So Pretty It Hurts: Our Fave European Bookstores & Libraries
Some of the best places to visit in Europe aren't always the most obvious, so we’re highlighting a few of its most beautiful libraries and bookstores.
You can't throw a Euro without hitting a church, castle, museum, and other historic site when you’re in Europe, but one of my personal favorite things to do when I’m traveling also has everything to do with one of my all-time favorite hobbies—reading! There’s nothing that grounds me more in a new place than the quiet hush of a library or the vibrant community of a local bookshop.
Book tourism, or bibliotourism, has always been a thing, with readers making treks all over the world to visit the settings of their favorite novels, picking up a book at a local shop as a souvenir, or touring historic libraries. And with the explosion of BookTok, lit-inspired travel has only become more popular.
Some of the most beautiful libraries in the world, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous bookstores, are located in Europe, so if you’re a bookworm, a history nerd, or you just have a thing for Gothic vaulted ceilings, keep reading for our (by no means exhaustive) list of can’t-miss spots.
Bookstores
Daunt Books
London, United Kingdom
Tucked away in London's chic Marylebone neighborhood, Daunt Books is a must-visit for any bookworm. Housed in a stunning Edwardian building, this shop is best known for its beautiful oak balconies, stained glass windows, and skylit ceilings that bathe the space in light. Specializing in travel titles, the store organizes books by country—mixing fiction, nonfiction, and guides all in one place. It’s the kind of shop where you wander in for a map and leave with three novels, a memoir, and a sudden urge to book a flight.
84 Marylebone High St., London W1U 4QW
Shakespeare & Co.
Paris, France
In a crooked building on the Left Bank across from Notre-Dame you’ll find Shakespeare & Co., Paris’s legendary English-language bookshop. Founded in 1951 by George Whitman in what was once a 17th-century monastery, the shop became a haven for artsy expats in Paris, with Allen Ginsburg, William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin, and James Baldwin among its visitors. Today George’s daughter Sylvia keeps the creative bohemian spark alive, hosting workshops, readings, and running a café next door.
Libreria Acqua Alta
Venice, Italy
There’s magic around every corner in the Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice. Meaning “High Water Bookshop,” its name refers to Venice’s seasonal floods, and owner Luigi Frizzo stacks the books in bathtubs, waterproof bins, and even a gondola to keep them safe. Browse your way through a whimsical labyrinth of shelves and hidden nooks (you might even spot some of the shop’s resident cats). And don’t miss the iconic book staircase made from old encyclopedias, which leads to a tiny deck with stunning canal views.
C. Longa Santa Maria Formosa, 5176b, 30122 Venice
Cărturești Carusel
Bucharest, Romania
Situated in Bucharest’s vibrant Old Town Lipscani district, Cărturești Carusel—the “Carousel of Light”—spans six floors of a beautifully restored 19th-century bank. Its bright-white interior, framed by Byzantine-style columns, spiral staircases, and elegant balconies, houses over 10,000 books, 5,000 records and DVDs, a multimedia basement, an art gallery, and an airy café on the top floor.
Strada Lipscani 55, Bucharest 030033
Livraria Lello
Porto, Portugal
Step into one of the world’s most enchanting bookstores—Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal. With its colorful stained-glass skylight, curved red staircase, and intricate wooden neo-Gothic arches, it looks more like a movie set than an actual bookshop. Opened in 1906, this architectural marvel that’s said to have been an inspiration for Harry Potter is a cornerstone of literary life in Porto. Today it draws thousands of book lovers, architecture buffs, photographers, and curious travelers—but to keep the store from getting overwhelmed, there’s an entrance fee that’s refunded with any book purchase. Sounds like the perfect excuse to expand your TBR.
