The most beautiful libraries in the world will leave you in awe. Like the most beautiful bookstores in the world, there’s something so aesthetically pleasing about these libraries housing legions of book covers and spines amid spiral staircases, stained glass windows, and frescoed ceilings. I can (and do) spend hours dreamily browsing. Here, you’ll also learn about the libraries themselves so that you can add them to your literary travel bucket list. Let’s get literary!
The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World: The U.S., Europe, and Beyond
“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.”
– library quote by Argentine short story writer and essayist Jorge Luis Borges
See these libraries on YouTube:
Admont Abbey Library – Admont, Austria
Admont Abbey Library is the world’s largest monastery library. Completed in 1776, it’s a late Baroque fantasy of frescoes, sculptures, and gold accents designed to represent Enlightenment ideals of light filling the room and the mind. How romantic!
Among the collection of 200,000 volumes, the most valuable are more than 1,400 rare manuscripts (from the 8th century) and 530 incunabula (up to the year 1500).
Note their restrictions on groups of 15 or more, appointments, and individual tours.
Austrian National Library – Vienna, Austria
The Austrian National Library (State Hall) is an 18th century imperial library that stuns with frescoed ceilings, Venetian globes, and opulent marble statues. I imagine Beauty and the Beast’s Belle on a ladder here.
It’s 200,000 books originate from 1501. Notable are the 15,000 volumes of literary treasures of Prince Eugene of Savoy, bound in red, blue, and yellow Morocco leather.
Note that private groups receive exclusive access to non-public areas, books, and objects.
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library – New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Part of Yale University, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library is a marvel of modernist architecture, opened in 1963. It uses translucent marble panels to filter natural light and preserve 180,000 rare volumes across six floors. Obviously, Rory Gilmore would have spent all her time studying here.
It houses one of the world’s largest collections of rare books and manuscripts. Highlighted collections feature Langston Hughes, W.E.B. du Bois, and Zora Neale Hurston.
Group tours are available. Note restrictions for the general public.
Biblioteca Joanina – Coimbra, Portugal
Biblioteca Joanina is a Rococo treasure located at the University of Coimbra. Built in the early 18th century, it is considered one of the richest libraries in Europe. Gilded multi-colored oak shelves, ceiling paintings related to the university’s ideals, and a living bat colony (yes, really) that protects the books make it unique.
It houses 60,000 books, which date from the 16th century to the 18th century and are considered to be the best works of the time.
You should prepare for visiting guidelines.
Biblioteca Vasconcelos – Mexico City, Mexico
Nicknamed the “megalibrary,” Biblioteca Vasconcelos is a contemporary wonder, opened in 2006, that features floating bookshelves and a suspended whale skeleton (“Mobile Matrix”). Indeed, it feels like a Matrix-type movie set. Outside is a 26,000-square-meter green space.
It houses 600,000 books, multimedia, Braille, children’s, and music materials, and it offers an array of cultural events.
Guided tours are available.
Boston Public Library – Boston, Massachusetts, USA
The Boston Public Library is housed in a Renaissance Revival building that opened in 1895, featuring an Instagram-worthy reading room. A cultural landmark, it was “the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room.” I can feel the literary Americana!
It houses more than 23 million items (among the largest collections in the country), including books, maps, manuscripts, letters, drawings, and other original works dating back as early as the 10th century. Of note are first edition folios by William Shakespeare, original music scores from Mozart, and the personal library of President John Adams.
Art and architecture tours are available.
British Library – London, UK
The UK’s national library, British Library, features striking contemporary architecture that blends chicness with efficiency.
It houses over 170 million items, and it’s also home to historical archives, including the Magna Carta and notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci.
Services may be limited.
George Peabody Library – Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Often called the “Cathedral of Books,” George Peabody Library‘s soaring atrium, black-and-gold cast-iron balconies, and skylight showcase 19th-century grandeur.
Its 300,000 volume collection dates from the founding of the Peabody Institute in 1857 and specializes in religion, British history, American history, romance languages and literature, the history of science, geography, and travel. Now, that’s what I call philanthropy!
It’s a popular library for travel photography in the U.S., so note their photography rules.
Library of Congress – Washington, D.C., USA
The largest library in the world by collection size and the largest rare book collector in North America, the Library of Congress “was designed to represent prevailing views of American industriousness, technological capabilities, and intellectual promise.” And, oh, does it!
It’s a research library (non-lending) for individuals aged 16 and above. The U.S. Copyright Office is a department there, and the Law Library provides research and reference services to Congress and the public. It also hosts the National Book Festival.
Free timed-entry tickets are required.
Library of Trinity College Dublin – Dublin, Ireland
Home to the famous Long Room, the Library of Trinity College Dublin is lined with oak bookcases and marble busts. I can picture Hermione Granger here!
