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Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore tops the list of attractions in Porto. It has ranked in the top 10 book stores of the world constantly but reached its pinnacle in 2010 when the Lonely Planet crowned it as the Third best bookstore in the World.
Lets find out more about the famous book shop in Porto
Location of Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore
The Livraria Lello is located in the heart of Porto and a 10 minutes’ walk from the famous Sao Bento Railway station known for its Azulejo panels.
The entire building itself is quite beautiful with the colourful facade a perfect example of neo-gothic design.
Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore opened its doors in 1906 and has been a showcase for Portuguese literature. It was designed by Xavier Esteves an engineer who had a taste for literature.
The most impressive part of the famous book shop in Porto is the circular crimson wooden staircase.
The staircase forms the centerpiece of the store with its bright red stairs that take you up to the upper level.
The building has several intricately crafted stained glass windows that absolutely stand out when the sun rays pass through it. The interiors consists of ornate painted plaster with figures from Portuguese literature. It was the city’s first architectural structure to be built out of reinforced concrete.
There is a spectacular stained glass fitted to the ceiling which shines light down on the store and is absolutely stunning.
Inside the Livraria Lello
Once you enter the store it is like stepping into a wonderland of books. Rows of glass fronted cabinets filled with books from different languages but predominantly Portuguese.
There is a fair amount of books in the Livraria Lello in many languages including English and French.
Thanks to Instagram and social media the book store has become one of the most photographed places in Porto.
I must admit Livraria Lello – Porto’s beautiful book store is one of its kind.
You will certainly experience this if you were to enter the store with hordes of tourists getting their perfect pose.
Harry Potter Connection
There is another interesting aspect about this bookstore. It is believed that the famous author JK Rowling, wrote the first Harry Potter book inside this store. J.K Rowling was indeed a frequent customer to the bookstore when she lived in Porto from 1991 to 1993.
The bookstore’s neo-Gothic architecture does bear a striking resemblance to Hogwarts School of Wizardry. The description for Flourish and Blotts bookshop bears a striking resemblance to Livraria Lello.
There is a section dedicated to Harry Potter on the first floor and a glass cabinet enclosing some memorabilia’s and an autographed book by the author.
You can buy Harry Potter books in Livraria Lello.
There is a small coffee shop and store just around where you can enjoy a selection of cakes coffees and souvenirs. This is where you can also purchase your tickets to enter the book store.
Why do you need to buy tickets to enter Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore?
You will need to purchase a ticket to get into the store. As you can imagine becoming a top tourist attraction the shop attracted thousands of guests everyday but very little purchases. As a result there was a ticket system introduced.
Tickets to enter Livraria Lello
We purchased our tickets online, which I would suggest as you still have to queue up after you have the tickets to enter the store. Alternatively you can turn up and buy the tickets but be prepared to queue up.
You can exchange your ticket towards any purchases you make at the store. The bookstore sees 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day and can get very busy but still worth a visit.
It certainly carries on to cultivate a relationship with books in this modern world of digital media. I must admit that without a doubt Livraria Lello – The World’s most beautiful book store is a must visit place whilst you are in Porto.
Can you buy books in Livraria Lello? Yes you can purchase books in Livraria Lello
Kids reading @ Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore 
A short train journey from Porto is the capital Lisbon. Find out how to spend 2 Days in Lisbon and all it has to offer.
For more information, visit the Livraria Lello website.
Livraria Lello
Rua das Carmelitas 144
Porto
Phone: +351 222 002 037
Hours:
Monday through Friday – 10:00 to 19:30
Saturday and Sunday – 10:00 to 19:00
Ticket price to enter Livararia Lello: €5.00 which can be used towards your purchase in the store.
If you enjoyed reading about Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore, why not read about how you can spend 3 days in Porto.
What a great bookstore! I hadn’t heard of it before, but I’d love to visit. I haven’t been to a bookstore before that charges admission, but it’s neat that you can apply that amount to a purchase. We are hoping to travel to Porto within the next year or two, so I will definitely keep this beautiful bookstore in mind.
