London Bookshop Tour

Moving just outside of London meant that I had to explore some of the bookshop options around me and in the centre. As I have a train direct into Paddington, many of the central London bookshops are an easy tube away – and so I gave myself a challenge of visiting as many as I could in one week.

Daunt Books, Cheapside

Our first stop was a kind-of out of the way bookshop, Daunt Books on Cheapside. Daunt Books was suggested by multiple people, and we chose the Cheapside one because we took a scenic tourist walk afterwards. We took the tube to Mansion House station, althought there’s multiple others nearby such as St Pauls and Bank,

Daunt Books has a few bookshops all across London, and they have a wide selection of books in all genres and formats. Cheapside just happened to be one that was close to tourist-y things and was walking distance to our next stop.

Close to St Paul’s Cathedral and many of London’s bridges over the river meant we had a slow tour around the area. We walked over Blackfriar’s bridge to make our way towards Waterloo next.

Calder Bookshop and Theatre

The Calder Bookshop and Theatre is as the name suggests, both a bookshop and a theatre. As you walk into the building it’s piles of books in the middle with large shelves all around – and at the back is an archway leading into a theatre area. Whilst we’d walked here, it’s super close to Southwark and Waterloo tube stations.

Whilst I’m not a big reader of plays or scripts or anything like that, I loved the feel of the shop as it had a lot of older and used books. (I don’t know about you, but I love the smell?). They do also have some books that are mixed genre too! But not as many as the theatre related books they specialise in.

Ian Allen Bookshop

Another specialised shop near Waterloo! Ian Allen focuses on transport (buses, trains and planes) as well as some war history books. Not really one for me – and I don’t think the map listing really made this clear.

Unfortunately the staff were a bit rude and made comments about us being there too – apparently two 20 year old women aren’t their usual customers.

Foyles Southbank

We ended the day with a bookshop to fit everyone’s needs and wants – Foyles near the river (just up from Waterloo!). As with other Foyles, it’s fairly large and has a wide selection in each genre. I personally loved the selection of graphic novels in this store – and the set up on the newest releases near the front.

There is also an additonal smaller Foyles within Waterloo station itself. But the Southbank one has a good view of the river and is surrounded by some lovely food places with a view.

Heywood Hill

On our second day we got the tube to Oxford Cirvus and walked down to Heywood Hill first. Whilst its closest station is Green Park – it wasn’t that far a walk and it was easier than changing tubes.

Heywood Hill is a gorgeous little store in Mayfair that sells both old and new books. Whilst most of the books at the front were new, we did have a peek at some of the older and more antique books in the back (which also doubles as an office). The entire Aesthetic of the bookshop, both inside and out was wonderful.

Maggs Bros

Across the road (and not planned!) was Maggs Bros Ltd. The internet says that this is one of the world’s largest and oldest antiquarian booksellers – and it looked it from the outside! We didn’t actually go in because we definitely can’t afford antique books – and didn’t want to disturb the staff member in such a small shop. But a sneaky look through the window means that I can tell you it looked like old book heaven.

Hatchards

Next up we walked down Picadilly towards Hatchards. Hatchards is a huge bookstore which Waterstones have now bought (I believe!) but it has kept it’s original name. They also run as a separate entity as they have their own book subsription service that was advertsised in store.

It’s a huge winding maze of books (5 floors!!) and it took all my effort not to just find a spot and sit down and read.

Maison Assouline

Maison Assouline is one of those stores that you just can’t really afford! It has a large selection of what I would call coffee table books – that look fantastic and elegant, and beautiful… but cost a lot more than normal books.

Waterstones, Piccadilly

Still on Piccadilly we took a quick (a lie) stop into the massive Waterstones. Simialar in size to Hatchards – and with pretty much all the same stock we still wandered all around this store. It’s also a bookshop I’d already been before, so I kind of knew where I wanted to go. The YA section is huge as well as the foreign fiction section.

We also had a stop in the top floor restaurant/cafe for some lunch! Unfortunately there’s not much of an impressive view but it was super affordable compared to other places nearby.

The Second Shelf

Unfotunately The Second Shelf was closed due to inventory check/changes the whole week we were in London! It did however look super sweet from the outside – and was right next to coffee shops (which always makes things better!).

If we had managed to get in (and I’m sure I’ll revisit at a later date!!) we would have seen many women authors on the shelves.

Any Amount of Books

Oh. My. God. I loved this bookshop! It’s a used bookstore that is filled with books – I’m talking floor to ceiling shelves over two floors. Plus Any Amount of Books had a great deal that everything in basement was on half price… so I managed to buy 5 fantasy books for £5!

Henry Pordes Books

Whilst also a used book store – Henry Pordes also has a selection of older antique books and so was more expensive than Any Amount of Books. But, it also had SO MANY books and these were floor to ceiling too.

Stanfords

Stanfords mainly specialises in travel books (and maps!) but also has a selection of new releases and stationary. I loved the little globe section and how they’d split their specialised sectipn from mixed genre upstairs.

The Astrology Shop

As we were walking towards Magma we took a wrong turn and wandered into the Astrology Shop. As the name suggests, this contains many books around the specialised subject of astrology.

Magma

Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a photo outside Magma – but it’s a lovelys troe full of magazines, comics and books. I loved the feel of the shop – and it had a wide range of content in different topics from fashion to busienss.

Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue

We took an extremely brief look in Forbidden Planet, however it contained much of what it has up and down the country. Similar to Waterstones and Foyles – it had similar products and books that are popular and new.

Foyles, Charing Cross

Our last stop of the ssecond day was Foyls of Charing Cross. This Foyles is HUGE and has such a large selection of books across all genres. I don’t know about you but I love just looking at the full boookshelves so this was a gorgeous store for me.

Judd Books

Judd Books is a stunning independant that is super clsoe to King’s Cross station. Just a short walk leads you to a floor to ceiling style shop with a basement also full of books!

Gays the Word

Gay’s the word is a cute little store full of books that focus on LGBT+ characters and issues. Many of the books I saw were books I’ve seen in the blogger/booktuber space but there was also a huge range of new books I’d not heard of before!

Skoob Books

Skoob Books has a massive basement full of books as well as a free books section right as your walk in! It has so many books from all genres but I especially loved the fantasy section and the Orange Penguin section.

Persephone Books

An independant of Aesthetic creations. Grey covers of a bunch of stunning classic books is where Persephone Books shines – plus we saw these editions in local Waterstones too!

London Review Shop

Suggested by many different people we ventured to the London Review shop and founda a quaint little store full of books plus an asjoined cafe. Downstairs contained most of the YA and Kids books and there was a great selection of fiction on the ground floor.

The Atlantis Bookshop

Need something a bit witchy? Look no further than the Atlantis Bookshop full of witch related books.

Treadwells

Speaking of witchy…. Treadwells has a wide selection of books that relate to witches, astrology and other almost magical topics.

Waterstones, Tottenham Court Road

We eneded our book tour at Waterstones on Tottenham Court Road before admitting defeat and going home. After days of walking findin ourselves in the comfort of books we knew, owned and loved was something special.

To see our routes check out Google maps: