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Best Bookshops in London

Independent gems, grand old institutions and specialist shops: London's best places to browse.

Starting order is based on how often each place appears in London's major guides. Your upvotes move places up.

  1. 1Marylebone · Multiple locationsAn Edwardian shop with oak galleries and stained glass, where travel books are shelved by country alongside fiction and history.
  2. 2Shoreditch · 166 Brick Lane, E1 6RUBorn as a community project in 1978, it runs book clubs and workshops and keeps winning or shortlisting for indie bookshop awards.
  3. 3Spitalfields · 65 Hanbury Street, E1 5JPBorges-inspired shop with mirrored ceilings, cosy nooks and books grouped by theme instead of alphabet or genre.
  4. 4Clapton · 70 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0RNA much-loved neighbourhood indie on Lower Clapton Road, shortlisted for London's Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2025.
  5. 5Notting Hill · 4 Blenheim Crescent, W11 1NNA cookbook specialist with a working test kitchen at the back serving dishes from recipes in the books on sale.
  6. 6Haggerston · 400 Kingsland Road, E8 4AAMixes new and secondhand stock with a strong small-press focus and a busy programme of author events.
  7. 7Chelsea · 10-12 Blacklands Terrace, SW3 2SRSpread across Georgian shopfronts since 1957, this Dickensian-feeling shop crams tens of thousands of titles into its rooms.
  8. 8Bloomsbury · 66 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1ABThe UK's oldest LGBTQ+ bookshop, open since 1979 with a range that goes well beyond mainstream queer titles.
  9. 9King's Cross · Regent's Canal Towpath, Granary Square, N1C 4BHA secondhand bookshop aboard a century-old Dutch barge on the Regent's Canal, hosting readings and live performances.
  10. 10Upton Park · 743-745 Barking Road, E13 9ERA community stalwart with half the shop given to children's books and bilingual dictionaries reflecting East London's diversity.

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