7 most famous bookstores in the world every bibliophile should visit

Stepping into a dusty old bookstore full of classic books, lesser-known novels, and first editions is a dream of every bibliophile. After all, how many times have we imagined going to such a place and finding a treasure trove of ancient books! Though this fantasy of ours seems to be a bit far-fetched, we have some consolation for you. Here are the seven most famous bookstores in the world every bibliophile should visit in their lifetime.

Shakespeare and Company is an iconic English-language bookstore opened in 1951 by George Whitman, located on Paris' Left Bank. The store was named after Sylvia Beach's bookstore of the same name founded in 1919 on the Left Bank, which closed in 1941. For the unversed, Sylvia Beach was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and II. She is known for her Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, where she published James Joyce's controversial book, 'Ulysses' (1922), and encouraged the publication of and sold copies of Hemingway's first book, 'Three Stories and Ten Poems' (1923).

Pic credit: Wikipedia

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is a bookshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2008, The Guardian placed it as the second most beautiful bookshop in the world. This bookstore started as a theater in 1919 and was eventually transformed into a stunning bookstore in 2000. Plus, the space is massive. It holds more than 1,20,000 books!

Pic credit: Wikipedia

It is one of the oldest bookstores in Portugal and is frequently rated among the top bookstores in the world. Opened in 1906, this neo-gothic bookstore features a breathtaking stained-glass skylight and bronze reliefs of literary figures, carved into the wooden bookshelves lined with leather-bound books. The bookstore is even rumored to have inspired J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts in Harry Potter!

Pic credit: Wikipedia

The Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 828 Broadway, at the corner of East 12th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, two blocks south of Union Square. It was founded in 1927 by a Lithuanian immigrant named Benjamin Bass. The Strand was then located on Fourth Avenue, which had at the time 48 bookstores, in what was known as "Book Row", which was established as early as 1890. In 1956, Fred Bass, Benjamin’s son, took over bookstore operations, and the next year, he moved the store to its current location.

Pic credit: Wikipedia

The self-proclaimed “most beautiful bookstore in the world” was founded by Luigi Frizzo in 2004. It is composed of several over-stuffed rooms stacked wall-to-wall with books, magazines, and maps. Due to Venice’s constant flooding, however, these piles are all placed inside bathtubs, waterproof bins, and in one room a full-size gondola! The name itself even means “Book Store of High Water.”

Pic credit: Venice Tourism

Badly neglected for much of the past 200 years, the 13th-century church was transformed into a bookstore by Amsterdam-based architects Merkx+Girod. The building, which dates from 1294, now houses a three-storey bookshelf complete with staircases, elevators, and walkways.

Pic credit: Selexyz Dominicanen/Instagram

The bookstore was opened by two American undergrads who went to Santorini but soon ran out of reading material. After they realized there was no bookstore on the island, they enlisted a few partners, built their bookshelves out of salvaged wood! It overlooks the Aegean sea and is filled with novels, poetry, short-story collections, and biographies.

Pic credit: Atlantis Books/Facebook