If you love bookshops as much as I do, this is for you!
I recently set aside a weekday to explore bookshops - both chain and independent - in Central London. I covered 12 bookshops in total, and this route does entail a LOT of walking, but you discover some pretty parts of London, and there are plenty of places to stop and grab something to eat or drink. You can also look into bus routes or other options for travelling around.
Top tip: As I found when planning, opening times vary extensively - from 9am at Daunt to 12 noon at Word on the Water - so do check before you visit.
My original route, starting from home in South London, was slightly thwarted by train signalling issues. I planned to begin my tour at Daunt in Marylebone, but had to change as I ended up going to London Bridge.
Just across the road from London Bridge (National Rail) Station is The Riverside Bookshop. (15, Hay's Galleria, Tooley St, London SE1 2QN.) It is cute with a great selection of cards. There are two floors, so it has a much wider range than you might think when you first walk in.
Daunt Books, Marylebone
My next stop was Daunt on Marylebone High Street (83-84 Marylebone High Street,
London W1U 4QW). I got the Jubilee Line from London Bridge to Bond St. It's then around a 15-minute walk along gorgeous London streets - from St Christopher's Place through to Marylebone High Street, it feels like a different world. Depending on what time you’re there, there are plenty of pretty coffee shops and eateries around if you want something to eat or drink.
As soon as I walked into Daunt, I immediately understood just why it was a firm favourite amongst so many. I could quite easily have spent my entire budget just within those walls. If, like me, you love all things travel and location-related, Daunt has sections for each part of the world featuring travel books, non-fiction and general fiction - either set in those locations or by authors from those locations. They also have more general theming at the front of the store. There is just so much to discover - definitely set aside time for exploring this one in depth.
Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road
Following Daunt, my next stretch was Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road. Options by tube include a walk to Regent's Park tube from Daunt for the Bakerloo line to Charing Cross, or head back to Bond Street for the Elizabeth Line to Tottenham Court Road.
In Charing Cross, I love to stop at The National Portrait Gallery Cafe for a lamington cake and a cup of tea. As someone who can’t eat dairy, there is a vegan lamington, and it is scrumptious!
From the gallery, it’s a short walk to Cecil Court to explore all kinds of bookshops - new, second-hand, niche, rare, art and antiques. Goldsboro is my go-to and one of my favourites, as mentioned in this post.
Walking along Charing Cross Road towards Tottenham Court Road, you’ll come across Any Amount of Books, which sells second-hand books. There’s a wide range from general fiction to rare and first editions.
Also consider a minor detour towards Covent Garden for Stanfords, again mentioned in this post.
I always love to go into Foyles on Charing Cross Road because the shop has so much personal history for me. The one I remember from my childhood, a special place I’d go with my mum, or my Dad taking me to get books for school and college, was moved and modernised in 2014 to its current location. It is a lovely, light space in which to browse any theme you could imagine, and there’s even a vinyl and CDs section!
Discover Bloomsbury
A short walk up from Foyles takes you to Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop for a good choice of fiction and non-fiction second-hand books.
There are so many bookshops around Bloomsbury! I’d never really explored the area before, and there are some real gems. The ones I went to were Oxfam as well as the London Review Bookshop, just by The British Museum.
A 12-minute walk up Gower Street brings you to Waterstones Gower Street - and what a place it is! There’s a cafe onsite, Dillons (a nod to the building’s heritage), if you want to rest for a while. Said to be the largest new and second-hand bookshop in Europe, the feel is so different to Waterstones Piccadilly, with five floors full of nooks and crannies you will want to explore. It also has a range of second-hand books.
A 10-minute walk from Waterstones takes you to Skoob Books and Brunswick Books in the Brunswick Centre. Skoob is a basement bookshop with a huge selection of second-hand books, with an almost library-like feel, and I love the name! Brunswick Books is an independent with a great range of titles. The Brunswick Centre also has places to eat and drink and outdoor benches for a pit-stop if needed.
Judd Books and Gay's The Word are also very nearby, but I haven’t yet been.
A unique bookshop
From Brunswick, I walked around 25 minutes to the next bookshop (you could look into other options like a bus from Euston Road), which is a totally unique London one. Word on the Water on Regent’s Canal by Granary Square - a bookshop on a barge! It is absolutely beautiful inside, and there are books outside too. However, it can get extremely busy, so I’d recommend aiming for a weekday afternoon visit rather than a weekend. Again, Granary Square is packed with places to eat and drink - if I'd not been full of lamington, I would have got a treat from the After School Cookie Club truck or Ruby Violet.
My final stop was Hatchards inside St Pancras station - whilst not as cosy as the original on Piccadilly (the oldest London bookshop), it nevertheless has a very good selection.
My favourite of them all...
Top of my list to return to is Daunt Books in Marylebone - the friendliest booksellers, an enchanting building, and their theming and selection are just fantastic.