
Shakespeare and Co will always have a special place in my heart. Not only because it's a wonderful bookstore, but because, when I was 18, one of the men working there invited my friends and me to the private area upstairs to escape a group of young men. It was one of the only times I felt like someone--particularly a stranger--looked out for me while traveling, and it meant a lot.
As for other beautiful bookshops, I have to recommend the Albertine in New York. It's located inside the French Embassy (which is also lovely), a couple blocks down from the Met Museum. The second floor ceiling is painted like a celestial map and is truly worth a visit. (Although perhaps you've already been!)
It’s lovely the bookseller looked out for you and your friends like that. And thanks for the suggestion - I’ve not been there yet.
What an enjoyable video. Thank you!!!
I have been to Shakespeare and Company a few times and is definately one of my favourites as well as Foyles and the whole of Hay on Wye. I spent a week in Hay on Wye in 2005.
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you!
Thanks! 😊
well, i‘ve forwarded this video to my bookish bestie as well as my husband with the subject line „let‘s gooooo!“.
because that‘s exactly what i‘d like to do. i‘d only heard about some of them, so thanks for bringing the others to our attention.
should you ever find yourself in munich, the hugendubel at salvatorplatz is a really nice bookshop to visit. as are the (mostly used) bookshops around universitätsstraße. surely, you‘ll find a lovely edition of the waves in one of them („die wellen“). what a cool idea, by the way!
lastly, „pro qm“ in german means „per square metre“. a fitting name, since „pro qm“ is all about architecture and buildings.
hope we all get to bump into each other at various bookish places around the globe, once the panini press of horrors has stopped squeezing the life out of… well, life.
Hope you make it to some of these beauties and thanks for the Munich suggestion! 📚
Carturesti Carusel is truly amazing.
This was such a delight, Eric!
I’ve not been to any of these, and I’ve been to some of these cities, so I must have completely missed them, but this is a great list to aim for!
Thanks! Yeah, I've been to Berlin and Brussels but didn't know about these when I visited them. Must make more of my travel bookshop orientated. 😄📚
What a fascinating video....
Thanks for a great video!
😊📚
Great video!!!
fantastic video...thanks
When we visit Maastricht (a lovely city to visit, don't forget to eat vlaai!), I have to go to the bookstore to browse and buy a book. Brussels is on my list!
Very cool! Love this.
Thanks! 📚
Oh my, there's my bucket list right there! I do look at some online events that Shakespeare & Co put on, but how gorgeous it would be to see these places in person.
📚💕
I visited Porto and Maastricht as well! And yes it was so beautiful!
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Love this video! I'm making a list.
Thanks! Definitely good to have them in mind if you happen to be travelling to one of these cities.
great video!
Thanks 😊
El Ateneo in Argentina. It was a theater. Beautiful
Great video Eric. I've been to Boekhandel Dominicanen in Maastricht, and definitely agree it deserves its place on this list. Really impressive 👌 In the UK, I think Bradford Waterstones is the most beautiful shop I've visited - it's in the city's old Wool Exchange.
That sounds great. I’ve not been there.
I blame you in advance for the hours I will spend in Cărturești Carusel this summer when I visit my family. To be honest with you, the local, slightly hidden bookshop in my neighborhood was usually so well stocked that I rarely needed to visit a big store. My mother will NOT be happy with me (the shelves in my room have started to bend under the weight of all the books I've bought before I left the country), so I should probably escape to the shop while my family's at work :D
It’s small but Massolit books in Krakow is absolutely gorgeous (English language).
Thanks!
The Waves translations are in German, Swedish, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and French. Have a nice day!
great list, i also like to go visit bookstores when i travel :-)
i'll guess german - polish? - japanese - italian - spanish - french
👍
It´s missing "As Ondas". :)
Bookshop porn 🤣 oh my gosh! I have been to Brussels and didn’t go to that bookstore!!! 😳😢 this would be a dream
awesome. I am French and manage in Spanish as well, so if you need a consultant and translator to accompany you, I'm available, lol. Emma blogging at Words And Peace
Fantastic! Thank you!
Love Saramago's The Cave, and have never heard anyone mention it. Please comment on it when you've had a chance to read it.
I really enjoyed that video, good fun. Who knew there are so many interesting and quirky bookshops.
Thanks for a brilliant video, much appreciated and brightened my dark January evening ! 🙂
6 languages? I’d guess Spanish , Portuguese, French, German, Italian, and Dutch.
👍