The Best Bookshops in Prague for English Books

Inspired by our upcoming Prague Literary Retreat, here are some of the best bookshops in Prague for English books.

I had the opportunity to peruse this UNESCO City of Literature‘s many bookstore on my research trip to Czechia, and they didn’t disappoint!

Here are my personal Prague bookshop recommendations, as well as tips of how to combine them on a bookshop crawl route or with many of the capital’s other literary attractions:

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Malá Strana Bookshops

Just over Charles Bridge from the Old Town, Malá Strana is where Prague’s English-language bookshop scene really began.

1. Shakespeare and Sons (Shakespeare a Synové s.r.o.)

Address: U Lužického semináře 10, 118 00 Malá Strana, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Daily 11am–7pm

Shakespeare and Sons is the largest independent English-language bookshop in Prague, tucked into a quiet street just behind the Charles Bridge.

It began life in 2002 in a former brothel in Vršovice before settling into its current Malá Strana home, and it has been the anchor of Prague’s expat literary scene ever since.

Inside, it’s wonderfully Tardis-like: fiction, poetry, travel writing and graphic novels crowd the shelves upstairs, with a spiral staircase leading down to a cobblestone basement stacked with even more titles, alongside a strong selection of French and Czech-in-translation books, including a devoted corner for Kafka, Kundera and Hrabal.

There’s a cosy reading nook with vintage armchairs (and a chessboard) if you fancy settling in, and a small but well-curated children’s section upstairs.

The basement also doubles as an events space, hosting readings, book clubs and the occasional concert.

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Staré Město (Old Town) Bookshops

The Old Town’s bookshop offering is smaller and more specialist than you might expect, but what’s here is genuinely distinctive.

2. K-A-V-K-A book

Address: Krocínova 5, 110 00 Staré Město, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 11am–6pm

KAVKA is part bookshop, part art gallery, and it’s the place to go if your idea of a holiday read is something you’ll want to display on a coffee table afterwards.

Housed on the ground floor of a functionalist building, it specialises in Czech and Slovak art, architecture, design and photography books, alongside antiquarian art titles and rare bibliophile editions.

Beyond the books, KAVKA sells original prints and drawings by contemporary Czech artists, and the owner’s personal connections to the local art scene mean the staff can talk you through the work on the walls as easily as the books on the shelves.

KAVKA also runs the reopened Franz Kafka Bookshop nearby in Josefov — so if you fall for the KAVKA style here, there’s more of it a short walk away (see below).

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3. Franz Kafka’s Bookshop

Address: Široká 65/14, 110 00 Josefov, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Daily 10am–12pm & 12:30pm–6pm

No bookshop crawl through Kafka’s home city feels complete without a stop here.

Reopened in the heart of the Jewish Quarter and run by the same team behind KAVKA, Franz Kafka’s Bookshop stocks Kafka’s own work in multiple languages, alongside Judaica, Czech and world literature in translation, and children’s books, all inside a beautifully restored space that nods to Kafka’s legacy without leaning on his more melancholic themes.

Given the location (a short walk from the Old-New Synagogue and the Jewish Museum) it’s an easy add-on to a KAVKA visit, and a fitting way to round out the Old Town leg of the crawl.

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Wenceslas Square & Nové Město Bookshops

Wenceslas Square and the streets running off it form the commercial heart of Prague, and they’re home to the city’s biggest general bookshops as well as a couple of excellent English specialists.

4. The Globe Bookstore And Café

Address: Pštrossova 6, 110 00 Nové Město, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Mon–Thu 10am–11pm | Fri 10am–midnight | Sat 9:30am–midnight | Sun 9:30am–11pm | (Kitchen closes at 10pm)

Founded in 1993, The Globe was Prague’s first English-language bookshop, and it remains the beating heart of the city’s English-speaking literary community.

It sits in a handsome 19th-century building a short walk from the National Theatre, stocking a curated 10,000-plus titles across fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s books.

It’s as much a café and cultural hub as a bookshop: the kitchen turns out burgers, salads and a full American brunch at weekends, and the events calendar runs to pub quizzes, live music, poetry readings and book launches.

The Globe nearly closed in the 2010s but was saved by its community and a change of ownership; it’s one of the last survivors of Prague’s 1990s expat literary boom, and it’s easy to see why locals fought to keep it.

If you only have time for one bookshop crawl stop in Prague, make it this one.

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5. Budget Books

Address: Spálená 82/4, 110 00 Nové Město, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–7pm | Sat 10am-6pm | Sun 11am–6pm

As the name suggests, Budget Books is where to go for new English titles without the usual price tag.

It’s a short walk from The Globe, stocking fiction, classics, non-fiction and children’s books in English, alongside a smaller Czech-language section for anyone brushing up on their language skills.

Look out for the discount bins, where brand-new books turn up for a fraction of their cover price.

