African woman reading a book at a bookstore.
(Picture: Shutterstock / LStockStudio)People who love food visit food festivals like Smorgasbord, people who love wine go to wineries to sample wine from different areas. For avid readers, booking trips around beautiful bookstores is a real thing.
If you do happen to love literature and discovering places to find your next read, finding the perfect bookstore can really enhance a trip.
There are many places worldwide, so it may be hard to zero in on where to start. But fear not, indy100 has your back and collected a list of some fascinating bookstores on planet Earth to consider for your next trip.
Read on, fellow bibliophiles.
1. Cook & Book, Brussels, Belgium.
This book shop has a bit of a twist. Literature is not just categorized on bookshelves by genre. They’re embedded into the ceiling as well, so books surround you from all directions.
2. Livraria Lello, Porto, Portugal.
This bookstore has the vibe that you’ve just entered into an earthy oasis. The library features a curved stairway right in the center of the store that leads you to the mezzanine of the skylight above.
Fun fact: Word has it that this bookstore inspired author J.K. Rowling’s world of Hogwarts.
3. Arc N Soul, Seoul, South Korea.
The store definitely has an Art Deco ambiance, with the entrance to the store appearing to look like a theater rather than a place to find a new read.
There are also several quirks. You’ll find a red phone box and amp post and some of the books stacked up in the shape of an arc around the wall similar to Cook & Book.
Also, if you don’t know Korean, they have English books.
4. Honesty Bookshop, Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
Operating on an honesty system at their store, instead of interacting with personnel, which is non-existent, you grab the books you want and deposit your money in the collection box.
The proceeds from the business will be used to restore Hay Castle. Hay-on-Wye, a little town with a population of about 1,500 people, has a thing for books, having over 40 bookstores.
The open-air shelves of books on the castle’s lower garden terrace is also beautiful.
5. The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles, California.
The quirky bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles is a strong contender for the greatest bookstore in Los Angeles. This small bookstore is housed inside a former bank and spans 22,000 square feet, including the original bank vault.
The Last Bookstore’s size and layout quickly draw attention to it, but it also has a creative flair that has made it instantly distinctive since its establishment in 2005.
These details range from a color-coded area of hardcovers to a covered tunnel made of old books and a display with volumes practically jumping off the shelves.
6. Shakespeare and Company, Paris, France.
Sleeping in a bookstore may be a bohemian dream for many book enthusiasts, but it has happened rather frequently in Shakespeare and Company on Paris’s Left Bank throughout the years.
When this English-language bookstore first opened in 1951, it was known as “Le Mistral.” However, in 1964, it was renamed Shakespeare and Company in honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth and a local bookstore of the same name that was forced to close during the war in 1941.
An earlier version of the store was a haven for young writers like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce, a tradition that its successor has continued by allowing aspiring writers, performers, and artists to sleep within the store.
7. Atlantis Books, Santorini, Greece.
Being very aquatic in appearance, the typical Santorini fashion of whitewashed, cubiform houses that cascade into freshwaters makes Atlantic Books a veritable treasure mine of books that seems endless.
You’ll enter the store from the street, where books fill every crevice of this cave-like house, pouring out onto the rooftop patio.
8. El Péndulo, Mexico City, Mexico.
El Péndulo, a chain of bookstores in Mexico City, has created several other locations of magnificent bookshops throughout the city. While we say bookstore, El Péndulo locations are a welcoming mix of bookshop, cafe, and restaurant, offering you plenty of reasons to stay.
Each store also has a healthy mix of hardwood furnishings and plant life.
9. Boekhandel Dominicanen, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
The bookstore is housed in a 13th-century Dominican church in Maastricht. After closing its doors in the 18th century, the old church fulfilled various uses, but book lovers will undoubtedly love its most recent use.
The church, which has been in operation since 2006, now has three-story bookcases to complement the frescoes that cover the vaulted ceiling.
Aside from its book selection, the store also has a coffee shop if you want to sit back and take in your surroundings.
10. CÄrtureÈti Carusel, Bucharest, Romania.
Located in the capital city and opening in 2015, CÄrtureÈti Carusel has captivated locals and visitors. This bookstore is housed within a massive structure and contains several well-built balconies that all gaze down on the wide-open center lobby.
Its curved balconies, metal railings, and abundance of windows combine to produce a Belle Epoque masterpiece that contributes to Bucharest’s claim to be the “Paris of the East.”
