Libreria Acqua Alta

Located in Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa, in the district of Castello, the “Libreria Acqua Alta” will stun you for its incredibly creative book shelves: books are stored and on display on gondolas, canoes, and bathtubs! Furthermore, books are even turned into furniture and architecture themselves! Old books that got ruined by high water, or “acqua alta” have not been thrown away, but have been used instead to become steps of a books staircase that will give you a wonderful view over a canal.

Real size gondola, book stairs, cats, and costumes are only part of the beauty of the place. Books play a huge role in this shop: while the first section is entirely dedicated to books revolving all around Venice, the shop offers also hundreds of volumes in many other languages and a whole section for comics.

Whether you are an avid reader or not, this book shop is indeed well worth a visit!

Today, the Acqua Alta bookstore has become a landmark for visitors and Instagrammers.

The reason is quite simple:

• It is a stunning place to photograph with many little beautiful corners inside the store
• It has a book staircase. Yes, it has stairs made of books. This staircase made of books has become one of the most photographed places in Venice, especially for Instagram selfies.
• It has a gondola moored just outside the bookstore, and customers can get on board to take photos.

This all sounds lovely, and it is indeed if one has plenty of time in Venice and a big following on social media.

If that is not your case, please be aware that there are so many people wanting to take selfies inside the bookstore! This leads to long queues both to get inside the Acqua Alta bookstore, and even longer ones to climb the book staircase or get inside the gondola.

So, be prepared to spend hours just to take a photo.