6 Bookstores in Lisbon Worth Visiting

Another installment of my most self-indulgent series

View from our hotel room in Lisbon. A dream I tell you!!!

About a month ago, I had the great pleasure of taking a two-week vacation in Portugal. We visited Lisbon, Lagos, Évora, and Madeira, all of which were lovely and special in their own unique ways. While I could write several pieces about each place, you and I both know this is a book newsletter, so that’s what we’re gonna focus on.

I love books, and I love to travel. I’ve found that, when in a new place, seeking out bookstores is a great way to see different parts of the city, discover hidden neighborhood gems. Bookstores are usually in cute areas that have a lot going on around them, so you’re bound to stumble across other boutiques, coffee shops, and restaurants that you might not have otherwise discovered.

Not to mention, my lifelong buy more books hack always goes into effect while traveling – buy books from a foreign bookstore, write the city/country/date on the inside cover, and voilà! You’ve got yourself a souvenir!

While in Lisbon, I visited 6 bookstores, all of which were wonderful, though of course, some were more enticing to me than others. Huge thank you to

Marta Carvalho

and her excellent guide to Lisbon post, which is where I discovered most of these gems and got many other great recs for shopping, food, drinks, and destinations throughout her beautiful city. Sadly, I didn’t make it to every bookstore on her list – next time. Let’s get into it!

Livraria Bertrand – Chiado

I stumbled across this bookstore the day we landed, while tooling around the city and getting a feel for things. I recognized the name from my travel planning, and quickly realized that this was a great one to stumble across, as it’s THE OLDEST BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD!??!? Insane. We are not worthy.

Livraria Bertrand was started in 1732 by Pierre Bertrand, a French expatriate, and his brother, Jean Joseph. The bookstore has changed locations once in its storied history, due to an earthquake that destroyed the store, but has been in its current location, in the Chiado neighborhood, since 1755.

Loved its gorgeous tile exterior as well

With vaulted ceilings, stone walls, and a long, tunnel-like main through-passage, this store feels like you’ve entered some sort of underground book vault – it’s tomb-like, perhaps more mausoleum-like, but one that lets light in due to its grand windows lining its walls. At the very back of the store is a small cafe, so you can enjoy a coffee while you browse. It’s a lovely respite from the bustling, crowded street it inhabits.

Livraria Ler Devager

This was the second bookstore we visited and probably my favorite, mostly because it felt like the real-life manifestation of my childhood (now adult) dream of having a massive room with floor-to-ceiling books, requiring several stories and ladders to access all its riches. It’s one of those places you walk in and just have to sort of stand there for a second, taking it all in.

bury me here

While it’s had several different homes and iterations, Ler Devagar currently resides in a shop inside the LX factory, which is filled with other shops and restaurants – some genuinely cool, some very “instagram-y,” if you catch my drift. It’s a little touristy, sure, but this bookstore alone made it worth it. In its home in LX Factory, Ler Devager boasts 4 stories, 14-meter ceilings, and, according to their website, a collection of over 40,000 new titles and nearly 10,000 used. I believe it. According to numerous sources, it was voted among the ranks of the world’s 20 most beautiful bookstores, though I struggled to track down the primary source behind this.

The dream

Regardless, this place is really something special. I could have spent hours in this joint, and I wish I had. They also have a cafe and are active in the local literary community, sponsoring festivals and the building of more bookstores throughout the city. Here, I picked up The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (which I discussed in my last post) and Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. My husband picked up a copy of Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, which he said was great.

Livraria da Travessa

If Ler Devager was the coolest, this one was runner-up. The vibe was immaculate, as was the inventory. It reminded me of a European (read: cooler, chiller) version of McNally Jackson Soho, with dark blue walls, artful displays, and a moody vibe. It was extremely well-curated, with an emphasis on fiction, art, photography, architecture, and international works. It also offers a beautiful selection of stationery, notebooks, and the like. Looking at the below photo, I’m kicking myself for not grabbing a tote, so don’t make the same mistake I did.

My only complaint here was that there wasn’t more of an English selection, which, I know, my ugly American-ness is showing. But I wanted to buy books from them, OK!!! And, unfortunately, I cannot read (or speak, or write) Portuguese!!! A travesty.

