The world’s most beautiful bookshops

Buenos Aires, Argentina

This jaw-dropping bookshop is built within a 1919 theatre that once hosted the country’s most talented tango dancers, before it evolved into a cinema a decade later. As of 2000, El Ateneo’s only running show is a glorious, three-level bookshop – though it’s still worthy of a standing ovation. There are wonderfully preserved details along each of the balconies and seats have been transformed into reading spaces for visitors – but the domed ceiling, with its enormous early twentieth-century fresco, is the real showstopper. Books are of all genres, and they’re mostly in Spanish, but this building’s majesty is worth admiring IRL all the same. Why not head to the third-floor cafe for a proper birdseye view?

Address: Avenida Santa Fe 1860, C1123 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Opening hours: Open daily from 9am–9pm

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Paris, France

There’s a load of literary history packed into this popular Parisian bookshop. Opened in 1951 by American immigrant George Whitman, it was originally called Le Mistral but changed to Shakespeare & Co. in 1964. Why? Well, as an homage to Whitman’s friend Sylvia Beach, who ran the original Shakespeare & Co on Rue de L’Odeon back in 1919. That place was graced by literary heavyweights like Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, but Whitman’s became the go-to for the following generation. Think Julio Cortázar, Lawrence Durrell, and James Baldwin. Behind its pretty green façade, stepping inside feels more like entering someone’s cottage, filled with homely knick-knacks like old photos, typewriters, and charming little nooks dotted throughout.  

Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005, Paris

Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday, from 10am–8pm; Thursday and Saturday, from 10am–9pm; Sunday, from noon–7pm; closed Friday

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New York City, USA

Opened in 2014 inside a 1902 Upper East Side mansion, Albertine is the only bookshop in the New York that’s dedicated exclusively to stocking French and English titles. The mission is to aid the ‘French government’s commitment to French-American intellectual exchange’, and what it’s resulted in is a bookshop of over 14,000 classic and contemporary works in both languages. Not only that, but these books are housed under a glistening celestial ceiling of golden stars, planets and astrology signs, which is actually inspired by the music room at the Villa Stuck in Munich. It’s small but mighty, and we’d recommend visiting just before dusk when the shop’s orange-hued lamps exude an enchanting glow.

Address: 972 Fifth Avenue, 10075, New York, NY 

Opening hours: Thursday to Tuesday, from 10am–6pm; closed Wednesday 

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London, UK

Floating along London’s Regent’s Canal behind Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross, Word on the Water is a 1920s Dutch barge-turned-bookshop that holds hundreds of stories on shelves inside and out. Being a small space, it’s certainly cosy in there and can get crowded, but go at the right time and find a cushioned seat next to the wood-burning stove and enjoy the gentle rocks of the canal. The book boat stocks a wide range, from children's books and Celtic history to poems, autobiographies and lessons on social justice. In the summer months, you might even catch some live music on deck.

Address: Regent’s Canal Towpath, Granary Square, London, United Kingdom N1C 4LW

Opening hours: Open daily from noon–7pm. 

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Maastricht, Netherlands

This centuries-old Dominican church in Maastricht, Netherlands has lived many lives – as a place of worship, a slaughterhouse, a concert hall and even a bike shed – before turning into one of the most staggeringly beautiful bookstores in the world. Its three storeys, stacked beneath the vast, vaulted and fresco-painted ceiling, shelve both new and secondhand books in English and Dutch, as well a music section filled with old-school CDs and vinyls. There’s obviously no communion at Boekhandel Dominicanen’s altar, but it is home to Blanche Dael Coffeelovers café, so perch there to make a start on one of your new books.

Address: Dominicanerkerkstraat 1, 6211 CZ, Maastricht

Opening hours: Monday from 10am–6pm; Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am–6pm; Thursday from 9am–9pm; Friday and Saturday from 9am–6pm; Sunday from noon–6pm

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Porto, Portugal

The whimsical, ornate woodwork and bold, red-painted stairs which have been woven into a striking hourglass shape make Livraria Lello one of the planet’s most photographed bookshops. Its striking interior draws travellers and bibliophiles from far and wide – in fact, it’s so popular that entry is organised via a two-tiered ticket system, with silver as the standard, gold offering you priority access, but both essentially acting as vouchers towards any books you might pick up. Trying to break your book-buying addiction? Don’t worry – stealing a peak at the interiors of this place are well worth the price, whether you make a purchase or not. 