There’s also a decent stationery corner and an online shop with in-store pickup, handy if you want to order ahead and collect on your way through.

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6. Academia Bookshop

Address: Václavské náměstí 34, 110 00 Nové Město, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30am–8pm | Sat 9:30am–7pm | Sun 9:30am–6pm

Academia is the place to go for Czech literature in English translation.

Run by the Academia publishing house (established in 1953 and still one of the country’s leading academic publishers) this flagship store on Wenceslas Square stocks Kafka, Kundera and Bianca Bellová alongside contemporary Czech writers you won’t easily find translated elsewhere, plus a strong run of books on Czech art, architecture, history and food.

The first-floor café, with its little balcony overlooking Wenceslas Square, is a lovely spot to sit with your new purchase, though it’s worth noting the café tends to close earlier than the shop, so don’t leave your coffee until the last minute.

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7. Luxor Palace of Books (Palác knih Luxor)

Address: Václavské náměstí 41, 110 00 Nové Město, Praha 1
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 8am–8pm | Sat–Sun 9am–8pm

Billed as the largest bookshop in Prague and Central Europe, Palace of Books Luxor spans several floors on Wenceslas Square and is not a place you pop into quickly.

The ground floor covers international bestsellers, travel guides and a genuinely enormous Harry Potter section (first editions and Nimbus 2000 replicas included!).

Head down to the basement for the dedicated English-language section, then work your way up through fantasy, academic titles and children’s books.

Beyond books, there’s stationery, board games, vinyl and even a café; it’s the sort of shop where you go in for one title and lose an afternoon. Trust me, I got lost several times.

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Vinohrady Bookshops

A short tram ride from the centre, Vinohrady rewards anyone who makes the trip with two very different specialist shops.

8. Book Therapy

Address: Římská 35, 120 00 Vinohrady, Praha 2
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–7pm | Sat 11am–5pm | Closed Sunday

Book Therapy is a beautifully designed bookshop and it’s been named among the best bookshops in the world by the design guide Do You Read Me?, and it’s easy to see why.

Founded by husband-and-wife team Petra and Jiří Caudrovi, every title in the shop’s 50 square metres is hand-picked, with a focus on design, architecture, fashion, food and children’s books rather than straightforward fiction.

The industrial-chic interior displays each book face-out rather than spine-out, so browsing feels closer to gallery-going than shelf-scanning.

If you’d like a proper look outside opening hours, the owners are known to offer private tours, sometimes with a glass of wine thrown in.

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9. knihkupectví Megabooks

Address: Korunní 1300/65, 120 00 Vinohrady, Praha 2
Opening Hours: Mon–Thu 9am–1pm & 2pm–6pm | Fri 9am–1pm & 2pm–4pm | Closed weekends

Megabooks (trading as Oxford Bookshop in-store) is the go-to for foreign-language fiction, textbooks and language learning materials.

As the exclusive Czech distributor for Oxford University Press, it’s particularly strong on English-language teaching resources, dictionaries and simplified readers, alongside general fiction, academic titles and children’s language books in English, German, French and Spanish.

Students get a discount with a valid ID card, and there’s a helpful order service for anything not in stock.

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Holešovice Bookshops

Cross the river to Holešovice and Letná for Prague’s most design-forward independent bookshop.

10. PageFive

Address: Veverkova 5, 170 00 Holešovice, Praha 7
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–7pm | Sat–Sun 11am–4pm

PageFive is an independent bookshop, publisher and RISO print studio all in one, and it’s been bringing alternative culture (art, design, photography and social issues) to Letná since 2013.

Expect zines, artists’ books, design magazines and a genuinely excellent stock of prints from Czech artists, alongside disposable cameras and film if you fancy documenting the rest of your Prague trip the analogue way.

It’s a small shop, so you’ll be browsing elbow-to-elbow with fellow book lovers, but that’s rather the charm of it.

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Prague Bookshop Crawl Tips

a) Plan your route by area.

• The Wenceslas Square cluster (The Globe, Budget Books, Academia, Palace of Books) can easily fill a morning or afternoon on its own.
• Pair Malá Strana’s Shakespeare and Sons with a wander across Charles Bridge into the Old Town, where KAVKA and Franz Kafka’s Bookshop sit within easy reach of each other.
• Vinohrady and Holešovice are each worth a dedicated trip.

b) Bring a spare bag. Between Budget Books’ discount bins and Palace of Books’ four floors, you will end up carrying more than you planned.

c) Check hours before you go, particularly for the smaller independents like Book Therapy and PageFive, which keep more limited weekend hours than the bigger chains.

d) Combine with a café stop. Several of these shops (The Globe, Academia) double as cafés, so you can read your new purchase before you’ve even left the building.

Have a favourite Prague bookshop that isn’t on this list? Prague’s literary scene is too rich for any single guide to cover completely. Let me know your recommendations in the comments below.

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