Livraria da Travessa started in Brazil in 1975, and has since grown to 14 stores, with only one abroad – in Lisbon!! I also loved the neighborhood this was in, which was quaint and charming, and right next door to the botanical garden of Lisbon, which is lovely to stroll through.

Livraria Buchholz

Another fucking stunner of a bookstore, If I do say so myself. And another bookstore with a history. Buchholz has been around for 80 years, founded in 1943 by a German man named Karl Buchholz, and is known for its commitment to literature, music, art, and a gallery space downstairs. They regularly host literary events like readings, book launches, and wine tastings.

A wall of the downstairs gallery

It’s really a stunning space, with 4 floors of books encased in immaculate wooden shelves, polished wooden floors with sprawling display tables, cozy tucked-away corners with broken-in armchairs for curling up with your new books, and a quiet gallery space downstairs – all connected through the center by an iron spiral staircase.

Stunning covers I wish I had purchased!!!

We didn’t spend a ton of time here, probably because it had the smallest English section of all that I visited, but alas. Not everything is for everyone. The beauty of the place alone, though, is worth the visit. I also happened upon many stunning international covers of books I love that I hadn’t seen before, which is one of my favorite parts of book shopping abroad.

Good Company Books

This one was so great! It was a ways away from us, as we were staying in the Alfama neighborhood, but worth the trip (and Ubers are quite inexpensive!) Good Company is an English language bookstore in the stylish Avenidas Novas neighborhood. They also have a beautiful cafe space and, in the evenings, a bar, with a delightful selection of natural wines.

Started by a young couple, the shop is small but mighty – and features a stunning, inviting aesthetic, designed by a Lisbon-based architecture and design studio, Studio Pim. Despite its smallness, they have a wide range of eclectic titles across genres – I was consistently charmed by perusing the shelves and discovering little-known titles, small publishers, niche memoirs, and many beloved but less-than-mainstream writers. The shop prides itself on not only serving as a literary space, but a community space – hosting book clubs, readings, open mic nights, and more.

It was here that I grabbed a copy of A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, which I loved (and wrote about in my last post). Not to mention, I really had no choice because the EU cover is so much better than the US version. I loved this bookstore and I would recommend adding it to your must-see list in Lisbon if you are literary-inclined.

Under the Cover

Kind of a bonus since this isn’t actually a bookstore but a magazine store, but it was one of the highlights of this bunch. Originally, I wasn’t sure we’d stop by this one, since I’m not a huge magazine type bitch, but my GOD was I glad I stopped in here. I feel like low expectations always make for a surprisingly kick-ass experience, and that was kind of what happened here.

Under the Cover is an unassuming, small shop that offers funky and refreshing magazines and books – don’t come in here looking for the latest issue of Vogue. But you can find other esoteric publications, on every topic from slow living to gay fashion, mountaineering to mushrooms, vintage design to garden architecture, they truly have something for everyone. And while their titles feature a range of subjects and subcultures, they are united by the fact that they all focus on creativity and culture.

They carry 200+ independently published magazines from around the world, with English and bilingual titles. I had such a hard time choosing a magazine – I wanted to spend time with each one of them in my hands, sifting through the glossy pages. Each one felt purposeful and interesting, offering something I had never encountered before. We ended up with an issue of Apartamento and the first-ever issue of New Mountain Magazine for my brother. I wish I had gotten a copy of Flow, a magazine on intentional and creative living. Sigh.

The shop is located across the street from the Gulbenkian Garden (which I HIGHLY recommend strolling through if the weather is nice). The destination is quiet, flanked by coffee shops, and was an intentional choice. “We will not trade this for a high-street shop. We want to provide an environment that offers ease – our magazines are an invitation to slow down,” says the owner. Take their advice and slow down for a moment at Under the Cover. You will undoubtedly find something to captivate you.

That’s all she wrote! Obviously, there are many more bookstores in Lisbon that I’m sure are excellent. Have you been to any of these? Any I missed that you’d recommend? Tell me in the comments!

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📚Recently finished:

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The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala. I was extremely lucky to get an ARC of this, and all I can say is that this is La Sala’s best work. I was RAPT reading this – the characters, the plot, the descriptions – all of it, exceptional. Cannot believe I’m going to have to wait over a YEAR for book two!!!

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Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami. Truly so weird that it was hard to relate to. I love weird books, but these stories were so strange as to be almost incoherent. Good writing, but didn’t resonate with me.