Book shopping in Rome
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Bookàbar
In Firouz Galdo–designed, cool, gleaming white rooms, Bookàbar – the bookshop attached to Palazzo delle Esposizioni – is just made for browsing. There are books on art, architecture and photography, DVDs, CDs, vinyl, children’s books, and gifts for the design-lover in your life.
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Notebook
This sprawling shop at Auditorium Parco della Musica has a hefty collection of art, film, music, design and travel books (mostly in Italian). There are also CDs, DVDs and Auditorium merchandise for smitten culture vultures. For the lowdown on upcoming literary events, do a keyword search for 'bookshop' on the Auditorium Parco della Musica website (www.auditorium.com).
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Feltrinelli
The bookstores of Italy’s most famous bookseller (and publisher) dot the capital. This one has a wide range of books (in Italian) on art, photography, cinema and history, as well as an extensive selection of Italian literature and travel guides in various languages, including English. There’s also a small English books section and a café.
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Almost Corner Bookshop
This is how a bookshop should look: a crammed haven full of rip-roaring reads, with every inch of wall space containing English-language books and travel guides. There’s an excellent selection of contemporary novels and bestsellers as well as more obscure titles. If you can’t find what you want, the English-speaking staff will order it in.
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Alinari
This is the oldest photographic business in the world. The Florentine Alinari brothers founded their enterprise in 1852, and produced more than one million plate-glass negatives in their lifetimes. At their Rome shop you can buy beautiful prints of their work depicting the city in the 19th century, as well as some meaty coffeetable books on photography.
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Bibli Bookshop
Intelligentsia types flock here to stock their bookshelves, hobnob at the regular readings and launches, and discuss plots and characters over cake at the in-house café. There's a limited selection of books in English. Aperitivo is served from 19:30 to 23:00 and brunch at weekends from 12:30 to 15:00 for particularly peckish bookworms.
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Touring Club Italiano
Touring Club Italiano is the travel branch of Italy's motoring organisation, the Automobile Club Italiano. It produces Italy's finest maps and travel books, all of which are sold at this, its flagship store. You'll find one of Rome's best collections of guides to Rome in English, an excellent stock of art books and a travel agency.
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Libreria Giunti al Punto
The ‘Straight to the Point’ children’s bookshop is an ideal place to distract your kids. Large, colourful and well stocked, it has thousands of titles in Italian and a selection of books in French, Spanish, German and English, as well as a good range of toys, from play dough to puzzles.
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Feltrinelli (Galleria Alberto Sordi)
The bookstores of Italy’s most famous bookseller (and publisher) dot the capital. This one has a wide range of books (in Italian) on art, photography, cinema and history, as well as an extensive selection of Italian literature and travel guides in various languages, including English.
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Feltrinelli International
The international branch of Italy’s ubiquitous bookseller has a splendid collection of books in English, plus Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. You’ll find everything from recent-release bestsellers to dictionaries, travel guides, DVDs and an excellent assortment of maps.
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Librairie Française de Rome
This French bookshop nestles next to France’s church in Rome, the Chiesa di San Luigi dei Francesi. Browse through the literature, fiction, nonfiction, general interest and children’s books before popping into the church to see the paintings by Caravaggio.
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Anglo-American Bookshop
Particularly good for university reference books, the Anglo-American is well stocked and well known. It has an excellent range of literature, travel guides, children’s books and maps, and if it hasn’t got a book you want, you can order it.
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Il Mare
Ahoy there. Specialising in everything mare (sea) related, this friendly bookshop has maritime books in Italian, English and French, nautical charts, binoculars, pirate flags, model yachts, posters, Lonely Planet guidebooks, videos and CD-ROMs
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Libreria L’Argonauta
Off the main tourist trail, this travel bookshop is a lovely place to browse. The serene atmosphere and shelves of travel literature can easily spark daydreams of far-off places. Staff are friendly and happy to let you drift around the world in peace.
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Herder Buchhandlung
Herder Buchhandlung is a historic German bookshop that specialises in theological and philosophical works. But even students of Kant like a break, and you’ll find Harry Potter, a small selection of Penguin books in English and some children’s books.
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Mel Bookstore
Mel’s, on three floors, has a good range of Italian literature, reference books and travel guides, as well as CDs, half-priced books (general-fiction paperbacks), a cheery children’s section and a few books in English and French.
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Libreria del Viaggiatore
If Rome is only a stop on your Grand Tour, this beguiling bookshop is a must. Small but world-encompassing, it’s crammed with guides and travel literature in various languages and has a huge range of maps, including hiking maps.
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Lion Bookshop
This fabulous, long-running, peaceful English bookshop has English-speaking staff and is well stocked with classics, travel guides and the latest reads. There’s a particularly good children’s section.
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Borri Books
There’s a good selection of English-language books (including kids’ and travel books) on the upstairs floor of this glass-fronted shop on the concourse at Stazione Termini.
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Libreria Sorgente
Fancy some literature and nonfiction books in Spanish or Portuguese? Check out Libreria Sorgente, next door to the Spanish Istituto Cervantes.
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