For bibliophiles, travel isn’t just about seeing new places. It’s also about discovering hidden bookshops and public libraries. It’s also about cities where literary history lives and breathes. Wouldn’t you want to be in a place where everyone is a reader, too? Today, we’re bringing you the 7 places that offer paradise for every book lover.
7. Kolkata (Calcutta), India
Kolkata is a prominent book town in India, thanks to College Street. It’s actually recognized as the largest secondhand book market in the world. In College Street, you’ll find rows of bookstalls where you get to score rare first editions to contemporary bestsellers at cheap prices. The area surrounds Presidency University, which has been the center of intellectual and literary activity in the country. You’ll also find numerous publishing houses of Bengali literature.
6. Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh was actually designated the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004. Their literary heritage features Sir Walter Scott to J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series. Head over to The Writers’ Museum, which celebrates Scotland’s literary geniuses like Robert Burns and Walter Scott. Time your visit to August to attend the Edinburgh International Book Festival, held annually. The festival attracts hundreds of authors and book lovers from around the world.
5. Boston, USA
Boston got its bookish reputation from their 30+ universities and colleges, including Harvard and MIT. There’s also the Boston Public Library, founded in 1848 and becoming the country’s first large free public library. Don’t forget to pay a visit to The Old Corner Bookstore, which is the oldest commercial bookstore in Boston. It’s a popular hangout for authors like Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. There’s also the Brattle Book Shop, which is one of the oldest bookstores in the US, and Raven Used Books for secondhand and rare selections.
4. Paris, France
We can’t complete the list without Paris, which is rich in literary history. Many salons held in Gertrude Stein’s house actually allowed influential writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. There’s also the iconic gathering place of writers, Shakespeare and Company, which is an English-language bookstore on the Left Bank. Pay a visit to the city’s literary cafés like Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, where Sartre and Beauvoir philosophized over coffee.
3. London, England
London’s literary heritage can be traced to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to Sherlock Holmes’s 221B Baker Street. We can’t miss the Bloomsbury Group and the preserved home of Charles Dickens! If you want to grab a book as memorabilia, head over to the secondhand shops in Notting Hill. You can also take literary walking tours in neighborhoods immortalized by Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde, among other literary greats.
2. Buenos Aires, Argentina
If an old bookstore is your idea of relaxation, then Buenos Aires is the place to be. The city boasts more bookshops per resident than any other city in the world. Aside from their bookstores, you can also visit their bookish cafes, outdoor book markets, or attend their annual book fair. The El Ateneo Grand Splendid is a renovated theater that was voted as the second most beautiful bookshop in the world by The Guardian in 2015. It was actually built in 1919, but it still has its fresco paintings on the ceiling.
1. New York City, USA
The New York Times Bestseller label printed on your books is one of the reasons that you need to add the city to your bucket list. The city is home to numerous great publishing houses, like the New York City Public Library, and independent bookstores that will keep you strolling for days. The Morgan Library also houses collections of historical records, rare books, drawings, music, and art. Discover the city’s literary landmarks like the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage and The Great Gatsby’s Plaza Hotel.