Feeling the love in the air this February? Check out our curated list of 19 libraries, bookstores, book cafés, and book hotels that give off a romantic vibe.
Love is in the air this month—and that means for book lovers too.
Admont Abbey Library — Austria
You don’t get much more romantic than a Disney movie, and this particular library inspired a scene in one of the studio’s most beloved classics: Beauty and the Beast. More specifically, animators based the design of the Beast’s library on Admont Abbey.
It’s easy to see why, too. Not only is it one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, its pearly white bookcases and intricate architecture give it a transcendent air, making it feel truly sacred.
Address: Kirchplatz 1, 8911 Admont, Austria
Opening hours (for 2026):
March 19 to May & October to December 13
– Wednesday to Sunday: 10:30AM – 3:30PM
– Monday & Tuesday: Closed
June to September
– Tuesday to Sunday: 10AM – 5PM
– Monday: Closed
January 2 to March 18
– Closed to individual visitors; groups and special program reservations only.
Trinity College Library Dublin — Ireland
The Long Room in the Trinity College Library, meanwhile, offers a more sophisticated and elegant sort of beauty. It was built three centuries ago and remains the longest single-chamber library at over 65 meters (213 feet). You can learn more about the library here, where we offer an in-depth peek into its history.
While the books are currently removed from the shelves as the Long Room undergoes major restoration, it’s still open to visitors who want to admire the architecture and this living piece of history.
Address: Old Library, College Green, South-East Inner City, Dublin 2, D02 VR66, Ireland
Opening hours:
– Monday: 9:30AM – 4:30PM
– Tuesday to Saturday: 9:30AM – 5PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 5PM
George Peabody Library — USA
Don’t let the moniker of “research library” fool you into thinking this place is stuffy—far from it! The George Peabody Library is renowned as a “cathedral of books,” with a soaring 61‑foot atrium and five tiers of cast‑iron balconies. It’s both beautiful and spacious, so much so that it’s often used as a wedding venue.
Opened in 1878 as part of the Peabody Institute, it now forms part of Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries. It has a collection of about 300,000 mainly 19th‑century volumes, with a focus on religion, history, architecture, and the history of science.
Address: 17 E Mt Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202
Opening hours:
– Monday to Thursday: 10AM – 5PM
– Friday to Sunday: Closed
New York Public Library (Stephen A. Schwarzman) — USA
Speaking of libraries where you can get married, the Stephen A. Schwarzman building also fits that bill. And since it doubles as one of the Big Apple’s most notable landmarks, it’s also a pretty iconic place to tie the knot. Can’t get much more romantic than that!
Though its Beaux-Arts design is outwardly austere, it has some truly gorgeous interiors, the most famous being the Rose Main Room. The intricate detailing on the ceiling underwent some notable restorations, meaning that it’s more lovely and vibrant than ever.
Address: 476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018, United States
Opening hours:
– Monday & Thursday to Saturday: 10AM – 6PM
– Tuesday & Wednesday: 10AM – 8PM
– Sunday: 1PM – 5PM
State Library Victoria — Australia
Add this to the list of potential wedding venues. Opened in 1856, the State Library of Victoria is one of the first free libraries in the world, as well as Australia’s oldest public library. Designed in Neoclassical style, it has loads of stunning rooms that are well worth a visit, even if you’re not interested in borrowing a book.
Its most iconic room is, of course, the La Trobe Reading Room, which has a hexagonal shape and stretches up across multiple floors.
Address: 328 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours:
– Monday to Sunday: 10AM – 6PM
State Library of South Australia — Australia
The State Library of South Australia is both a reference and research library and an important cultural institution. It’s actually a collection of multiple buildings: the 1861 Institute Building, the ornate French Renaissance Mortlock Wing (opened 1884), and the modern glass-fronted Spence Wing, completed in 2003.
Each building has its own charms, from the sophisticated galleries and wrought-iron balcony railings in Mortlock to the sleek, modern design of the Spence Wing.
Address: North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
Opening hours:
Note: Different buildings have different opening hours. Below are for the Mortlock Chamber and Spence Foyer.
