Literary Havens: Our Favourite Independent Bookstores Around The World 

There’s nothing like taking a moment to browse a truly great bookstore. So whether you’re looking for a cultural fix on your next getaway or looking for a somewhere a little closer to home, we’ve rounded up 21 of the best independent bookstores around the world for you to add to your must-visit list. With everything from the longstanding Parisian institution that formed a hub for the likes of Hemingway to the modern space championing women and queer authors in Berlin (not to mention perhaps the grandest of them all, an expansive literary space housed in a former theatre in Buenos Aires), you’re sure to find a bookstore for you... 

Pon Ding – Tapei City, Taiwan

This creative hub, set over three floors in central Tapei, is at the heart of the city’s artistic community, selling books as well as running art and photography exhibitions and workshops. Set in a former residential building, there’s a beautifully curated and displayed selection of art and design books on the ground floor, including lots of local and international indie publications. The second floor is an exhibition space, which often features emerging artists, and there’s also a café, where you can get stuck into to your new purchases over coffee.

Livraria Lello – Porto, Portugal

You’ll need a timed ticket to visit Livraria Lello (tip: book for when the shop opens in the morning, as the lines are likely to be shorter) but the price is redeemable against a purchase in store. Inside are two ornate floors of exclusive special editions of classics (think: Frankenstein and 1984), in a variety of languages. Opened in 1906, the shop’s neo-gothic design, including an impressive sweeping staircase, is one of the reasons behind its popularity – it’s said to the be the inspiration behind aspects of Hogwarts.

Wild & The Sage – Unawatuna, Sri Lanka

Every book on offer is personally vetted by owners Joe and Giselle at this cosy bookshop, housed in a black and white bungalow in Galle. They opened in 2022, stocking both Sri Lankan releases and international contemporary books, spanning all genres. There’s a regular schedule of book club events, author talks and story time sessions for children, along with a sunny courtyard cafe and restaurant serving breakfast and lunch, plus dinner three nights a week. The comfy chairs and homemade cake selection make it very easy to while away an afternoon, curled up with a good book.

Beastly Books – Santa Fe, USA

You might have heard of Beastly’s owner: Game of Thrones author George RR Martin. Specialising in science fiction and fantasy, with an emphasis on signed, rare and collectible books, the store is decked out in suitably sci-fi memorabilia, and there’s a rallying ‘banned and challenged books section’. You can also become part of the ‘Beast’ community at the free-to-attend events, which includes The Writers Den, where you can work on your own writing alongside others in companionable silence. Next door is another indie: the Jean Cocteau Cinema; also owned by Martin, who restored the space in 2013.

Lliberia Finestres – Barcelona, Spain

Designed by Quintana Partners, the team known for its refined approach, particularly when it comes to hotels, Finestres (meaning ‘windows’ in Catalan) in Barcelona’s Eixample district is unsurprisingly a sleek space. But there’s style and substance here, and while the space is cool, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Books are displayed together in all the languages they stock, rather than in separate sections (Spanish and Catalan, as well as some titles in English, French and Portuguese, to name a few), and among them is a great selection of architecture books. Across the street, you can find sister store Llibreria Finestres d’Art i Còmic, which carries comics and art.

Sappho Books Café and Bar – Sydney, Australia

Holding in excess of 30,000 titles over multiple floors, Sappho is a goldmine of secondhand books in the Glebe district in Sydney’s Inner West, covering everything from Australian fiction to classics to out-of-print books. There’s a cafe by day and a wine bar at night, which hosts poetry, comedy and live music nights, while upstairs is Da Capo, Australia’s only second-hand sheet music store. Stock is constantly changing across both spaces – meaning you’ll always have an excuse to keep dropping by.

Shakespeare and Co – Paris, France

Sylvia Beach founded the original Shakespeare and Company bookshop in 1919 – a Parisian meeting point for great writers of the period, including F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. The store’s current iteration was founded by George Whitman in 1951, becoming Shakespeare and Co in 1964 in homage to Sylvia. Along with hosting famous visitors, such as James Baldwin and Anaïs Nin, the store has offered more than 30,000 at-the-time unknown writers and artists (referred as ‘tumbleweeds’) a place to stay in return for reading a book a day, helping out in the shop, and producing a one-page autobiography. Some have gone on to hit the lit big time.

