Most travelers plan around meals. Fewer plan around a place where the meal and the afternoon are the same thing. Bookstore cafés fit that gap: you order, you browse, and nobody hurries you out. Forbes recently rounded up seven independent ones, from Boston to Istanbul, and this guide uses that list to help you decide which kind of stop suits your trip.
A caveat up front. The details available here are limited to each place's name, city, and the general idea that each pairs a curated book collection with food and drink. I won't invent menus or signature dishes. Check each café's own channels for hours and what's on offer before you go.
The seven, by city
Per Forbes, the list runs across four continents' worth of reading-and-eating spaces:
- Minoa Pera, Istanbul, Turkey
- Paludan Bog & Café, Copenhagen, Denmark
- phil, Vienna, Austria
- Beacon Hill Books & Cafe, Boston, Massachusetts
- Liberty: brunch, coffee & books, Lisbon, Portugal
- Book & Cook, Manila, Philippines
- Books for Cooks, London, England
Forbes describes the offerings as ranging from casual coffee and pastries to full restaurant menus. That range is the useful part, because it means you can match the stop to your appetite.
Choose by how hungry you are
For a coffee-and-pastry break
If you want a pause between sights, pick the places on the lighter end of that spectrum. Which of the seven sit there isn't spelled out in the material I have, so look at each café's menu online. A quick scan will tell you whether it's a pastry stop or a sit-down meal.
For a proper meal
Some of the seven offer fuller restaurant menus, per Forbes. The name of Liberty: brunch, coffee & books in Lisbon points to a brunch focus, and that's a reasonable cue to plan it as a meal rather than a snack. Treat that as a hint from the name, not a menu review.
For readers who love food itself
Two names stand out for anyone who cooks. Book & Cook in Manila and Books for Cooks in London both signal a link between the kitchen and the shelf in their names alone. If you travel to eat and bring home cookbooks, these two are the natural starting points. I can't vouch for their stock or menus beyond that, so confirm before building a day around them.
Why these places exist
Forbes frames the boom as part of a broader move toward experiential retail and "third spaces," places that aren't home or work, where people look for community, leisure, and escape, especially after the pandemic. Independent bookstores, the thinking goes, are adding food and drink to compete with digital retail and give customers a reason to linger.
That's the outlet's framing, but it matches what you feel when you walk in. A bookstore alone invites a quick visit. A bookstore with a table and a cup of coffee invites an hour.
How to visit one well
These tips are general habits, not claims about any specific café on the list.
- Go at an off-peak hour. Small, popular rooms fill up. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon on a weekday usually gives you a better chance at a seat.
- Look up the menu first. Know whether you're getting a snack or a meal, so you don't arrive hungry at a coffee-only counter.
- Browse before you order, or after. Either way, give yourself time. The point is to stay.
- Buy one book. It's the simplest way to support an independent shop, and it makes a better souvenir than a magnet.
- Check the language of the shelves. In cities like Istanbul, Copenhagen, and Vienna, expect a lot of local-language titles. Ask staff what they'd recommend if you're after something you can read.
Building a trip around them
You don't need to cross an ocean. If you live near Boston, Beacon Hill Books & Cafe is a ready-made afternoon. If you're planning a European city break, Copenhagen, Vienna, Lisbon, Istanbul, and London each give you a reason to schedule a slow stop between museums and dinner.
Treat the café as an anchor. Pick one per city, then walk the neighborhood around it. A place that invites lingering tends to teach you more about a city than a checklist of landmarks does.
The one thing to do
Pick the city on this list you're most likely to visit next, look up that café's menu and hours, and put it in your itinerary as a destination, not a fallback.
