I adore bookshops. I am the type of person who actually does what they call reading. So when I decided to go to Portugal, I knew I needed to make my way to the Livraria Lello bookshop in Porto. What I didn’t know was that it is more of an amusement park attraction than a bookshop.
When I arrived at Nice Way hostel, the woman who gave me the down low of Porto informed me where the bookstore was and that it was 5 euros to enter. During my first glimpse of the city, I walked past the shop and noticed there was a crazy line up so I decided to come back early the next day. I couldn’t see through the line where the tickets were sold but there is a shop on the corner of the same street where the bookshop is and a sign says Check In Levraria Lello.
entrance ticket to a bookstore
Tickets went on sale at 09:00 and the next day, I arrived at 08:40. The are two separate lines: one to enter the bookstore and one to buy tickets for the bookstore. The bookstore line at this point had maybe 20 people. The line I was in to get my ticket, I waited for about 45 minutes and when I emerged from the downstairs ticket sales I nearly pooped myself, the bookstore line was 200 people strong.
I walked to an employee and asked if I could use my ticket for the next morning and she said well it’s dated so technically no. She suggested coming back during lunchtime at 14:00. I came back at 13:30 because I am impatient and waited for about 45 minutes to get in.
Inside was pretty… I think. The staircase that inspired JK Rowling to have a moving staircase in Hogwarts is apparently inspired by the staircase in Lello. I say I think because I couldn’t exactly see much or get a good picture since the number of people on this ride was mental.
I was told beforehand at my hostel that there are English books in the shop. To my annoyance, there were maybe 3 semi-new contemporary lit books and about 10 small-format classics like Shakespeare and Peter Pan. These sold for the staggering price of 15.90 euros each.
The five euros you pay can go towards the purchase of a book but I just couldn’t justify it. When I was about to leave, I noticed a stand of self-made brochures about the bookshop which sold for 5 euros so I just got one of them before I left to make myself feel better for spending the 5 euros to enter. I later found out you can purchase tickets online so that was cool.
TIPS (what I should have done):
- Get your ticket/ voucher online before
- Arrive at 08:45 or 14:00 to wait in the bookshop lineup. Wait time should be around 45 minutes or less.
