Google Maps reveals the world’s most searched bookstore in 2025 — and it’s also the most beautiful

Step inside the world’s most searched — and most beautiful — bookstore: Livraria Lello in Porto. (Image: Livraria Lello)

There are places that travellers search for food, adventure, culture, or hidden gems — and then there are places that readers seek out simply because they feel like magic. Bookstores fall firmly into that second category. They are sanctuaries of paper and ink, places where stories breathe, and where the world briefly slows down. And if there’s one tool readers use to find these treasures, it’s Google Maps.

Each year, Google Maps analyses millions of global searches to uncover the travel spots people can’t stop looking up. In 2025, among all the literary havens scattered across the world — from Buenos Aires to Tokyo, New York to London — one bookstore outshone the rest.

And the most searched bookstore in the world for 2025 is Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal — also widely hailed as the most beautiful bookstore on Earth.

(File Image: Livraria Lello)

A Bookstore So Beautiful It Feels Unreal

Stepping into Livraria Lello feels less like walking into a shop and more like entering a dream sequence from a cinematic fantasy. Housed in a neo-Gothic building dating back to 1906, its façade may seem unassuming — but beyond the doors lies a universe of deep crimson staircases, carved wooden arches, stained-glass ceilings, and book-lined balconies that seem to float mid-air.

The architectural showstopper is the sweeping, split central staircase — painted a dramatic red and curling upward like a ribbon of velvet. Above it glows a large stained-glass skylight crafted by Dutch master Samuel Van Krieken, bathing the store in soft natural light that makes every corner photogenic.

Over the past 118 years, Lello has been more than a shop. It has been a gathering place for poets, authors, academics, and thinkers — a space where Portugal’s literary spirit has thrived. Along with Bertrand Bookstore in Lisbon, it remains one of the oldest and most iconic bookstores in the country.

More Than a Pretty Space: A Treasure Chest of Rare Books

Beyond its breathtaking layers of design, Livraria Lello is also home to an extraordinary collection of rare books and historic objects. Access is by appointment only, adding an air of exclusivity to the experience. The “rarities room,” filled with antique editions and collectible volumes, is a paradise for bibliophiles.

(File Image: Livraria Lello)

Temporary exhibitions, engaging window displays, and curated reading spaces turn every visit into something new — even if you’re not planning to buy a book (though resisting the urge is nearly impossible).

The World’s Top 10 Most Searched Bookstores in 2025

According to Google Maps data, these are the literary icons travellers worldwide are searching for the most:

1. Livraria Lello — Porto, Portugal

2. Animate Ikebukuro Main Store — Tokyo, Japan

3. El Ateneo Grand Splendid — Buenos Aires, Argentina

4. Shakespeare and Company — Paris, France

5. Libreria Acqua Alta — Venice, Italy

6. Animate Osaka Nipponbashi — Osaka, Japan

7. Tsutaya Books Daikanyama — Tokyo, Japan

8. Forbidden Planet Megastore — London, United Kingdom

9. Powell’s City of Books — Portland, Oregon, USA

10. Strand Book Store — New York City, USA

From grand theatres transformed into reading temples to manga megastores humming with energy, this list shows that book culture is very much alive — and global.

(File Image: Livraria Lello)

Why Livraria Lello Tops the List

The answer is part architecture, part nostalgia, and part pure travel romance. Livraria Lello doesn’t just sell books. It sells an emotion — the feeling of wandering into a story you’ve loved all your life.

For travellers headed to Porto, it is now an unmissable stop. And for book lovers worldwide, it’s become a pilgrimage.