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Get to know the crazy bookstore in Venice! Don’t miss this amazing attraction! Cats in the bookstore as if it were the most normal thing in the world. But what is normal at the Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice?
Tip: The best locations & sights in Venice
Hey, I’m Tatiana and I’m the blogger behind The Happy Jetlagger. Since 2014, I’ve been sharing my personal travel stories on this blog. I don’t have a big team behind me, so I’m pretty much a one-person show: I’ve researched and tested all recommendations myself!
Very small, the entrance to this other world is hidden in an alleyway of Venice, a bit off the usual tourist stream. If it weren’t for various piles of old maps, prints and books lying around in front of the door, one would hardly suspect this treasure for book nerds like me. There’s always something special about bookstores and libraries for me – they are so calming and so inspiring.
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And the Libreria Acqua Alta is not only that: it is magical. A total work of art. Thousands of stacks of books, old, new, a mess, it’s cramped, dark, yet fascinatingly beautiful. It’s like being in the middle of a Harry Potter book. In between all the books, there’s always a bowl of cat food, because the (I think) eight cats want to be fed, too.
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Books are stacked everywhere, whether in an old gondola, or in a bathtub – the ideas for how to store books are endless. Creative chaos at every turn. The name Acqua Alta is immediately apparent when you see the “emergency exit”: With one hop, you’ll immediately land in the canal that runs along the back of the store. Just a bit of the typical high tide in Venice – and the bookstore is flooded.
Unfortunately, the Libreria Acqua Alta is no longer a real insider tip, so that at peak times you have to push your way through the store with other tourists – and if you want to shoot an Instagram photo in the particularly instagrammable corners, you sometimes have to wait in line for a quarter of an hour. Crazy, right? Nevertheless: It’s worth a visit!
Address: Libreria Acqua Alta, Calle Longa Santa Maria Formosa 5176 – Castello, 30122 Venice
Opening hours: daily from 9-20h
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More to read:
Another quirky bookstore: Livraria Lello – The Harry Potter Bookshop in Porto
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