– Monday & Wednesday to Friday: 9AM – 5PM
– Tuesday: 9AM – 7PM
– Saturday & Sunday: 12PM – 5PM
Shakespeare and Company — France
Here’s a bookstore that’s almost as famous as the playwright it’s named after. Shakespeare and Company has made a name for itself as a reliable source of high-quality English-language literature in the heart of Paris, France.
It also has a café that sources both its baked goods and coffee from local businesses, so you know you’re contributing to the prosperity of small, independent stores by stopping here for a bite.
Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France
Opening hours:
Bookstore
– Monday to Saturday: 10AM – 8PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 7PM
Café
– Monday to Sunday: 9AM – 7PM
Cărturești Carusel — Romania
Set in a restored early‑20th‑century former bank, Cărturești Carusel is a six-level bookstore opened in 2015 by the Cărturești chain. It features a spacious central atrium, white spiral staircases, and a top-floor bistro, and is massively Instagrammable. It honestly looks more like a fairy tale palace than a bookstore.
Its collection holds tens of thousands of books, DVDs, games, and more. The cherry on top is the bistro, which has some excellent coffee, cocktails, and even vegan options.
Address: Strada Lipscani 55, București 030033, Romania
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 9AM – 8PM
– Saturday & Sunday: 10AM – 6PM
El Ateneo Grand Splendid — Argentina
Cărturești isn’t the only bookstore/café that looks like it came out of a storybook, and being set in a century-old theater only adds to El Ateneo Grand Splendid’s charms. It’s been deemed one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world by National Geographic, The Guardian, and 1000 Libraries’ own readership.
With its sweeping architecture and opera house-esque viewing boxes-turned-reading nooks, it’s a grand place to look for a new book (English or Spanish) or enjoy a break in the coffee shop set on the theater’s stage.
Address: Av. Sta. Fe 1860, C1123 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 9AM – 9PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 9PM
Word on the Water — UK
Word on the Water is currently moored on Regent’s Canal at Granary Square, but it started off floating down the canal where it pleased. And while having a traveling bookstore is a bit more whimsical, having one that is reliably in the same place every time you want to visit is a tad more convenient.
Filled with both new and used books, this wooden barge has a healthy dose of house plants to brighten the interior. It also regularly hosts events such as live music, poetry readings, and more.
Address: Regent’s Canal Towpath, London N1C 4LW, United Kingdom
Opening hours:
– Monday to Sunday: 12PM – 7PM
Librairie Jousseaume — France
Situated in the Galerie Vivienne, Librairie Jousseaume is an antiquarian bookstore where you can find—you guessed—secondhand books, including many rare and antique editions. It has an old-world sort of vibe, like walking into a replica of a grandfatherly scholar’s study.
It’s very fitting, since the owner is also the scholarly sort, knowing the books on the shelves like the back of his hand. Outside the shop, you can often see tables set up with even more books, plus several racks of postcards that can make for a fun buy if you can’t read the French that makes up most of the collection.
Address: 45-46-47 Gal Vivienne, 75002 Paris, France
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 11AM – 7PM
– Sunday: Closed
Daunt Books — UK
Daunt Books is a bookstore chain, and its flagship store in Marylebone is lovely in its classical elegance. Lined with oak, complemented by both pastel and vivid greens, walking along its long gallery almost gives the impression of a stroll through a park. That effect is only doubled with the skylight letting in plenty of natural light.
It has a unique way of organizing books, arranging them by country as a way to sort of take visitors on a journey around the world. It’s a fun concept that encourages discovery across cultures, eliminating the boundaries that keep us separate.
Address: 84 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4QW, United Kingdom
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 9AM – 8PM
– Sunday: 11AM – 6PM
Minoa Pera — Turkey
Spread across two floors, Minoa Pera isn’t just a bookshop, but a café serving pastries and coffee, hailed as the most beautiful book café in the world by the 1000 Libraries community. It is also very atmospheric, with warm lighting and books slotted into creative spaces—the most notable of which is the staircase, where each step is a shelf filled with the colorful spines of countless volumes.
Its collection offers over 60,000 Turkish and English books across a variety of genres and subjects. This store was even voted Bookstore of the Year at the London Book Fair in 2023.
