Exploring Hidden Venice!
If you know Venice, you also know that San Marco Square is “NOT” hidden – so after seeing all of the tourist spots we wanted to go where the tourists WEREN’T.
When Alex and I were in Venice Italy, we saw so many amazing sights that the city is known for:
This last shot is the iconic “bridge of sighs”, and if you get there at “golden hour”, the sight is truly magical – oh, but as you can imagine, we weren’t the only ones there:
Yes, Venice Is Crowded!
We expected massive crowds in San Marco Square and other iconic locations, but did you know that just beyond it are some incredible hidden streets that Alex and I discovered thanks to a guided tour of the area!
There are so many tiny streets and canals that showcase classic architecture and churches – but they aren’t part of the main Venice thoroughfare…
We took at tour that showed us hidden streets and courtyards just minutes from some of Venice’s most crowded canals…which led us to a place we’d never heard of:
Welcome To Libreria Acqua Alta!
One of the most fascinating places we saw was a legendary library – yes, LIBRARY!
The terrific travel website Atlas Obscura describes it this way:
The self-proclaimed “most beautiful bookstore in the world” is composed of a number of over-stuffed rooms stacked wall-to-wall with books, magazines, maps and other ephemera. Due to Venice’s constant flooding however, these picturesque piles are all placed inside bathtubs, waterproof bins, and in one room a full-size gondola. The name itself even means “Book Store of High Water.” When the local waterways do rise to fill the well-known store, it can rise inches off the floor, which would destroy any other collection. The store’s whimsically cramped atmosphere is even reflected in their “fire escape” which is simply a door leading directly out into a canal.
This incredible bookstore is literally packed to the ceiling with books – and since Venice floods regularly, they do indeed store books in many unique ways, like inside this Gondola!
The store is packed with all kinds of books, like this one, which I can only assume is a slice of Italian “Giallo”, also known as “pulp fiction”:
Out back, right up against a canal, there is a stack of books that you are literally told to walk on:
Follow The Book Steps!
These are real books, permanently set in place to be a love letter to literature and a walkway to the top of the bookstore’s back wall – which is indeed up against a canal…
So I did…yes, it’s a “photo op” that everyone took part in, and yes, there is a bit of a musty smell out there, but how much fun was this place?
This is just one of the incredible adventures we had in Venice…all part of our trip on the Venice Simplon Orient Express Train:
Here’s an overview of this incredible journey on a legendary train:
Let me know if you’ve ever been to this iconic bookstore!
Categories: Art, Books / Media, Exotic Travel, Italy, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
That’s such a memorable destination! I need to see all those books!!
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It was really great…but that book store in London is as well!
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Wow….Yes I would certainly buy a book from this bookstore for sure.
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I should have but we were on a walking tour and were moving fast….oh, and they were all in Italian! Thanks for the comment!
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yes walking tours are fast…
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They hit a lot of places in they designated time, that’s for sure!
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Wow, What a bookstore…Venice yes and bookstore I missed but I was very young and went where I was taken sadly not the bookstore maybe on another visit…I think I am going to have to close my bucket list or win the lottery so I can do a whistlestop years tour of all the things and places I want to see 🙂
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Venice is somewhere I have always wanted to visit – loved Florence, Rome, Capri – and this bookshop looks like my kind of heaven. I am extremely envious! I included this post in my reg feature Monday Magic – Inspiring Blogs for You this week x
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Thanks for sharing – yes, this “hidden” gem in Venice is not a tourist destination to the same degree as San Marco Square or the Bridge Of Sighs, so you can actually get into it!
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I’m definitely putting that on my list! 😉
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Ugh. That was me. Not Anon… Rachel
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“Hidden” Venice is much more enjoyable than “packed to the rafters with tourists” Venice!
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Wow, neat bookstore! I missed it when I was in Venice. But if I ever go back this is on my list. Thanks!
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We only found it because we took a walking tour of “hidden” Venice and it paid off!
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I love this bookstore and will be sure to seek it out when I go to Venice. Great photos.
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Thanks! It’s really cool and always crowded…loved the “books in a boat” in the middle of the store as well!
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A great find! I’ve been to Venice but not to this bookstore. #senior salon
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It’s a fun find for sure!
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This is such a brilliant post, John. That library is amazing.
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Great to get off the tourist trail, John. That bookstore was a rare find indeed. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete
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Yes Pete and if I read even a word of Italian I would have purchased something from the Gondola!
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