20 of the Most Exquisite Libraries in the World

BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD, UK

The next time you’re in London, set aside some time to take a day trip to Oxford—specifically the Bodleian Library. The library has been in use since the 1300s (that’s practically a thousand years), and its 12 million printed items continue to attract researchers and travelers from around the world. Aside from housing museum-worthy tomes (like the first editions of Jane Austen’s Emma and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species), the library’s many buildings are as beautiful as they come—make sure to stop by the 15th-century Divinity School and Old Bodleian Library.