If you search for Harry Potter places in Porto, Livraria Lello appears almost immediately.
The story usually goes something like this.
J.K. Rowling lived in Porto, regularly visited the bookstore and its famous red staircase later inspired Hogwarts.
There is only one small problem.
J.K. Rowling says it did not happen.
In 2020, Rowling publicly stated that she had never visited Livraria Lello while living in Porto and did not even know the bookstore existed at the time. She was quite clear that it had nothing to do with Hogwarts.
So where did the story come from, and does that mean Harry Potter fans should skip Livraria Lello?
Not necessarily.
Did Livraria Lello inspire Hogwarts?
No, at least not according to the person who created Hogwarts.
For years, articles repeated the idea that Livraria Lello's staircase had influenced the moving staircases in the Harry Potter books.
It sounds believable.
Rowling lived in Porto in the early 1990s, and the bookstore has exactly the sort of dramatic interior that looks as though a wizard might appear from behind a shelf.
Unfortunately for a very good tourist story, Rowling eventually corrected it.
She said she had never entered the bookstore and had not known about it while living in Porto.
That makes direct inspiration rather difficult.
Did J.K. Rowling live in Porto?
Yes.
This part is real.
Rowling lived in Porto during the early 1990s while teaching English and was already working on ideas that would eventually become Harry Potter.
This is one reason the Livraria Lello story became so easy to believe.
She was here.
The bookstore was here.
Harry Potter existed in an early form.
People joined the dots.
The problem is that sometimes the dots are just standing near each other having nothing to do with one another.
Did she write Harry Potter in Café Majestic?
There is more truth to this one.
When Rowling corrected the Livraria Lello story, she also said she had written at Café Majestic on Rua de Santa Catarina.
That does not make Café Majestic the birthplace of Harry Potter either.
Rowling had begun working on the story before living in Porto.
But unlike Livraria Lello, there is a confirmed personal connection.
If you are following Harry Potter related places around Porto, Majestic therefore has a stronger claim than the bookstore.
It also has coffee.
Useful after serious literary investigation.
What about Porto's university uniforms?
Another popular theory connects the black academic capes worn by Portuguese university students with Hogwarts robes.
You will sometimes see university students around Porto wearing formal black academic clothing, particularly during academic events.
The visual similarity is obvious.
What is much harder to establish is whether those uniforms directly inspired Hogwarts.
There is no need to turn every resemblance into confirmed source material.
Sometimes two black capes are simply two black capes.
Why is Livraria Lello still associated with Harry Potter?
Because the building looks the part.
Livraria Lello opened in its current building in 1906.
Inside, you have carved wood, tall shelves, a dramatic central staircase and a large stained glass ceiling.
It feels theatrical even without the Harry Potter story attached.
The bookstore has also embraced literary culture more broadly and owns a rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Over time, the visual similarity, Rowling's years in Porto and endless repetition online turned an unverified theory into something many visitors assumed was a fact.
The internet has accomplished more difficult things.
Was Harry Potter filmed inside Livraria Lello?
No.
None of the Harry Potter films were shot inside Livraria Lello.
The bookstore is not a Harry Potter filming location.
If you visit expecting to recognise an exact scene from one of the movies, you will be waiting a while.
What you will recognise is the general feeling that made the rumour believable in the first place.
Should Harry Potter fans still visit?
I think so, as long as you visit for the right reason.
Livraria Lello is a beautiful historic bookstore.
It does not suddenly become less attractive because Harry Potter was not created on the second floor.
In fact, I prefer knowing the real story.
You can appreciate the building for what it actually is rather than spending the whole visit trying to locate an imaginary Hogwarts connection.
The bookstore is also only a few minutes from Clérigos, Carmo and Praça de Carlos Alberto, so it fits easily into a day around central Porto.
My take
Go to Livraria Lello because it is Livraria Lello.
Not because someone on TikTok labelled it “the Harry Potter bookstore”.
If you are interested in Rowling's actual Porto years, add Café Majestic to the conversation.
And if somebody confidently tells you the staircase inspired Hogwarts, you now have enough information to become mildly annoying at dinner.
Use this power responsibly.
Useful answers
Porto FAQ
No. J.K. Rowling said in 2020 that she had never visited the bookstore while living in Porto and did not know it existed.
