Style & Culture

17 Places Book Lovers Need to Visit

For many book lovers, the most perfect place in the world is a cozy reading nook where no one will talk to them for the next, oh, ten hours. But there are places outside of the home (and beyond the pages) that seem to have been made specifically for the literary minded, including charming bookstores in Paris, quirky hotels in Japan, and beautiful monasteries in Prague. Here are 17 places perfect for book lovers.
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    El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires

    This isn't your average bookstore. Housed in an old theater (complete with frescoed ceilings and red stage curtains), books line the former mezzanines and orchestra section, and cafe tables sit on the stage where tango dancers once performed.

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    Book and Bed, Tokyo

    This self-described “accommodation bookstore” allows guests to sleep in Japanese-style compartments built into shelves, staying up all night to read the more than 1,700 English and Japanese books. First opened in late 2015, the brand has since opened outlets in cities Kyoto and Fukuoka.

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    Zhongshuge Yangzhou, China

    This bookshop in Yangzhou has black, mirrored floors and arched shelving that emulates the city’s iconic rivers and bridges. The entire design creates the illusion of an endless tunnel of books, otherwise known as a bibliophile’s dream come true.

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    Bath, England

    Jane Austen wrote Persuasion and Northanger Abbey in Bath, which also happens to be where you can attend the annual Jane Austen Festival. The event celebrated its sixteenth anniversary this past September, and included country dances, calligraphy workshops, dramatic readings, and a whole lot of bonnets. You can also visit the Jane Austen Centre year-round, a small museum with costumed tours and afternoon tea services.

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    The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Rio de Janeiro

    If this three-story library doesn't take your breath away, then we're not sure anything will. The Royal Portuguese Reading Room houses more than 350,000 books in floor-to-ceiling bookcases, all under a domed skylight of stained glass.

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    The Fable Bar, London

    Drawing inspiration from fairy tales and Aesop's fables, the appropriately-named Fable Bar is like a little fantasy land in the middle of central London's Holborn district. Expect to see literary decor, booths encased by books, and cocktails with names like the Candy Shop and Bramble Forest.

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    Hay-on-Wye, Wales

    Hay-on-Wye is a tiny Welsh village (population under 2,000) that basically resembles one giant library. The town has become famous for its secondhand and antiquarian bookshops, with some stores dedicated entirely to specific genres (including one called "Murder and Mayhem"). Perhaps its best attraction is the Honesty Bookshop, an open-air "store" around Hay Castle where all books cost £1 ($1.34) or less.

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    The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts

    Located in the hometown of the real Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), this museum, which opened in June 2017, pays homage to the stories and legacy of the famous children’s book author. Expect to see never-before-seen artwork, family photographs, and statues of your favorite characters in the adjacent Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden (pictured).

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    Café Pushkin, Moscow

    Café Pushkin opened in 1999, although the mansion it's housed in has been around since the nineteenth century. You can enjoy the Russian and French cuisine in any one of the restaurant's four dining halls, each gorgeous in its own right, but nothing beats having a meal in the middle of a Baroque-style library, with ceiling-high bookcases and antique telescopes.

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    The Library Hotel, Koh Samui, Thailand

    This minimalist hotel is all about escaping the crowds and finding a quiet place to unwind—preferably with a good read. And with villa names like The Writer and The Editor, plus a library stocked with glossy coffee table books, you shouldn't have any trouble creating your own little literary retreat.

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    Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice

    It sounds like a recipe for disaster to open a bookstore in a city where the streets are made out of water, but Libreria Acqua Alta has figured out a location-appropriate solution: stacking books in gondolas and bathtubs throughout the shop. And discarded tomes find second life as makeshift furniture and staircases.

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    Georgian House Wizard Chambers, London

    Georgian House is a 5-star boutique hotel with plenty of lovely rooms for Muggles, but it’s the Wizard Chambers that draw the most attention. These rooms give Harry Potter fans the opportunity to sleep in their very own Hogwarts-style dormitory, with curtained four-poster beds, potions on bedside tables, and faux stained-glass windows adding to the magical effect.

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    Trinity College, Dublin

    Dublin's Trinity College houses the famous Book of Kells, a ninth-century manuscript penned by monks in amazingly intricate fonts and illustrations—each page is like its own work of art. When you’re done perusing, pay a visit to the library’s Long Room; staring down the 200-foot-long hallway stacked with 200,000 old books might just give you chills.

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    Shakespeare and Company, Paris

    In the 1920s and 1930s, Shakespeare and Company served as a hangout for American expats like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Today, this charming, cluttered shop is a popular place in Paris to buy English-language books.

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    Strahov Monastery, Prague

    Founded in 1143, the second-oldest monastery in Prague is best known not for its religious buildings, but for its jaw-dropping library, which is divided into two halls. With its frescoed ceilings, gilded decorations, seventeenth-century globes, and tens of thousands of ancient books, Strahov certainly deserves a spot on any bucket list.

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    Key West, Florida

    Post-Hurricane Irma, Key West is re-opening on October 1 and needs tourist dollars now more than ever. One of the most consistent draws for travelers is the former home of Ernest Hemingway, which now serves as a museum. And since the Nobel Prize-winning novelist lived and wrote in Key West for several years, it makes sense that the island would host Hemingway Days (the next one is July 2018), complete with a Hemingway lookalike contest. Because what's better than one Ernest Hemingway? Answer: 125 Ernest Hemingways.

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    Alice in Magical Land, Tokyo

    Located in Tokyo’s Kabukichō district, this Alice in Wonderland restaurant (one of six Alice-themed cafes owned by Japanese company Diamond Dining) makes you feel like you stepped right into the pages of Lewis Carroll's classic tale. Each room depicts a different scene from the book, such as the whimsical tea party and the Queen of Hearts' croquet game.

TopicsBooks & Literature