Bookstores
Europe's Most Atmospheric Bookstores
Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice keeps its books in actual gondolas, bathtubs, and a Venetian dinghy because the floor of the shop floods most winters. The owner, Luigi Frizzo, started the policy after the November 2002 acqua alta destroyed half his stock. There is a wet staircase made of encyclopaedias the floods ruined; you can climb it for a view over a small canal. The cat that lives there is called Penelope.
These seven European bookshops sell books, hold readings, and contain rooms that would be worth visiting even if all the books were removed. None are chain stores. All have at least one section in English.
Below: address, opening hours, and the section worth ten minutes.
Late afternoon light, looking east. Photo by our regional correspondent.
Why This Place Matters
Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice — Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa 5176. Books in waterproof tubs because of flood season.
Livraria Lello, Porto — Rua das Carmelitas 144. 1906 Art Nouveau interior with a forked carved-wood staircase that JK Rowling described as inspiration for Hogwarts (she taught English in Porto 1991–93).
Boekhandel Dominicanen, Maastricht — Dominicanerkerkstraat 1. 13th-century Dominican church converted to a bookshop in 2007, with a three-tier black-steel installation built into the nave.
A Short History
El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires (honourary inclusion, Argentine) — converted in 2000 from a 1919 theatre; the original ceiling fresco by Nazareno Orlandi is intact above the books.
Shakespeare and Company, Paris — the current Rue de la Bûcherie shop was opened by George Whitman in 1951 (originally Le Mistral). The walls are still painted with Whitman's quotation: 'Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise.' Aspiring writers can still sleep in the bookshop above the stacks in exchange for working a shift.
Atlantis Books, Santorini — founded 2004 by Oxford students who came to Santorini for spring break and never left. A cave-shop with a poetry hut and a wildcat called Aurelius.
What You Will Actually See
Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice — the gondola full of paperbacks, the staircase of damaged books, the courtyard view. €0 entry; closes at 7:30 pm.
Livraria Lello, Porto — €5 entry (deductible from a book purchase); arrive at opening (10 am) before the cruise crowds. The carved staircase and stained-glass ceiling are the two photographs.
Boekhandel Dominicanen, Maastricht — the steel reading galleries, the café in the former apse, the Maastricht art book section under the rose window.
Shakespeare and Company, Paris — the upstairs reading rooms (free), the typewriter on the landing, weekly readings advertised at the door.
Atlantis Books, Santorini — Oia village; closed January–March. The poetry hut is the smaller room; the wildcat sleeps on the philosophy shelf.
Bart's Books, Ojai, California (honourary American) — the world's largest open-air bookshop; books sold on the honour system out of hours.
Daunt Books, London (Marylebone High St) — Edwardian travel bookshop with original oak galleries; arrange books by country.
The kind of detail you only notice on the second visit.
Interesting Facts
A few quick notes on europe's most atmospheric bookstores before the section below.
These are the details our correspondents most often get asked about by readers planning a trip.
Practical Information
Acqua Alta — closes Mondays in winter; expect to queue 15 min in summer.
Lello — book the timed ticket online to avoid the 90-min queue; €5 each, deducted from purchase.
Dominicanen — closes 6 pm; the café in the apse serves Limburgish vlaai cake.
Shakespeare and Company — Tumbleweed program (sleep in the shop) requires advance email application; expect 1–2 hour shifts in exchange.
Interesting Facts
- Libreria Acqua Alta means 'High Water Bookstore' and was opened in 2004; the November 2019 flood (the highest since 1966) destroyed about a third of its stock.
- Livraria Lello was founded in 1881 and the current building was designed by Xavier Esteves in 1906; the forked staircase contains 30 steps and is made of pinewood painted to look like mahogany.
- Boekhandel Dominicanen occupies the 1294 Maastricht Dominican Church and was voted 'the world's most beautiful bookshop' by The Guardian in 2008.
- Shakespeare and Company has hosted over 30,000 'Tumbleweeds' — writers who slept in the shop in exchange for working a shift, including James Baldwin, William Burroughs, and Anaïs Nin (at the original Sylvia Beach location).
- Atlantis Books in Oia, Santorini, was opened by five recent graduates who pooled €3,000 in 2004; it still operates as a collective with no single owner.
Most travellers walk straight past this corner. Stop and look up.
How To Visit
Venice — vaporetto 1 or 2 to San Zaccaria; 5-min walk through Campo Santa Maria Formosa.
Porto — metro line D to São Bento, 10-min walk.
Maastricht — bookshop is opposite the Vrijthof main square.
Paris — Métro Saint-Michel, opposite Notre-Dame.
Final Thoughts
Bookshops are the most generous architecture: you can stand inside them for an hour and buy nothing. Most of these seven encourage it.
Buy from the local section, not the international bestseller table. The Portuguese poetry at Lello (Pessoa, Eugénio de Andrade, Adília Lopes) is what makes the shop a working bookstore rather than a film set.
If you visit one: Libreria Acqua Alta. The flood-resistant chaos is unrepeatable and Penelope the cat is excellent at suggesting paperbacks.
If you read this article and noticed something we got wrong, please write to us. Reader corrections shape what we publish next.
Marguerite Soto
Regional correspondent for WIGO Trips. Writes about overlooked places and quiet histories.
