Calling all bookworms! Don't miss this tour of Buenos Aires. We'll visit the most beautiful bookshops in the Argentine capital, including El Ateneo Grand Splendid, El Túnel, among many other local staples.
Buenos Aires Bookstores Tour
Jorge Luis Borges once said: "I always imagined that paradise would be some kind of library." And the same could be said for bookstores. With 370 shops, Buenos Aires has the highest number of bookstores per capita in the world. To find out which ones are the most beautiful, we'll meet at 10 am next to the famous pyramid of Plaza de Mayo.
We'll begin our literary tour of the Argentine capital by visiting La Librería de Ávila. Located on Calle Adolfo Alsina in the heart of Monserrat, this iconic store is the oldest bookshop in Buenos Aires. Its origins date back to the late 18th century, and since then it has continued to attract avid readers. Many of them also visit the literary café located in the basement, which still preserves its traditional style.
Next, we'll head to Avenida de Mayo to visit the El Túnel bookstore. This famous establishment, located very close to the historic Café Tortoni, is on the first floor of Palacio Vera: a beautiful building decorated in the Jugendstil style, one of the Austrian variants of modernism.
The next shop will be on Avenida Corrientes. We'll stop in front of Edipo Libros, an emblematic store that endured the literary prohibitions during the cultural genocide carried out between 1976 and 1983 by the Civil-Military Dictatorship of Argentina.
At noon, we'll conclude the tour at El Ateneo Grand Splendid, dubbed one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world by The Guardian. The shelves of this store occupy much of the boxes, bleachers and stalls of an old cinema-theater of the early 20th century. Undoubtedly, it is a true temple of knowledge for book lovers all across the world!
