How to Get Livraria Lello to Yourself

Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal is consistently ranked as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world! It first opened up in 1906 and has some beautiful neo-Gothic architecture inside that is definitely worth seeing. It’s falsely credited with inspiring J.K. Rowling, who lived in Porto as a professor in the early 90s. But it’s also crawling with tourists and long lines that can take away from the excitement of seeing this gorgeous building.

All visitors have to pay a 5€ entrance fee (that can be applied towards the purchase of a book) and it’s better to book your reservation for a day and time in advance. Though despite that, you’ll still be waiting in a very long long in the heat. During the summer months, there is literally not a “best time of day” to go to beat the crowds, only to avoid the heat while waiting in line.

THE TIP I STUMBLED UPON: If you’re booking your ticket online, there is a “premium ticket” option. It costs 15€ and already includes a book from their collection. And let’s face it- you probably wanted to buy a book as a souvenir anyways. With this premium ticket you get to SKIP THE LINE. That’s right. People who reserve a time slot ahead of time still have to queue up outside before their entrance time and wait to go in with the throngs of others when it’s their turn. Even if you booked the very first time slot (9am during the summer). So I booked this *premium* ticket for the opening time slot of 9am, showed up a few minutes before it opened (others in that line had been there for an hour clambering to be first inside at 9am), and I just walked right past them all and showed the employee my premium ticket. I was the first one in the store and I got to sneak a few empty photos and take in the beauty of it all for a few minutes as the other ticketed tourists got their tickets scanned and trickled in.