This iconic library, the largest in Ireland, houses “6 million printed volumes with extensive collections of journals, manuscripts, maps and music reflecting over 400 years of academic development.” Of note are ancient tomes like the Book of Kells, a revered 9th-century manuscript.
Entry is strictly by use of a valid Library ID card.
Melk Abbey Library – Melk, Austria
The 18th-century Benedictine Melk Abbey Library is situated in the heart of the Wachau UNESCO World Heritage Site, where monks reside and work. It is adorned with stunning Baroque frescoes and a domed ceiling that celebrates the harmony of faith and reason, showing how important books are to religion.
It houses approximately 100,000 books, including around 1,800 manuscripts and 750 incunabula.
It is being restored until 2032, but guided and group tours are available.
National Library of Finland – Helsinki, Finland
Built in a neoclassical style and opened in 1845, the National Library of Finland is a hidden gem, characterized by symmetry, soaring columns, and gilded details. It’s a place where you don’t want to forget to look up and around.
Finland’s largest and oldest scientific library, some of its special collections include the Manuscript Collection (related to Finnish educational and cultural history) and The Finnish National Sound Archive.
It is open to the public, but there are some rules regarding photography.
New York Public Library – New York City, New York, USA
Guarded by the iconic lions Patience and Fortitude, the Beaux-Arts Stephen A. Schwarzman building housing the New York Public Library features grand staircases and the famous Rose Main Reading Room. It’s a literary landmark in Midtown Manhattan, notably featured in the Sex and the City movie. We all want to get married there, don’t we?!
It houses 54 million items, including a draft of the Declaration of Independence written in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, one of the few surviving copies of the Gutenberg Bible, and original works by William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens, and many others.
Guided and self-guided tours are available.
Real Gabinete Português de Leitura – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura is a neo-Manueline masterpiece, featuring an intricate stained-glass skylight and dramatic iron balconies. Its towering bookshelves showcase Portuguese heritage in brilliant detail. It give books the most regal of all safe spaces to live.
It houses 350,000 volumes, including “the largest and most valuable library of works by Portuguese authors outside of Portugal.”
It offers free entry to the public.
Rijksmuseum Research Library – Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum Research Library is the oldest art history library in the Netherlands, featuring wrought-iron staircases, stained-glass windows, and a skylight that allows for reading by natural light. So, leave your book light at home!
With 450,000 objects, it’s one of the world’s leading art libraries.
No reservation is required for a visit, but access to the collections is by appointment only.
State Library of South Australia – Adelaide, Australia
The Mortlock Wing in the State Library of South Australia is a Victorian beauty with wrought iron balustrades, a glass roof, and mahogany bookcases. It feels like a train station of books.
It’s “the largest public research library and the digital preservation system in the state, and among the most iconic cultural institutions in South Australia.” Special collections include research on children’s literature research, a maritime library, and a collection on wine literature.
It’s open to the public.
Stockholm Public Library – Stockholm, Sweden
Designed by Gunnar Asplund, the 1928 cylindrical Stockholm Public Library is a prime example of Swedish modernist architecture. Its rotunda design is a “highlight of 20th-century Nordic architecture with inspiration from the neo-antique and classical design language.” Stand in the middle, then spin around, and continue spinning.
It is currently closed for renovations and will reopen in the fall of 2027, with an added focus on children.
Strahov Monastery Library – Prague, Czech Republic
Strahov Monastery Library is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, featuring frescoed ceilings, biblical inscriptions, and antique globes. It feels regal and like part of Tamlin’s estate in A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Among its 200,000 volumes, most of which are old prints printed between 1501 and 1800, are 1,500 incunabula and 3,000 manuscripts. You’ll also find a Cabinet of Curiosities featuring natural science exhibits.
Tickets to visit are available for purchase. There are no guided tours.
Stuttgart City Library – Stuttgart, Germany
Stuttgart City Library is a minimalist cube of white light. This ultra-modern space by Yi Architects was opened in 2011, and its glowing central atrium and symmetry seem surreal. But, indeed, it’s real!
Of note are a million media items, a sound studio with electronic instruments, and the Stuttgart Book Children’s Workshop.
Guided tours are available, including for children.
Tianjin Binhai Library – Tianjin, China
Nicknamed “The Eye,” the futuristic Tianjin Binhai Library features flowing, terraced bookshelves that resemble a giant retina and a book mountain. If any library makes your jaw drop, this one will.
It houses 1.2 million books, and tourists may visit.
Google Map of the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World
More Famous Literary Locations For Your Bucket List
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remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules
And what about the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris! It’s an amazing one. Other than that, nice article 😉
I came so close to adding that one! It’s a true beauty. Maybe I’ll swap one of these out in the future.