A Hidden Shop In Venice Is Best Known As The 'Most Beautiful Bookstore In The World'

Shelves of books. Ledges of books. Bathtubs full of books. A full-length gondola, packed with, yes, books. The moment you step into the Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice, Italy, this is what you find: books packed tightly together, in vertical formation and stacked like bricks, covering every inch of this offbeat, little store. Few people will visit Libreria Acqua Alta in search of a specific bestseller. This is a place for true bibliophiles, where you can browse for hours and still find exciting treasures among the volumes. Types of books range from the pulpy to the antiquarian, along with art prints and coffee table hardbacks. If this is your aesthetic, Libreria Acqua Alta is positively beautiful, and maybe the most beautiful bookstore you've ever seen.

"Libreria Acqua Alta" is Italian for "High Water Bookstore," which has a literal meaning. As canal waters ebb and flow, Venice is prone to flooding, which is also referred to as "acqua alta." Instead of laying sandbags or moving the shop to higher ground, owner Luigi Frizzo has simply accepted the inevitable deluges. Much of his stock is displayed in water-resistant boats and containers, and true rarities are shelved higher up. The shelving units are packed tightly together, so customers have to shimmy past each other while also avoiding stepping on one of the resident cats. The store was opened fairly recently, in 2002, but the collection is rich in Venetian authorship and heritage, just another reason Venice is a great city for history buffs.

Libreria Acqua Alta is a great place to shop for fresh reading material, of course, but Frizzo's mission is more than just retail. Originally from Vicenza, a city that is about one hour to the west of Venice, Frizzo sees the location as a kind of cultural keystone. "The bookstore is not just a space dedicated to books but rather an authentic representation of the lagoon city," proclaims Libreria Acqua Alta's website. The design and atmosphere are as important as the titles for sale, making this place "a sanctuary for literature enthusiasts."

Indeed, it would be difficult to stumble into the bookstore by accident in the labyrinthine streets of Venice. It's about an 8-minute walk from the Piazza San Marco on a quiet, dead-end alleyway, so you'll probably have to plan your visit. A good distance from Venice's most crowded epicenter, visiting spots like Libreria Acqua Alta is a smart (and pleasurable) way to make sure you're not contributing to overtourism in a city that hosts more than 5 million visitors each year.

This being Venice, Libreria Acqua Alta stands on the edge of a canal. The rear wall is open, allowing visitors to stay inside the bookstore while also standing on the edge of the water. A staircase made out of books, which would otherwise be thrown out, leads to the top of a stone wall. Luring curious customers with the phrases, "Follow the Books" and, "Wonderful View," the steps behave as a kind of functional installation art.

While Venice is a difficult place for many first-time visitors to navigate, Libreria Acqua Alta is centrally located and close to many attractions, such as the Museo di Palazzo Grimani, a former doge's palace packed to the brim with paintings and sculpture, as well as the Museum of Pathological Anatomy, a fascinating (if unsettling) collection of human specimens and antique medical tools. The bookstore is also surrounded by hotels and guesthouses, which range in price from the affordable (around $70 a night) to the decadent (around $350 and above). Most of the best restaurants are located a little to the southwest of the store, across the Rio del Mondo Novo, just a few minutes away on foot.

The closest place to fly in is Venice Marco Polo Airport, which services 90 destinations in 60 countries. The airport is located on the mainland, so your fastest route to Venice — and the bookstore — is in a water taxi, which will likely take an hour in total. Note that all travelers will have to pay a per-day entry fee upon arriving in Venice, as local laws dictate.