There is something about a bookshop: peace and quiet, fleeting rays of sunlight cutting through old windows, and that distinctive smell. Hugh Grant’s bookshop in “Notting Hill” may be the most famous, but we’ve found some alternatives that aren’t packed to the rafters with tourists.
Here are some of the best bookshops in the UK that are worth travelling for.
Hay Cinema Bookshop, Hay-on-Wye, Wales
There is no better place for “bibliophiles and avid readers” than the Hay Cinema Bookshop, said Chris Moss in The Telegraph. “Exploring its shelves is akin to being inside a capacious old library that is fairly ordered and also full of surprises.”
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Hay-on-Wye itself is considered “Wales’ premier bookshop-opolis”, with more than 20 specialist retailers “scattered” around the town. This, however, is certainly the most “special”, boasting more than 200,000 second-hand and antiquarian volumes.
Established in 1965, it may not be the oldest on this list, but it has books on “every subject conceivable”, and once you have finished browsing, The Old Black Lion pub nearby is an excellent spot to read and watch the world go by.
Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland
Set in a “grand Victorian railway station”, you can “alight here for a unique reading refuge”. Barter Books is home to more than “350,000 works of fact and fiction” in “one of Britain’s biggest second-hand bookshops”, said Lauran Elsden in Country Living.
The venue has stayed true to its roots, with a model railway set “chugging away” among the “generously stacked” shelves. You can round off the experience with a Northumbrian rarebit or bacon butty at the station buffet in the old boiler room, against the backdrop of “North Eastern Railway cast-iron fireplaces” and “magnificent marble mantelpieces”.
The Heath Bookshop, King’s Heath, Birmingham
The Heath Bookshop won The Bookseller’s Independent Bookshop of the Year award in 2025. A great example of community engagement, the Heath is considered the “cultural heart” of the area. In 2024, it ran more than 80 events, so be prepared to join in when you visit!
The Heath is a “notably progressive and inclusive” shop, with a wide selection of books by LGBTQ+, Black and Asian authors. Co-owners Catherine and Claire have “done an amazing job with their space and they’re not playing it safe – there’s a real disruptor energy there,” said the judges. This is the type of bookshop you “feel like you want to hang out”.
Far From the Madding Crowd, Linlithgow, Scotland
This “much-loved” book shop takes its name from the Thomas Hardy classic, said Sarah Barrell in National Geographic. It occupies one of the “handsome Georgian buildings flanking the high street” of this Scottish market town and is open every day of the week to book-lovers and culture-vultures alike. Aptly, it has a “strong selection” of Scottish titles, and even features a “bothy” perfect for quiet reading. It describes itself as an “indie bookshop with a bit on the side”, and with poetry evenings, a view of the loch, and a shop bunny called BB, it is well “worth the literary pilgrimage”.
Daunt Books, Marylebone, London
Not quite a hidden gem, Daunt Books is one of the “best-known” independents in the capital, said Luciana Bellini in Glossary. Now with six stores in London, the expansive Edwardian building on Marylebone High Street is by far “the most beautiful”. Between each page turn in your “comfortable reading nook”, gaze up at the “long oak galleries and stained-glass window”, away from the hustle and bustle of the capital’s streets.