Address: Rua das Carmelitas 144, 4050-161, Porto

Opening hours: Open daily from 9am–7.30pm 

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Hay-on-Wye, Wales

Few bookshops are as bare-boned as this one in Hay-on-Wye (literary motherland and home to a book festival once dubbed the ‘Woodstock of the mind’ by Bill Clinton). Technically, it’s not even a physical store – just two rickety wooden bookshelves set up against Hay Castle’s stone wall, and sheltered under two equally haphazard little roofs. You’ll find books from across the genre spectrum, and while some are a little, shall we say, weathered, that only adds to their charm. Oh, and there’s no official staff or attendant here, either: it’s just you, your conscience, the books (which each cost only £2), along with a QR code or small ‘honesty’ cash box.

Address: Castle St, Hay-on-Wye, HR3 5DF, Hereford

Opening hours: Open daily from 10am–5pm, depending on weather conditions

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Venice, Italy

Libreria Acqua Alta’s owner, Luigi Frizzo, found a brilliant way of saving his book collection from the inevitable Venetian floods: abandon landed bookshelves, and rely on boats, tubs, and gondolas instead. Now, his humble bookshop is a beloved Venice landmark, with visitors (both tourists and locals) popping in to peruse through the many genres, take photos of the booksteps, and pet the friendly resident cats.

Address: C. Longa Santa Maria Formosa  5176b 30122 Venezia

Opening hours: Open daily from 9am–7.15pm (last entry at 7.10pm)

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Rabat, Morocco

Years ago, Moroccan native Mohammed Belhaj was so fed up with not finding any English books in Rabat that he opened his own, aptly naming it The English Bookshop. Piled from floor to ceiling with dust caking to the spines, Belhaj’s collection of at least 10,000 books attracts visitors not just from across Morocco but the world, with genres ranging from classic to contemporary, fiction to nonfiction. And this place remains endearingly analogue: everything from the inventory to the transations is done by pen-and-paper and good old-fashioned cash. Oh, and this year is a particularly good time to visit Rabat for bookworms, as it’s been named as the official UNESCO World Book Capital for 2026. 

Address: Rue EL Yamama, Rabat, Morocco

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 10.30am–1.30pm, and  3.30pm–6.30pm; closed Sunday

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Tokyo, Japan

Each Tsutaya Books outpost is a well-lit, geometrical masterpiece, whether you’re at the sixth-floor store of Tokyo’s stylish Ginza Six shopping centre, or in front of the ‘infinity bookshelf’ at the AEON Mall in the city of Nagoya. However, none can quite compete with the Daikanyama T-Site, where three adjoining buildings are interlocked with white T-shaped lattices that appear to be woven together. Inside, the illuminated raw wood shelves make for a dramatic and alluring space. Oh, and keep an eye out for the various art exhibitions installed throughout the building.

Address: 16-15 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Opening hours: Open daily from 9am–10pm (closed New Years Day)

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Mexico City, Mexico

The first Cafebrería el Péndulo outpost opened in Mexico City’s La Condesa neighbourhood in 1993, and it’s sprouted to five other locations since then. Its most beautiful? That would be in the affluent neighbourhood of Polanco, where the two-storey shop holds an outdoor restaurant and cafe on the ground floor, generous seating for readers and 360-degree wall coverage of all kinds of books. Connected by a striking statement staircase that snakes down with green, vine-like handrails which complements the abundance of plants, it’s an idyllic, nature-inspired third space.

Address: Alejandro Dumas 81, Polanco, Polanco IV Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560, Ciudad de México

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 8am–11pm; and Sunday, from 9am–10pm 

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Nanjing, China

Librairie Avant-Garde isn’t just a bookshop – it’s a collective that strives to help people in remote communities gain better access to reading materials, culture and education. Each of their shops is uniquely designed with its surrounding natural landscapes in mind, from the Xiadi Paddy Field Bookstore in Pingnan, Fujian, to the impressive farmhouses-turned-bookstores in the fields of Shangri-La. These spots are so isolated that tracking them down can be tricky, but you can always visit the original Librairie Avant-Garde location in Nanjing. Built in an old underground car park, it has tonnes of seating, moody lighting and bright yellow-painted road stripes on the ground that lead to a bold, black cross in the backwall. 

Address: 173 Guangzhou Rd, Gulou, 210008, Nanjing

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 10am–9pm; and Saturday to Sunday from 10am–10pm