The Best Bookshops in Lisbon, Including the Oldest Bookshop in the World

You could spend your Lisbon trip sprinting between monuments with a step counter and a color-coded list, and some people truly love that (I respect them from a distance). Or you could wander between bookshops, cafés and viewpoints and let the city come to you slowly, the way it wants to. I know exactly which kind of traveler I am, and if you’re the same kind, this is the Lisbon bookshop guide I wish someone had handed me.

Livraria Bertrand in Chiado: the oldest bookshop in the world

Start here. Livraria Bertrand, on a corner in the elegant Chiado neighborhood, opened in 1732 and is recognized as the oldest operating bookshop in the world, a fact that alone made me a little emotional standing in the doorway. Think of all the people who have browsed those shelves, and all the books they bought for someone they loved!

Inside, it’s beautiful and a little old-fashioned, with tiled details, wooden shelves and a small café where you can sit with your new purchase, and there’s an English section, too. Buy something, ask for the stamp that marks it as coming from the oldest bookshop in the world, and then wander Chiado’s streets with your book under your arm like the main character in a European film.

Ler Devagar at LX Factory: the bookshop you’ll need an afternoon for

The name means “read slowly,” which might be the most correct name a bookshop has ever had. Ler Devagar sits inside LX Factory, an old industrial complex near the river in Alcântara that has been turned into shops, studios and restaurants. The bookshop fills what used to be a printing works, with soaring shelves, old printing presses still standing among the books and a sculpture of a cyclist floating overhead, because why not?

Plan a whole afternoon here, because you’ll need it. Grab lunch at LX Factory afterward and browse the other shops while you recover from what you just spent.

Little bookshops in the old neighborhoods

Around Alfama, the cathedral and the steep streets of the historic center, look for small independent and secondhand bookshops, some of them devoted entirely to books about Lisbon or Portugal. Many have English sections, and the Portuguese editions are worth buying just for the covers, because the design is gorgeous and nobody has to know you can’t read them. I have a whole shelf of beautiful books I can’t read, and I consider it decor and aspiration in one.

The secondhand shops are also wonderful places to find old maps, postcards and prints of the city, which make much better souvenirs than anything in the tourist shops.

What to do in between bookshops

Read at a miradouro. Lisbon is built on hills, and its viewpoints, called miradouros, are some of the best free reading spots in Europe. Sit with your new book, the red roofs below you and the river shining in the distance, and bring a snack so you can stay a while.

Eat a pastel de nata standing up. The famous custard tarts are best eaten warm, with a dusting of cinnamon and a little coffee on the side. Eat at least one a day, which isn’t advice so much as policy.

Ride a tram, even if you don’t know where it goes. The old yellow trams rattle up hills that would destroy your calves on foot, so get on, look out the window and get off somewhere that looks interesting.

Wear real shoes. Lisbon’s sidewalks are made of polished stone, and they are slippery, steep and beautiful. Sandals are a gamble, and I lost.

See the monuments if you want. But a city also lives in its bookshops, and those you can take home.

A bookish Lisbon itinerary in one day

Morning: Have coffee and a pastel de nata, then visit Livraria Bertrand and take a slow wander through Chiado.

Midday: Find a miradouro, settle in with your new book and enjoy a long lunch.

Afternoon: Head to LX Factory and Ler Devagar, and lose track of time on purpose.

Evening: Go back to the old neighborhoods for dinner, maybe some fado and one last secondhand shop if anything is still open.

Before you go

Hours vary, especially on Sundays and holidays, so check before you go, and bring an empty tote bag (see my three-dresses, seven-books packing philosophy). And if you want to see Lisbon through the novels set there, read about looking for the Lisbon from the books I love.

If you’d rather stay in a hotel near the bookshops, here are places to stay in Lisbon. (affiliate link)