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Books are prized for their escapist qualities, gorgeously jetting you off to lands and adventures unknown—but what about the bookstores they're found in? Those spaces can be just as transporting, as proven by this 2025 ranking of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, put together by book-loving travel guide site 1000 Libraries. And, as should come as no surprise to New York book lovers, one of our city's stunning booksellers cracked the picturesque top ten.
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One of the best bookstores in all of NYC, Albertine Books on the Upper East Side came in at a handsome No. 9 on this year's global rankings, joining fellow beauties like Shakespeare and Company in Paris (at No. 2), El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires (No. 3), The Gently Mad Bookshop in Edinburgh (No. 4) and the first-place finisher, Boekhandel Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands.
Tucked inside the landmark Payne Whitney mansion since 2014, Albertine is the only bookshop in New York devoted solely to books in French and English, offering the largest selection of French literature in the United States with more than 14,000 contemporary and classic titles from 30 French-speaking countries.
And it's not just that sprawling literary collection that makes the two-floor space a must visit — created by celebrated French designer Jacques Garcia (known for the Chateau du Champ de Bataille in Normandy and the NoMad Hotel here in NYC), the shop evokes a grand French library, with rich mahogany wood, lush leather sofas and a designated reading room.
On display are busts crafted by the ateliers of the Musée du Louvre, featuring famous figures from French and French-American culture: think Voltaire, Tocqueville, Descartes and Benjamin Franklin. (They're joined by a replica of Michelangelo’s Young Archer sculpture, set at the building’s entrance.) But the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the shop's celestial ceiling, a hand-painted mural of constellations, stars and planets that was modeled after the similarly starry, Franz von Stuck-crafted ceiling in the music room at the Villa Stuck in Munich, Germany.
Note, if you do want to take a gander at the photogenic Albertine IRL, the uptown shop is currently closed for summer vacation through today, August 25. (Those Europeans, ammirite?) You can reference the store's Instagram handle for up-to-date opening news.
Elsewhere on the 1000 Libraries list, London had a strong showing with both Word on the Water and Daunt Books (at Nos. 5 and 8, respectively), joined by Dujiangyan Zhongshuge in Chengdu, China in the sixth spot, Eterna Cadencia from Buenos Aires, Argentina coming in seventh, and Los Angeles' The Last Bookstore looking good at No. 10