London is arguably the greatest literary city in the world, and there is nothing better than losing yourself in the stacks and shelves of the capital’s bookshops. It’s always a good time to ditch Amazon and support your local shops. Here are 17 of the best independent bookshops in London, from a floating barge to a Mayfair grande dame. Most also ship or offer click and collect, so check each website.
John Sandoe: a British classic
If you love Paris’s Shakespeare and Co, then you’re going to fall head over heels with John Sandoe, tucked away on a street off the busy King’s Road. The shop was set up in 1957 and has largely remained the same since it first opened. It’s easy to get lost in this most delightful hodge-podge of books. Mary Quant, Keith Richards, Lucian Freud and Dirk Bogarde were fans, and so is this Londoness.
London Review Bookshop: best bookshop café
A book lover’s mecca, the London Review Bookshop is a cult favourite among London’s literature-loving crowd. Enjoy one of the café’s glorious bakes as you flip through some of the best curated books in the city.
Visit the London Review Bookshop website
Alice Through the Looking Glass: best for Alice in Wonderland fans
Tucked away behind Leicester Square on Cecil Court is the curioser and curioser Alice Through the Looking Glass. The shop specialises in Alice iconography, including first edition books, games, artwork and clothing, and there is also a mini museum.
Visit the Alice Through the Looking Glass website
Primrose Hill Books: best for books and marmalade sandwiches
Primrose Hill Books is an independent family-run bookshop on Regent’s Park Road. It’s surrounded by some of the prettiest shops and restaurants in north London, and it’s only a hop, skip and a jump to Paddington Bear’s house on Chalcot Crescent.
Visit the Primrose Hill Books website
Daunt Books: best for globetrotters
Any self-respecting London blog would have to mention Daunt Books, one of the best independent bookshops in London, with several branches across town. Daunt styles itself as a travel bookshop, but it’s a real treasure trove of books for all tastes and ages, and it is the best place to sit in London when it’s raining. Don’t forget to get your literary goodie packed up in one of the shop’s famous cotton bags. They have cute ones for children too.
Hatchards: best for a slice of London history
It’s got a royal seal of approval and it’s often called the oldest bookshop in London. Jane Austen was a fan, and it was Oscar Wilde’s favourite.
Word on the Water: London’s floating bookshop
Word on the Water is a charming, floating bookshop which you’ll find moored on the Regent’s Canal. The buoyant barge comes with friendly staff, a cosy armchair and a warm stove, and sells well-priced new and pre-loved books.
Visit the Word on the Water website
Lutyens and Rubinstein: best for intellectuals
Founded by two literary agents, Notting Hill’s Lutyens and Rubinstein sells books with an emphasis on literary excellence. There’s also a children’s section and a poetry and art corner. Head over to their Instagram for rarefied recommendations.
Visit the Lutyens and Rubinstein website
Heywood Hill: the Mayfair bookshop for personalised service
Heywood Hill is a grande dame of Mayfair, once famously hiring Nancy Mitford as a sales assistant and forevermore putting the shop on the tout London scene. It sells new, old and antiquarian books. They offer a nonpareil personalised subscription service, and they will ship anywhere in the world. The luxe service isn’t just for grown-ups: there’s a children’s department as well.
Visit the Heywood Hill website
The Second Shelf: best for girl power
This Soho gem is all about “feminizing your bookshelves”. It sells rare books by female artists and holds about 3,000 titles in stock. The shop includes modern literature, rare and antiquarian books, affordable first editions and collectible Penguin paperbacks. It’s definitely your first port of call if you want to build a library with some serious female punch.
Visit the Second Shelf website
Maggs Bros: best for deep pockets
Here I am at Maggs, holding one of the first editions of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Maggs is one of the oldest booksellers on the planet and is still under the same family ownership. The in-house team will help you ferret out some of the finest gems of the antiquarian book world.
Barnes Bookshop: best for books with a side of festival
There are many reasons to visit Barnes in south-west London: the Saturday farmers’ market (one of London’s oldest), the quaint village pond and the villagey range of independent shops. Every summer, the Barnes Children’s Festival descends on this London outpost, and at its epicentre is the Barnes Bookshop. The shop sells a fantastic range of fiction and non-fiction, and children’s literature, obviously.
Visit the Barnes Bookshop website
Tales on Moon Lane: best for kids
The name says it all: this magical book den for children has one of the city’s most coveted façades, and the interior is rather scrumptious too. The website is a source of inspiration for parents, and the award-winning shop also holds regular talks, storytelling, book fairs and festivals.
Visit the Tales on Moon Lane website
Nomad Books: best for couch potatoes
It’s famous for its fab kids’ book corner and its comfy couches, but Nomad Books is great for the grown-ups too. Located on a corner of the Fulham Road, it’s been a much-loved local since the 1990s.
Foster Books: a local institution
Famous for its Instagram-worthy eighteenth-century shop front, Foster Books has been a Chiswick institution since the 1970s. The building itself dates to 1790, and it also takes the prize for being Chiswick’s oldest shop. Foster Books specialises in used, rare and out of print books.
Visit the Foster Books website
Maison Assouline: best for lifting the spirits
Maison Assouline is the chicest bookstore in town and one of its most photogenic. Its flash shelves are filled with lustworthy coffee table books, and it’s a cabinet of curiosities too. Whilst you’re there, you could swig down a martini in the gorgeous bar, or you might prefer cake and tea instead. Either way, you’ll feel like a queen when you step inside this culture palace.
Maison Assouline is at 196A Piccadilly, London W1J 9EY.
Shop independent bookshops in London online with Bookshop.org
Independent bookshops across the UK have come together to battle against Amazon with their own online retail platform. Check out the new kid on the literary block: Bookshop.org.
Which of these independent bookshops in London will you visit first? Whichever you choose, you’ll leave with a book and probably a few more.
First written in 2020. Shops move, close and change their opening times, so please check each website before you visit.