Edinburgh was the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, and honestly, you can feel it the moment you start wandering its medieval closes and cobbled lanes.
The city practically breathes books. It’s the home of Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, and Ian Rankin — and, if you know where to look, the city that inspired J.K. Rowling to dream up a certain boy wizard.
Whether you’re a lifelong bibliophile or just looking for the perfect rainy-afternoon activity (and in Edinburgh, there will be rainy afternoons), this guide to the best bookshops in Edinburgh will help you do a proper bookshop crawl.
I’ve organised everything by neighbourhood so you can walk between them without too much backtracking, with addresses and opening hours included so you know exactly when to turn up:
29th May – 1st June 2026
Edinburgh Literary Retreat
Explore Edinburgh’s literary magic with a bookshop crawl, a Sherlock Holmes–inspired mystery, Harry Potter sites, and a literary pub crawl that brings the city’s stories to life.
Edinburgh City Centre Bookshops
The logical starting point for any bookshop crawl is the city centre, where you’ll find a mix of big-name shops and characterful independents within easy walking distance of one another. Start here, then work your way outwards.
Waterstones (Princes Street)
Address: 128 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4AD
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–7pm | Sun 10am–6pm
Yes, it’s a chain — but the Waterstones on Princes Street earns its place on any Edinburgh bookshop crawl, and not just for its four floors of books.
It has a dedicated Scottish department stocked with the richest selection of Scottish history, fiction, and culture you’ll find in any single shop.
There’s a proper children’s section, a lively events programme, and a lovely café on the second floor with views straight across to Edinburgh Castle.
If you’re going to do one chain bookshop, make it this one.
Main Point Books
Address: 77 Bread Street, West Port, Edinburgh, EH3 9AH
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 12pm–6pm | Closed Sunday
A short stroll from Princes Street takes you to Main Point Books, a small and somewhat gloriously chaotic second-hand shop tucked into Edinburgh’s Old Town.
It’s the kind of place that has “stock with attitude” — fiction, post-colonial studies, labour history, feminism, Scottish history, art, and spirituality share the shelves with collectable old books and 19th-century prints.
The shop also operates as a small poetry publisher, so don’t be surprised to find original chapbooks alongside the dog-eared paperbacks.
Edinburgh Books
Address: 145–147 West Port, Edinburgh, EH3 9DP
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–6pm | Closed Sunday
Billed as the largest second-hand bookshop in Edinburgh, Edinburgh Books is a place where serious browsers can lose themselves for hours.
The shelves are stacked vertically and horizontally, every surface covered — it’s the sort of shop where patience is rewarded with a brilliant find.
It sits along the same stretch of West Port as Armchair Books, so the two pair together perfectly as an afternoon double bill.
Armchair Books
Address: 72–74 West Port, Edinburgh, EH1 2LE
Opening Hours: Daily 10am–6:30pm
Just a few doors down from Edinburgh Books, Armchair Books is one of the most beloved second-hand bookshops in the country — and rightly so.
It describes itself as “very nearly alphabetised chaos,” which perfectly captures the labyrinthine experience of moving through its interconnecting rooms, each one stuffed floor to ceiling with pre-loved books.
The pre-1950 collection is particularly impressive, and the staff are genuine book people who will happily help you track down that thing you half-remember.
Don’t miss the castle views from West Port while you’re there.
John Kay’s
Address: 8 Victoria Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2HG
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 11am–7pm | Sat 10am-7pm | Sun 10am–6pm
Victoria Street is one of Edinburgh’s most photographed streets — a curving cobbled lane lined with colourful shopfronts that has long been cited as a possible inspiration for Diagon Alley.
John Kay’s, with its sage-green facade and old-fashioned window displays, looks every inch the part.
Inside, you’ll find a curated mix of second-hand and antique books alongside beautiful editions of classics, vintage maps, unusual artworks, and bookish gifts.
Transreal
Address: 46 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh, EH1 2QE
Opening Hours: Wed–Fri 12pm–5pm | Sat 11am–5pm | Closed Sun–Tues
Tucked away on Candlemaker Row — right beside Greyfriars Kirkyard, that famed Harry Potter location — Transreal is Edinburgh’s dedicated science fiction and fantasy bookshop.
