Livraria Lello is one of Porto’s most well-known landmarks, a bookstore that’s been operating since 1869 with an elaborate interior, twisting staircases, tall shelves, and woodwork.
It’s also well known as an inspiration for Harry Potter since Rowling would come here often when she lived in Portugal.
It’s an impressive space, but it’s also a terrible example of the Instagram effect, with often more than a thousand visitors a day, most trying to get *the* iconic photo of the interior, and most of them not actually buying books, and heck, it’s actually pretty hard to shop for books with everyone crammed in like sardines, taking photos and selfies.
To partially alleviate this, Lello now basically charges admission: you go down the street, wait in a long queue to buy a 5 euro voucher, and then that voucher lets you access the bookstore itself. If you buy sometime, you can apply the voucher value (we bought another guidebook, and were tempted by a few Portuguese cookbooks).
Neat spot, but sheesh, the crowds.