Address: Evliya Çelebi, Meşrutiyet Cd. No:99, 34430 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye
Opening hours:
– Sunday to Thursday: 8AM – 11PM
– Friday & Saturday: 8AM – 12AM
Cafebreria El Pendulo Polanco — Mexico
Cafebrería El Péndulo Polanco is a lush, multi‑level bookstore and café located in Mexico City’s upscale Polanco neighborhood, combining shelves of Spanish and some English titles with a full restaurant and bar.
With plants hanging from shelves and filling up the airspace, this store blends naturalism with modernism. The wicker chairs of its café perfectly match up with the vibe, and help to create one of the most lively and energetic places you can go to buy a book and/or eat.
Address: Alejandro Dumas 81, Polanco, Polanco IV Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 8AM – 22PM
– Sunday: 9AM – 10PM
The Used Book Café at Merci — France
This book café is designed to give guests a space of quiet study and repose. Seating is simple, placed alongside a long bookcase, from which people are welcome to browse and read while here. Most of the collection is in French (this is Paris, after all), but there’s a neat little English section perfect for travelers.
The menu has many delicious and refreshing options, including avocado toast, carrot cake, and the soup of the day (particularly the pumpkin soup).
Address: 111 Bd Beaumarchais, 75003 Paris, France
Opening hours:
– Monday to Sunday: 10AM – 7PM
Maison Assouline — UK
Both elegant and luxurious, it’s rather fitting that Maison Assouline is housed in a former place of wealth, like a bank. Though its most popular items consist of the shop’s coffee table books, they have plenty of other titles on display. Most of the collection focuses on travel, fashion, and art in all its forms.
Also contained within the building is the Swans Bar, a high-class café/bar complete with cocktails, coffee, and light meals.
Address: 196A Piccadilly, London W1J 9EY, United Kingdom
Opening hours:
Bookstore
– Monday to Wednesday: 10AM – 7PM
– Thursday to Saturday: 10:30AM – 9PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 6PM
Swans Bar
– Monday to Wednesday: 12PM – 9PM
– Thursday to Saturday: 12PM – 11PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 6PM
B2 Hotel Zürich — Switzerland
B2 Hotel Zürich knows how to make a fashionable entrance, mixing the industrial design of the former brewery it’s housed in with modern design and convenience.
While not a literary hotel per se, it’s a place most bibliophiles will find themselves at home thanks to a library/meeting space filled with thousands of books. It has an atmosphere that’s distinctive but sophisticated, topped off with a beer bottle chandelier in homage to the hotel’s origins.
Address: Brandschenkestrasse 152, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland
Opening hours:
– Check-in time: 3PM
– Check-out time: 11AM
The Literary Man Óbidos Hotel — Portugal
For a true literary hotel—one specifically designed to live and breathe books—look no further than the Literary Man Óbidos Hotel in the book town of Óbidos itself. Seated in a 19th-century convent, there are literally tens of thousands of books lining almost every inch of available shelf space, plus quite a few other places where there are no shelves.
This hotel doesn’t play favorites with genres or languages, so you’re sure to stumble upon a new favorite read. And that’s not even counting the literary-themed restaurant that only adds to the place’s charm.
Address: d’Ornelas Edifício The Literary Man Óbidos Hotel, R. Dom João de Ornelas, 2510-074 Óbidos, Portugal
Opening hours:
– Check-in time: 3PM
– Check-out time: 12PM
Book Park Lounge — South Korea
South Korea injects creative design into its literary spaces like no other country in the world, and that talent can be readily seen in Book Park Lounge. This book café sits on the third floor of the Blue Square cultural complex, with its most defining feature being a massive bookshelf in a wide stairwell stretching across several floors.
The lounge offers a paid day‑use reading lounge: for a one‑day ticket, visitors get unlimited time amid extensive shelves, varied seating, and one complimentary café drink. Though surrounded by unique and fascinating design elements, it creates a calm and peaceful mood.
Address: Blue Square 3F, 294 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea
Opening hours:
– Tuesday to Sunday: 11:30AM – 9PM
– Monday: Closed
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K Lou
K. Lou is a writer born in the U.S. who found her way to Japan through a spiritual calling—or, more precisely, better access to tea. She writes about travel, culture, and the occasional creative piece, inspired by her enduring love of books. This love began in high school when K. Lou carried books around to avoid seeming odd while lost in thought. Once she started reading, she never stopped. With zero regrets, she continues to explore the written word and invites others to join her in celebrating its varied forms.
