Designated a World Book Capital by UNESCO in 2011, Buenos Aires is one of the best places for book lovers to visit, complete with two bookstores that made it to our top 10 list for most beautiful bookstores in the world.
Legado Mítico Buenos Aires
Seated in the fashionable Palermo Soho District is a boutique hotel called Legado Mítico. It’s relatively small, but each room is individualized to reflect notable Argentine figures, with elegant décor inspired by the country’s culture, art, literature, and history.
The hotel also has a library lounge with polished wooden floors, Persian rugs, and lots of comfortable armchairs and sofas. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy a classic understated atmosphere.
Address: Gurruchaga 1848, C1414DIL Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Check-in time: 3PM
– Check-out time: 12PM
El Ateneo Grand Splendid
El Ateneo Grand Splendid is considered one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world by National Geographic, the Guardian, and most recently, 1000 Libraries, where thousands of readers voted it into third place alongside other gorgeous bookshops.
Housed in an opulent former theater built a century ago, its classic architecture and frescoed dome are timelessly stunning. Though its English collection is modest, you can still enjoy a light meal at the café set center-stage (literally) or read from its 120,000-strong book collection in one of the theater box reading nooks.
Address: Av. Sta. Fe 1860, C1123 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 9AM – 9PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 9PM
Clásica y Moderna
Founded in 1938 by Spanish émigré Francisco Poblet, Clásica y Moderna is a historic bookstore and restaurant. This hub has seen literary giants over the years, including figures like Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares.
The restaurant has brick walls that give it a bohemian vibe, while the crosshatch wooden flooring of the bookshop keeps things down-to-earth. It has a broad collection of titles to choose from, and the restaurant regularly hosts live shows that keep the place popping.
Address: Av. Callao 892, C1023 AAO, Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Saturday: 7:30AM – 12AM
– Sunday: Closed
National Library of Teachers (Biblioteca Nacional de Maestros)
You think a century might be a lot of history, but this library will take that and raise you half. Established in 1870 by reforms to support education in Argentina, the National Library of Teachers specializes in educational sciences, holding over 130,000 volumes related to humanities, social sciences, education, and Argentine history.
The library’s architecture is absolutely jaw-dropping, with high, vaulted ceilings and elaborate copper-green columns.
Address: Pje. Pizzurno 953, C1017 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 9AM – 8PM
– Saturday: 9AM – 5PM
– Sunday: Closed
La Revistería Comics & Coffee
Try a change of pace at La Revistería Comics & Coffee, a comic bookstore and café known for its extensive collection of comics, graphic novels, manga, and merchandise that the fans will love. That’s not to say it doesn’t have other books; in fact, it has a pretty impressive selection ranging from philosophy to engineering, plus a nice variety of games.
In 2019, this comic shop won the Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award. Impressive collection aside, the interior pops with color and even offers a decent menu of drinks, making it a cool place to soak up the vibe.
Address: Florida 719, C1053 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Thursday: 9:30AM – 8PM
– Friday & Saturday: 9:30AM – 9PM
– Sunday: 12PM – 8PM
Biblioteca Esteban Echeverría
Located inside the Palacio de la Legislatura, Biblioteca Esteban Echeverría is a public and legislative library that has been around since 1923. It serves the city’s parliamentary work and the public with a collection of around 40,000 items—that includes books, magazines, photos, and musical scores—all focused on Buenos Aires history, law, and culture.
You also get a neat combo of cultures in the design, with French Renaissance architecture, Italian walnut paneling, ornate chandeliers, and historic artworks.
Address: Perú 130, C1067AAD Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 10AM – 6PM
– Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Librería de Ávila
If you want a real piece of history, try this one on for size: Librería de Ávila, Argentina’s oldest bookstore and one of the oldest in both North and South America. Founded in 1785, it was declared a cultural heritage site for the role it played in the city’s revolutionary history.
Nowadays, it specializes in rare, antique, and out-of-print books, offering literary treasures across two floors. Its architecture is distinctive but subtle, with elegantly curved staircases and a circular, interior balcony.
Address: Adolfo Alsina 500, C1087AAF Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 9AM – 7PM
– Saturday: 10AM – 3PM
– Sunday: Closed
Caburé Libros
Caburé Libros is both an independent bookstore and a publisher, hosting a coffee shop and a ton of ambition. Located in Buenos Aires’ San Telmo neighborhood, it has a carefully curated selection of books (primarily in Spanish), emphasizing Latin American literature, poetry, and prose.
The bookstore makes use of its open flooring to hold various literary events such as book launches and presentations.
Address: México 620, C1097 AAN, Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 10AM – 6PM
– Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Walrus Books
While most of the bookshops on this list are packed with Spanish titles, Walrus Books focuses on English-language books, both new and used. It has around 4,000 titles on its shelves of both fiction and non-fiction. You can expect to find everything here, from art books and literature to some handy-dandy reference texts.
The shop encourages book trading and offers discounts for used books brought in by customers, making it budget-friendly as well.
Address: Estados Unidos 617, C1101AAM Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Tuesday to Sunday: 12PM – 7PM
– Monday: Closed
Biblioteca del Congreso Argentina
The Biblioteca del Congreso de la Nación Argentina, or Argentina’s National Library of Congress, holds over 3.5 million books, documents, and archives. Though its original purpose when it was established in the mid-19th century was to support lawmakers and their work, it evolved into a public institution with extensive reading rooms open to all.