REaD – Tallinn, Estonia

An installation made of 5,000 books spans an entire wall on the top floor of this bookshop in the Põhjala factory area of Tallinn. Titled Women who run with the wolves, it’s by Italian artist Federico Ellade Peruzzotti and gives the already hip space, which encompasses the book shop, a cafe, and an event space – added shelf appeal. Founder Maaja Hallik’s is committed to giving people access to affordable books. As a result, REaD stocks mainly secondhand titles, with plenty sourced from Estonia’s Soviet-era libraries – many are only a few euros apiece.

Rachna Books – Gangtok, India

It’s a bibliophile’s dream: you stumble upon a bookstore in a beautiful Himalayan Mountain location and discover it not only has café but a bed and breakfast above it, too, so you don’t have to leave. Since Rachna Books opened in 1979, it has become a cultural landmark for locals and travellers alike, platforming local and up-and-coming writers and publishing books under its own imprint. The shop features an eclectic and diverse selection of literature, spanning culture, folklore and the classics, plus it has become a hub for literary events.

Another Story Bookshop – Toronto, Canada

Platforming and amplifying marginalised voices havsbeen part of this Ontario bookstore’s DNA since it was founded in 1987 by Sheila Koffman. Sheila passed away in 2017, but the store is continuing her work. Its inclusive book selection focuses on equity, diversity and social justice for adults, teens and children, and there’s a lively events schedule, from launches with big names, such as Arundhati Roy, to Q&As with scholars and rising poets and authors. It also provides intersectional educational titles to schools, with the education section of its website containing an excellent resources section, covering topics such as anti-racism and 2SLGBTQ+.

Atlantis Books – Santorini, Greece

A clifftop bookstore overlooking the caldera on a stunning Greek island? We’re sold. Atlantis came about when its founders spent a week holidaying in Santorini in 2002 – they noticed that there was no bookshop and fantasised about returning to open one. The dream didn’t fade and, two years later, they followed through. Originally located in Oia, the shop moved to its current location in Firostefani in 2024 and Atlantis 2.0 specialises in new and secondhand books in a variety of languages, as well as carrying rare and antique editions.

Komiyama – Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo’s book scene has everything from an ultra-modern ‘concept’ bookstore selling copies of a single title at a time (Morioka Shoten) to the century-old Jimbōchō book town, a district consisting of more than 170 primarily vintage bookstores, many of them decades old. Among them is the multi-floor Komiyama, which was founded in 1939 and has been passed down through three generations of the Komiyama family. It specialises in books on Japanese culture, photography, fashion, queer subcultures and art, as well as holding exhibitions and selling vintage photos and artworks. Clear your schedule, you’ll want to linger in the neighbourhood a while.

Clarke’s Bookshop – Cape Town, South Africa

Tucked beneath decorative railings on Long Street, Clarke’s is a portal to South African history. Opened in the centre of Cape Town in 1957 as a secondhand bookstore, it began specialising in books on Africa, particularly South Africa, starting in the 1970s. These days, you can find a large collection of new, used and hard-to-find fiction, non-fiction and rare and antique books, including titles that were banned during the Apartheid era. So extensive is its selection and talent for unearthing lost gems, that Clarke’s supplies both local and international libraries.

Brick Lane Bookshop – London, UK

Community is woven into the fabric of this shop – apt in an area that was historically central to London’s clothing industry. Borne out of the founding owner’s frustration in the 1970s that there were no bookshops in the area, Brick Lane Bookshop went through several names and locations before settling on a street that is so renowned that it’s a literary star in its own right (if you haven’t already, pick up Monica Ali’s 2003 novel Brick Lane while you’re there). As well as stocking fiction, non-fiction and dozens of books on East London history, the store’s regular book launches, writing workshops and annual short story prize keep the community spirit alive.