R. das Carmelitas 144, 4050-161 Porto
Honorable Mention: Giunti Odeon
Florence, Italy
Books AND movies?! My two great loves. Once a grand movie theater, now a bibliophile’s dream, Giunti Odeon blends old-world glam with literary charm in the heart of Florence. Inside, gilded ceilings, plush velvet seats, and marble columns set the stage for a unique bookstore experience, where you can browse bestsellers and classics under a stunning stained-glass dome. It also hosts movie screenings (which are free!) so it's part bookshop, part cinema, all magic.
Piazza degli Strozzi, 50123 Florence
Libraries
The Clementinum Baroque Library
Prague, Czech Republic
With its dreamy frescoes, ornate woodwork, old-world globes, and shelves lined with over 27,000 books, the Clementinum Baroque Library in Prague feels like it fell out of the pages of a fairytale. Opened in 1556 as part of a Jesuit university, this Baroque masterpiece is often called one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Every inch is dripping with detail, from the hand-painted ceiling murals to the antique astronomical instruments on display.
Mariánské nám. 5, 110 00 Staré Město, Prague
Trinity College Library
Dublin, Ireland
If you’re a book lover, you cannot leave Dublin without visiting the awe-inspiring Trinity College Library, home to the famous Long Room and the equally famous Book of Kells, a 9th century illustrated Biblical manuscript written in Latin. The Long Room’s arched, wood-paneled ceiling and rows of towering oak shelves make the space feel almost church-like—a temple of knowledge that holds over 200,000 of the library’s oldest volumes. It’s a space that makes you feel like you should whisper, whether out of reverence or just total book nerd joy.
College Green, Trinity College, Dublin 2, D02 VR66
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
Paris, France
The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève is an absolute gem located across from the Panthéon in Paris. Designed by Henri Labrouste and opened in 1851, it’s celebrated for its beautiful reading room—a lofty iron-framed space with arched ceilings, globe lights, and endless rows of wooden desks. It kind of gives “refurbished train station” in the best way. Call me superficial, but even though the library holds over two million books and documents, it’s the architecture that steals the show.
10 Pl. du Panthéon, 75005 Paris
Austrian National Library
Vienna, Austria
If there were a crown jewel of libraries, Vienna’s Austrian National Library would be the biggest diamond in the tiara. Housed in the Hofburg Palace, its State Hall is a Baroque wonder—think marble columns, gilded balconies, towering wooden shelves, and a frescoed ceiling that seems to extend into heaven. Commissioned by Emperor Charles VI in the 18th century, it holds over 200,000 volumes and ancient globes that make you feel like you've stepped into a royal study. It's dramatic, lavish, and unapologetically over the top.
Josefsplatz 1, 1015 Wien
The Royal Danish Library
Copenhagen, Denmark
Where sleek modernism meets centuries-old opulence, the Royal Danish Library—specifically its striking newer extension known as the Black Diamond—is a fusion of old and new on Copenhagen’s waterfront. The irregular, glossy-black granite facade reflects the harbor like a mirror, with soaring atriums, glass walkways, and quiet reading rooms inside. The library contains everything from rare manuscripts to modern art exhibitions, with a café and concert hall tucked within. Connected to the original 17th-century library by a skybridge, this is a place where tradition and innovation literally meet in the middle.
Søren Kierkegaards Pl. 1, 1221 Indre By, Copenhagen
Honorable Mention: Marienplatz Law Library
Munich, Germany
Small but mighty, hidden in plain sight near Munich’s busy Marienplatz, this little gem is one of the city’s most photogenic—and unexpected—architectural wonders. Inside you’ll find Gothic wrought-iron spiral staircases, tiered balconies, and stacked shelves that feel plucked straight from Beauty and the Beast. The library is usually reserved for legal scholars, but it’s occasionally open for tours at specific times during the week.
Marienplatz 8, 80331 Munich
You definitely don’t have to be a huge reader to appreciate these libraries and bookstores that have as much history and beauty as any palace or church. There are sooo many others I could have included in this list (Paris alone has around 400 bookshops!), so next time you’re in Europe, no matter what city you’re in, just follow the books—they’ll always lead you somewhere unexpected.