You must when you visit Porto. It’s strange to pay the entrance but then you can redeem it so ok.
What a quaint and stunning book store. Indeed you are lucky to visit it. Glad you take your kids to these enchanting places, they look so interested in books.
It’s a great place to visit for everyone. Kids did enjoy it tough.
For a bookworm like me, I have to go here! Thank you for sharing and writing this post. I never would have known this bookstore existed!
Well did think of you whilst writing this post. Hope you can visit it soon.
Wow! This is a bookstore?! This was my reaction when I read your title and saw the pictures. I have never come across a bookstore like this. And 4000-5000 visitors sounds crazy for a bookstore! I mean, nowadays, with the prevalence of digital media, only few people come to bookstores anymore. I for one, usually frequent bookstores and libraries as I love reading books, but when e-books came, my trips to bookstore become less and less. Livraria Lello looks really awesome! The place stirs up my imagination. It is indeed a wonderland. Book lovers would definitely fall in love with this place. Thank you for sharing this!
Indeed one of the most beautiful bookstore you can imagine with a great footfall Hope you can visit it one day being a book lover. Thanks.
This is a paradise for bookworms. I couldn’t believe if it is a book store or a Harry Potter series room. Your kids must have loved it.
It’s a great place to visit whether you live books or not
OMG! This is paradise. For a bookworm like me, I can imagine staying here the whole day and coming back again the next day. I would really love to visit in the future. Thank you for all the tips!
It’s definitely a place for a book worm like you. Hope you can visit soon
Wow, how gorgeous!
Thanks
I’m actaully very interested at Livraria Lello because I’m a book lover. Whenever I go to a new place, I always search for a bookstore to buy some more books to read. But I can also see that Livraria Lello is a very popular tourist destination based on the pictures, almost jam packed. Still, this won’t stop me from visiting when I finally got the chance to visit Porto. I also like the idea that there is a coffee shop just nearby, reading a book while having a coffee is a perfect combination for me!
Hope you can visit it being the book lover you are. It’s the perfect place for you.
The Livraria Lello is definitely a very beautiful bookstore. The intricate skyline and ornate woodwork are just two of the charming elements of this shop. I am shocked at how crowded it is! I suppose that it definitely is Instagram worthy, hence the great tourist appeal. Beautiful photos!
Thanks. Yes the crowds are driven by insta and not the love for books unfortunately
Wow … what a great book store. I am surprised to know that people pay to enter the store. In the instagram age, anything is possible. But I m stunned by the interior. It looks like a wonderland for sure. So beautiful. I m definitely going to visit it next.
Yes the things that insta makes people do these dats is stunning. At least it keeps the bookstore alive in this age of digital media.
Wow! This is one of the most beautiful bookstores I have seen. How opulent does this look?! I can definitely see where JK Rowling got all of her inspiration from. I feel like I am transported to Hogwarts myself when looking at these gorgeous photos. Thank you for sharing such a nice gem!
It’s is a fascinating bookstore and hope you can experience it one day.
Wow! This is my kind of bookshop! I love bookstores where you can just get lost and find books that you didn’t even know existed! Doesn’t surprise me that it gets so many visitors a day, amazing!
It’s indeed a place to get list amongst the books.
Holy cow, I love beautiful bookstores! This is a classic example of the power of social media – crazy how the store has to sell tickets to control the amount of visitors that it sees. I’d imagine it’s a good business move, especially if people only visit to get a few pictures. I had a friend visit, but she was one of the first people in the bookstore so she was able to get some pictures without gobs of others in the shot, and was able to make her purchase quickly. Guess that’s the way to go!
It is the power of social media. At least helps the bookstore keep going.
Wow this book store is really neat – the detail on the staircase and shelves are so ornate and beautiful! How cool that JK Rowling possibly wrote the first HP book in there – my daughter would love to visit for that very reason. I always love spending time in book stores but this one is at a whole new level – adding to my bucket list for when I visit the area!
It’s a beautiful place. Hope you can take your daughter there one day.
