The ‘digital revolution’ has changed many people’s reading habits. Even so, there are those who can’t do without the smell of paper, especially older works. So how about a tour of Porto’s bookshops?
By definition, these places sell old and used books, so they’re sort of ‘resistant’ to the passage of time. Nowadays, although there are fewer of them, you can still find good bookshops in the city.
Soon, we’ll also be writing about the most beautiful bookshops in Porto, but in the meantime, you can always (re)visit the city’s best libraries and/or take the opportunity to dive into this themed guide. Let’s go?
Table Of Contents
Esquina Bookshop
Opened in the early 1970s, Livraria Esquina has been around for a long time, standing out in the literary world for its range of used, old, rare and valuable books.
Although it does offer some contemporary literature, it is especially recommended for those looking for books on Porto, Art, Ethnography, Genealogy and Regionalism, among other specific themes.
Where: Rua da Preciosa, 319
Livraria Alfarrabista Académica
With over a century of existence, this is one of the oldest bookshops in the city of Porto.
It’s a truly historic store, specializing in Portuguese-language authors and covering a wide range of subjects. You can also find books in other languages, such as English, French and Spanish.
Livraria Académica has long been a reference point in the city, and here you can find books for almost every wallet, not forgetting some rarities.
📍Rua dos Mártires da Liberdade, 10
Candelabro Bookshop
Located in Rua de Cedofeita, this bookshop dates back to 1952. It specializes in old and used books and doesn’t have a specific focus area. You can find everything here.
📍Rua de Cedofeita, 471,
Moreira da Costa Alfarrabistas
It was founded in 1902 and is something of a family treasure, with the management of the bookshop now in the hands of the fifth generation.
The love of books is a constant and is in the DNA of this whole family, which continues to publish and go further for culture and literature.
📍Rua de Avis, 30
Livraria Chaminé da Mota
This is one of Porto’s best-known bookshops and is located on Rua das Flores. It was founded in 1981 and there you can find around one million alfarrabios (old and/or used books).
📍Rua das Flores, 28
Livraria Alfarrabista Manuel Ferreira
This is one of the oldest bookshops in Porto, having been founded in 1959. Rare books, manuscripts and other paper documents are the focus of this bookshop.
In addition, this bookshop’s “mission”, like all other bookshops, is to promote old books.
📍R. Dr. Alves da Veiga, 89
In-Libris
It was founded in 1996. Born in a more technological age, the passion for touching books overcame all barriers and In-Libris opened its doors to share this passion and promote books in all their facets.
📍Rua do Carvalhido, 194
Alfarrabista João Soares
This bookshop is dedicated to selling and exchanging new, old and used books. It was on Rua das Flores for over 20 years and can now be visited on Rua Formosa.
📍R. Formosa, 231
TimtimPorTimtim
This is a different kind of bookshop, as it sells old comic books. But that’s not all!
Here you can also find magazines about soccer and other sports, movies, comic books and other elements from the fantastic universe of comics.
📍R. da Conceição, 27-29
Lumière Bookshop
It opened its doors in 2001 in Galerias Lumière, but is now in Rua Formosa. In this bookshop, books are king, but vinyl records, postcards and maps, among other things (old and/or used), are also available.
📍R. Formosa, 197