El Ateneo Grand Splendid (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Every bookstore is beautiful in its own way, because each one contains books, booksellers, and book lovers; it’s the great reading trifecta. However, some bookstores are, objectively speaking, more beautiful than others, at least architecturally and aesthetically. Without slighting any other bookstores in any way, the following are without question the most beautiful in the world and indispensable stops for the literary-minded traveler.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Any list of the world’s most beautiful bookstores must begin in the world’s most bookish city. With over 730 bookstores serving its 2.8 million residents (that’s 25 bookstores for every 100,000 people), Buenos Aires, Argentina is home to far more than just the tango, Evita, and a former bouncer who became pope. It is also home to one of the most beautiful bookstores you’ll find anywhere: El Ateneo Grand Splendid.

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Originally built in 1919 and having former lives as a performing arts theater and a cinema before being transformed into a bookstore, it is something out of a bibliophile’s dream. The 22,000 square foot space retains the feel of that early 20th century theater, right down to the original theater boxes. The cinema seating was removed and replaced with bookshelves, but the ornate carvings, crimson stage curtains, ceiling paintings, and auditorium lighting all remain. Named the world’s most beautiful bookstore by National Geographic in 2019, more than one million people visit this literary palace every year.

Shakespeare and Company, Paris (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Our next bookstore is, visually at least, the polar opposite of the Grand Splendid. Found in another very bookish city, Paris’s Shakespeare and Company is an example of beautiful chaos. Jam-packed with books and still featuring bunks in the alcoves for visiting writers to crash on, it is one of the most historic bookstores in the world. The original Shakespeare and Company was founded by Sylvia Beach in 1919; the current shop was opened in 1951 by George Whitman, and is run today by his daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman. From its location on the Seine across from Notre Dame to the feeling you’ve stepped through a literary looking glass upon entering, it is a must-see for any book lover.

Livraria Lello, Porto (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

No list of the world’s most beautiful bookstores would be complete without Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal. This magnificent bookshop is not modest about their beauty; they call themselves the most beautiful bookstore in the world on their own website. One of the oldest bookstores in Portugal, they first opened in 1881 and feature pinnacles on their facade, stained glass windows, a massive stained glass skylight, and a forked staircase connecting the first floor gallery to the second floor.

The store is so breathtaking that it is rumored to be J.K. Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. Since Rowling did live in Porto in the early 1990s and frequently visited Livraria Lello, this is one rumor that may actually be true. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bookstore saw roughly 5,000 visitors every day.

Bookstore Dominicanen, Maastricht (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

The next bookshop on this list is the Bookstore Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands. This awe-inspiring bookstore occupies a 700 year old space that was once a Catholic church, a Dominican church to be exact, and thus the name. Opened in 1294, the church remained a consecrated space until 1796; it later functioned as stables, an exhibition space, and finally a bookstore. The church’s stained glass windows, frescoes, and vaults remain, as well as the oldest known wall painting depicting the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, himself a Dominican, from 1337. The old choir loft is now a coffee house with an excellent view of the entire interior and its roughly 50,000 books. Borges said he always imagined Paradise would be a kind of library; Bookstore Dominicanen may be as close to that as you’ll ever get.

John K. King Books, Detroit (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

Our final bookstore proves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this case mine. An abandoned glove factory in Detroit’s downtrodden industrial district may not seem all that beautiful, and from the outside, frankly, it’s not. But inside, John K. King Used and Rare Books houses over one million used and rare books, and for a book lover it doesn’t get much more beautiful than that. The four floors and basement are filled beyond capacity, and as they are only now starting to catalogue the books into a database (a process that will take years, as John King prefers the old ways), you can discover gem after gem in this, yes, beautiful bookstore.

So as we slowly move back into something resembling normal life, be sure to include these five beautiful bookstores in your travel plans. For now, like the stories they contain, we can always visit them in our dreams.