I’ve been to a couple of really beautiful bookstores in the world, including the Carturesti Carusel in Bucharest, but I’ve never been to or heard of a bookstore that you need to purchase a ticket to get into! Not sure how I feel about that, as I love going to bookstores for the peaceful and quiet ambiance where you can just curl up in a ball and zone into a book. Really smart move economically for them though!
It’s a great place and a clever move when your customers are there for the photo more than the books.
I confess that I read my books electronically now but I would absolutely go into this bookstore. If this is ranked as the 3rd most beautiful, I can’t imagine what the top 2 look like. I imagine people would hold weddings and parties here as well. A colleague held her wedding reception in a similar book store in the US. This is a book lover’s paradise!
Well that’s what made me happy when I visited this store, that in a works where digital media rules this still promotes the good old way of books.
Great and Very interesting
Thanks.
Thanks
Wow! It truly is beautiful! How many people do you think were there just to check it out, and how many actual customers? 🙂 When you mentioned Harry Potter, I remembered that I have in fact read about this place before. My husband is a huge Harry Potter fan, we will have to visit here someday.
A large % visit just for the photos the reason why they started Charing a small fee. Hope you can visit with your husband one day
I can see why it is considered as one of the most beautiful book stores in the world. It looks like a museum. The stairs are so beautiful and well-crafted to. I will definitely keep this in my Porto itinerary when I get a chance to visit the city.
It does look somewhat like a museum and not a store. You must visit it if in Porto
Even before I reached the Harry Potter section, I was sure the library at the magic school was inspired by this. The pictures are so stunning. From childhood, I have been so in awe of bookstores and libraries. On my wish list now!
It’s an absolute books lovers paradise. Hope you can visit soon
I have see so many posts about Porto but no one discussed about the Livraria Lello. This bookshop really looks worth and is truly a world’s most beautiful bookshop. The architecture of this building is great as it is neo-Gothic style. Also I would love to check out special Harry Potter’s section. It is really a photogenic place.
It’s a must visit plane when you are in Porto for sure. The Harry Potter connection is an added star to the store.
I just love interesting bookstores, especially those with incredible architecture like Livaria Lello! Plus it has the added benefit of a pop culture reference through J.K. Rowling’s writings. It’s easy to see why Rowling would chose such a place for inspiration! In an age when independent books stores are diminishing, kudos to their (likely profitable) ticketing system!
It’s a great place and a very clever marketing strategy so thumbs up. Hope you can visit one day.
[…] Livraria Lello – The World’s most beautiful book store. […]
Livraria Lello seems like a great place to visit. I love books and I read a lot so I think I’ll be able to enjoy this place. From countless bestsellers to new editions of trendy books, I can see them here. It’s a book heaven for me! Great photos! I’m sure I’ll visit this soon.
Hope you can visit it soon it’s a book lovers paradise.
I’m going to Porto solely to see Livraria Lello! First off, I am a bookworm and this is a book lover’s nirvana. Two, it beauty astounds me. The Harry Potter section is right up my alley #PotterHead. Love this place!
It’s s great for book lovers and hope you can visit it soon.
[…] Livraria Lello – The World’s most beautiful book store. […]
[…] Livraria Lello – Porto’s famous bookstore […]
[…] of the most popular things to do in Porto is to visit the bookshop named Livraria Lello. It is a huge draw for Harry Potter lovers especially because of how much it inspired J.K. Rowling […]
I might just visit this book store because of the Harry Potter collection! Amazing!
I too try to visit the famous bookstores of the places I have been to! Even though I have been to too many places till now, the most remarkable bookstore remains a small one in Krabi – owned by a very old cat-lady!
It’s beautiful and great to visit if you a Harry Potter fan.
This bookstore seems like a surprise.. I was surprised when I started to read this post. And I was surprised because more than a book store, it looked like a historical place with so many tourists.. By the time I finished this, I found that my idea was not wrong. Really looks like a Mecca for voracious readers. I must say, now it’s in my must visit places list.
It’s a astonishing plane and a book lovers paradise