A bookworm’s dream: Budapest among best cities for literature lovers!

As spring approaches, so does World Book Day on 23rd April. In Germany alone, 26 million people buy books regularly and on TikTok the Hashtag “#Booktok” has reached nearly 29 million posts. According to a ranking by weloveholidays, Budapest is among the 10 best cities in Europe for literature lovers.

To celebrate the diverse literary culture in Europe, weloveholidays has analysed data to compile a ranking of Europe’s best cities for book lovers. Looking into the number of bookstores and public libraries and their ratings, as well as the number of books based in each city, the online travel company has revealed a list of the best cities for avid readers.

London, the setting for iconic tales such as Oliver Twist and Mary Poppins takes the top spot. Boasting the most bookstores (164) and setting for over 7,800 stories, the UK’s capital, it’s the top recommended destination for bookworms.

Paris is in second place with 3,000 books set in the French capital. The city is home to 117 bookshops and 103 public libraries, including the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France), one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe.

Athens rounds off the top three. The historic home of the Acropolis has the most bookshops on our list with 167. The city is also the setting for 366 books, including Shakespeare’s famous Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Budapest in 6th place

Source: Budapest Metropolitan University Website

These are Europe’s 15 best cities for book lovers:

Rank	City	Country	Number of bookstores	Avg. bookstore ratings	Number of public libraries	Avg. library ratings	Notable book settings	Score
1	London	United Kingdom	164	4.68	157	4.29	7,856	6.44
2	Paris	France	117	4.55	103	4.26	3,057	4.27
3	Athens	Greece	167	4.49	32	4.55	366	3.83
4	Dublin	Ireland	84	4.56	113	4.40	403	3.82
5	Vienna	Austria	145	4.59	12	4.59	925	3.58
6	Budapest	Hungary	113	4.67	25	4.60	224	3.44
7	Berlin	Germany	91	4.63	70	4.24	904	3.38
8	Sofia	Bulgaria	106	4.63	26	4.68	22	3.36
9	Zagreb	Croatia	103	4.64	19	4.64	23	3.19
10	Vilnius	Lithuania	85	4.63	36	4.64	43	3.17
11	Lisbon	Portugal	100	4.59	33	4.50	125	3.11
12	Madrid	Spain	107	4.61	57	4.04	230	3.08
13	Warsaw	Poland	61	4.59	45	4.75	180	3.05
14	Barcelona	Spain	91	4.59	46	4.21	270	2.88
15	Cluj-Napoca	Romania	42	4.70	37	4,71	5	2.85

Other notable cities:

Berlin (7^th) also makes it into the top 15 with its 91 bookstores, 70 public libraries, and over 900 books that take place in Berlin.

Spain is the only country ranking with two cities in the top 15. Madrid with 107 bookstores in 13^th and Barcelona in 15^th. Every year, on 23rd April, Barcelona celebrates the patron saint of Catalonia with roses and books³. This day inspired UNESCO to create the World Book and Copyright Day in 1995.

Photo: Pixabay

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1 Comment

Anonymous says:

31/03/2024 at 13:06

A ridiculous survey placing Dublin above Vienna! A provincial village, the capital of a tiny country with a weak cultural heritage versus the former imperial capital of Austria-Hungary with a cultural legacy to rival nearly any global city! I also struggle to believe that Vienna harbours only TWELVE public libraries when Dublin has 113, that seems scarcely believeable. A quick sense check would suggest that seems immediately incorrect and worthy of fact checking.