The Bookstore that Inspired J.K. Rowling

The Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto is one of the world's oldest bookstores and is ranked as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, and a top place to visit in Portugal. We have been in a few beautiful bookstores such as the Ateneo in Buenos Aires so wanted to see this one too.

The bookstore, which opened in 1906, was once a haunt of the city's literary scene, and many say it was a direct inspiration for J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter books. Rowling lived and taught English in the city from 1991 to 1993 and was a frequent customer.

Today, the bookstore normally has between 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day, which can make the cramped bookstore feel like a tourist trap. We are here during the off season, so we are are not facing the huge lineups that we have read about, to get in. In fact there, there wasn’t a lineup at all. Whew! Just a few to get in - 5 euros. Apparently the bookstore was getting a lot of people wanting to see it and not buying anything. It was always crowded so they charge an entrance fee and if you buy a book, you can use the 5 euros towards the price of the book.

Opened in 1906 by the brothers José and António Lello on Rua das Carmelitas, the bookstore is a stunning new-Gothic building. It features a stained-glass ceiling, gorgeous wood carvings, ladders, and rails to move the books around, and a special room to protect the bookstore's oldest and rarest books.

We loved the hundreds of little busts of writers on the bookshelves and the amazing red stairway up to the third floor. Such a fun, creative interior.

We had read that the bookstore's ornate architecture bears a striking resemblance to the Hogwarts’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the central setting of the books, and the Flourish and Blotts bookshop, where characters in the books buy their books on magic. We agree that it does!Read more