Wilborada 1047 – Bogotá, Colombia

You’ll feel right at home at Wilborada 1047, which is named after the Swiss patron saint of libraries and librarians (‘fun’ fact: her name was misspelled as ‘Wiborada’ when she was the first woman to be canonized in 1047). The impressive building formerly was a family home and dates to 1943. As a bookstore, it spans three floors and includes reading nooks and a coffee shop, with a book selection spanning all genres, and a regular schedule of book club events.

A few kilometres south, the Gabriel Garcia Márquez Cultural Center is another worthy literary pilgrimage. It houses the main HQ of Mexican publishing house Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE) and a bookshop containing 130,000 books, including a section dedicated to the centre’s namesake.

The Barefoot Bookseller at Soneva Jani and Soneva Fushi – The Maldives, Indian Ocean

Each year, a new ‘barefoot bookseller’ is appointed at the Maldivian resorts Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani, a dream job recommending reads to hotel guests from a paradisical location. Founded in partnership with the book curation service Ultimate Library in 2018, Soneva Jani’s whitewashed bookshop sits above a wildlife-filled lagoon, surrounded by greenery, and is staffed by the lucky, and very knowledgeable, current bookseller. Designed with tree-like shelving as a nod to the setting, the booksellers offer personalised consultations, writing workshops, author talks and quiz nights.

She Said – Berlin, Germany

Founded in 2020 by Emilia Von Senger, She Said is a colourful and inclusive celebration of women and queer authors. The store runs feminist groups, discussion groups and events, all of which are dedicated to platforming marginalised groups. Their selection focuses on intersectionality and includes everything from feminist criticism and political discourse to fiction and ’zines. It’s such a bookworm destination that there can be a queue to get in, but the She Said Quiet Shopping Hour offers dedicated time for neurodiverse customers to browse at off-peak times.

Cahyati Press – Seminyak, Bali

Community and creativity are at the heart of what the friends and founders of Cahyati Press Syarafina Vidyadhana (Avi) and Katyusha Methanisa (Kat) do. Along with the shop, they operate their own press, printing everything from stickers to ’zines. The store’s walls are decorated with its print work and customers are encouraged to talk about their own work and lives while browsing the literature, which focuses on contemporary women’s and queer voices. The print arm of Cahyati’soperation similarly concentrates on showcasing women and queer writers, particularly those overlooked by mainstream publishers.

Boekhandel Dominicanen – Maastricht, Netherlands

Those who worship books will feel right at home in this 13^th century Gothic cathedral-turned-independent bookstore situated in Maastricht’s historic centre. Operating as a church for five centuries, it was then everything from a concert hall to a bike shed before being reimagined as a bookstore in 2006. With bookshelves spanning multiple floors, you can peruse your favourite genre – the store carries new and used books, plus vinyl records, CDs and DVDs – while taking in the building’s Gothic arches and vaulted ceilings.

Strand Bookstore – New York, USA

There’s an independent bookstore to suit every reading taste in New York (The Ripped Bodice for romance fans, The Mysterious Bookstore for thriller lovers, Bookmarc for fashion, photography and art). As NYC’s biggest indie offering, housing 2.5 million books, Strand Bookstore is a New York literary institution, beloved by everyone from David Bowie to Bella Hadid. Opened in 1927, today it’s the last store standing on New York’s once-famous ‘Book Row’. Wear comfortable shoes for browsing – the store famously contains 18 miles of new, used and rare books.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid – Buenos Aires, Argentina

In a city with over 700 bookshops, there’s no shortage of competition for bookworms’ attention, but this grand former theatre houses El Ateneo Grand Splendid, one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world – so it’s well worth a visit. Opened as a theatre in 1919 and renovated into a bookstore in 2000, the original architectural and design details remain intact, but the private boxes are now reading nooks and the stalls have been replaced by bookshelves housing over 120,000 books. The stage is now a cafe, complete with heavy red curtains. Refuel there while reading your purchase – or just take time to gaze at the frescos.