Some of the more notable parts of the library’s collection include rare manuscripts and legal texts. For the community, it hosts regular programs and events, from family reading activities to architectural exhibitions.
Address: Av. Hipólito Yrigoyen 1750, C1089 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 8AM – 11PM
– Saturday & Sunday: 10AM – 8PM
– (Note that some reading rooms may have different opening hours)
Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno
Named after the revolutionary leader Mariano Moreno, the Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno was founded in 1810 amid the May Revolution. Currently, it’s housed in a stark, brutalist building built in 1992 with some eye-catching, gravity-defying architecture resembling a cubic concrete mushroom.
The library holds nearly a million manuscripts, books, maps, and recordings, including some invaluable texts from the 15th to 17th centuries.
Address: Agüero 2502, C1425 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 9AM – 9PM
– Saturday & Sunday: 12PM – 7PM
Dain Usina Cultural
What do you get when you put a bookstore, café, and gallery together? In Buenos Aires, you get Dain Usina Cultural. Known for its postmodern stylings and all-in art displays, this is a great place to visit whether you’re in the mood for books, art, or just a cup of coffee.
It has a diverse book collection, including literature, history, science, and travel topics, and its terrace has a nice, relaxed vibe. The café also offers free Wi-Fi to visitors.
Address: Nicaragua 4899, C1414BVK Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 12PM – 8PM
– Saturday: 2PM – 8PM
– Sunday: Closed
Libros del Pasaje
With rows of dark shelving and a bar/café with a book-filled loft, Libros del Pasaje makes for a charming independent bookstore and café. Lining the walls, you can expect to find books on anything from Eastern philosophy to Argentine literature, almost all in Spanish, with a few curated choices in other languages like English.
The café side offers comfortable, stylish seating, plus a menu of coffee, tea, and desserts, making it ideal for readers and digital nomads alike. It also hosts events like author talks and book discussions.
Address: Thames 1762, C1409 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 10AM – 7:30PM
– Saturday: 10AM – 8PM
– Sunday: 2PM – 8PM
Eterna Cadencia
For the perfect mix of beauty and elegance, make your way to Eterna Cadencia. Once a classical mansion, it was founded in 2008 and has since made waves as a bookstore and café. It was also voted the seventh most beautiful bookstore in the world by 1000 Libraries’ readers.
The bookstore opens up with hardwood floors and dark shelves, with both extravagant decorations like the chandelier and the painted walls in one of the sitting rooms, plus subtle touches like the image of a compass rose in the floor.
Address: Honduras 5582, C1414BTM Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 9AM – 9PM
– Saturday: 12PM – 8PM
– Sunday: Closed
Elocuente Café y Libros
While some book cafés lean heavily on the book side of things, Elocuente Café y Libros is more like a coffee shop that sells books, with some literary flair added in. It often shows off book-themed decorations, and one of its features is a literary box filled with coffee beans, a cookie, a bookmark, and a book.
Customers enjoy the hip, laid-back atmosphere and delicious range of desserts and snacks. It’s a nice place to sit back and chill.
Address: Bonpland 1549, C1414 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Tuesday to Sunday: 9AM – 8PM
– Monday: Closed
Naesqui Libros y Café
This bookstore and café offers a nice pop of color while you nibble on pastries or sip your coffee. Its dark wooden shelving set against vivid blue walls, adjacent to white painted with bold black art creates an aesthetically pleasing contrast.
It offers a nice selection of Spanish-language books, even occasionally hosting book presentations, workshops, and more on the first floor. (The pastries and cakes in the second-floor café are also apparently amazing.)
Address: 14 de Julio, Charlone y, C1427 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Tuesday to Friday: 9AM – 7PM
– Saturday & Sunday: 10AM – 8PM
– Monday: Closed
Medio Pan y un Libro Café
Medio Pan y un Libro translates to “Half a loaf and a book,” and is a famous part of Federico García Lorca’s manifesto, saying that books and nurturing the mind are just as important as basic survival needs like food. So, really, it’s even more perfect that you can get both half a loaf (or sandwich or dessert) along with a book at this book café.
Though it’s a fairly new spot, founded online in 2018 and opening a physical shop in 2019, it’s a popular hub where people can gather to find titles on social sciences, feminism, Argentine and Latin American literature, and art.
Address: Virrey Avilés 3686, C1427 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Monday to Friday: 8:30AM – 8PM
– Saturday: 9AM – 8PM
– Sunday: 9AM – 7PM
Atlántica Libros y Café
Last but not least, you can wrap up your book lover’s adventure in Buenos Aires with a visit to a book café, Atlántica Libros y Café. This bookstore and café is flooded with Spanish books of every genre you can think of, both fiction and nonfiction, and has a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
The café side is very conscientious, offering vegan and gluten-free options alongside coffees, cappuccinos, and teas.
Address: Av. Directorio 115, C1424 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Opening hours:
– Tuesday to Friday: 10AM – 8PM
– Saturday: 2PM – 8PM
– Monday & Sunday: Closed
– (Note: as of this writing, the café is temporarily closed for renovations, but the bookstore is still open and doing business)