It’s said to have the largest range of imported sci-fi and fantasy titles in Scotland, including plenty of titles you simply won’t find in a regular bookshop.
If you’re a fan of Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, or the more experimental edges of speculative fiction, this is your place.
Bookshops Along the Royal Mile
The Royal Mile and its surrounding streets sit at the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, stretching from the Castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It’s a natural spine for a bookshop crawl, with several excellent shops either on the Mile itself or just a short detour away.
Blackwell’s Bookshop
Address: 53–62 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1YS
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–7pm | Sat 10am–6pm
Edinburgh’s oldest bookshop has been selling books on South Bridge since 1848, and it remains one of the best.
Spread across three floors, Blackwell’s has an impressive breadth — from university textbooks to the latest literary fiction — and its Scottish Room offers one of the finest collections of Scottish books in the city.
A Caffè Nero inside makes it an easy place to settle in for a while.
Lighthouse Bookshop
Address: 43–45 West Nicolson Street, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9DB
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–8pm | Sun 11:30am–5pm
Lighthouse describes itself as Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop, and it earns that title.
Queer-owned and women-led, it’s a community space as much as a shop — stocking politics, history, feminism, environmental writing, LGBTQ+ fiction, and books in translation alongside a robust children’s section.
The booksellers are extraordinarily knowledgeable and genuinely passionate.
One of the most distinctive things about the shop is the “Pay It Forward” board, where customers can leave credit for those who can’t always afford to buy books — it’s a beautiful idea.
Tills Bookshop
Address: 1 Hope Park Crescent, Edinburgh, EH8 9NA
Opening Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–6pm | Sun 12pm–6pm
Established in 1986 and beloved by generations of Edinburgh students and locals, Tills Bookshop sits at the eastern edge of the Meadows and feels like stepping into a well-loved private library.
Two interconnecting rooms lined with shelves rising to near-vertigo heights hold an excellent general selection — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, science fiction, and a wonderful section of film and television books.
On cold days, there’s an open fire in the back room.
Book Lovers Bookshop
Address: 6 Melville Terrace, Newington, Edinburgh, EH9 1ND
Opening Hours: Wed–Sun 11am–6pm | Closed Mon–Tue
Scotland’s Indie Bookshop of the Year 2026 is also the UK’s very first brick-and-mortar romance bookshop — and it’s brilliant.
Founded in 2024 by Caden Armstrong, a queer and disabled American who fell in love with Edinburgh during postgraduate studies, Book Lovers stocks every corner of the romance genre: classic Regency, contemporary, dark romance, romantasy, monster romance, paranormal, and everything in between.
The curation is impeccable — the owner reads everything they stock — and the atmosphere is warm, welcoming, and refreshingly unapologetic about the genre.
Northeast Edinburgh Bookshops
The stretch around Leith Walk and Haddington Place has quietly become one of Edinburgh’s most exciting bookshop clusters, with three very different shops within a few minutes’ walk of one another.
Topping & Company
Address: 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH
Opening Hours: Daily 9am–9pm
Topping & Company is the kind of independent bookshop that makes you question every large chain you’ve ever set foot in.
Set inside a beautiful former bank at the top of Leith Walk, it stocks around 70,000 titles across two light-filled floors, with rolling ladders reaching the upper shelves and cosy reading nooks tucked into corners.
The curation is exceptional — strong in literary fiction, history, nature writing, and the arts — and the booksellers have the kind of considered knowledge that turns browsing into a genuine education.
Best of all: complimentary tea is available for customers, served in charming navy polka-dot teapots!
McNaughtan’s
Address: 3a & 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh, EH7 4AE
Opening Hours: Daily 11am–5pm | Thursdays until 8pm
The oldest surviving second-hand and antiquarian bookshop in Scotland, McNaughtan’s has occupied the same basement premises at the top of Leith Walk since 1957.
It’s the only open shop in Edinburgh holding membership of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, and the quality of the stock reflects that pedigree.
Rare, collectable, and antiquarian titles are arranged with care in a space that feels genuinely timeless — shelves floor to ceiling, books around the door frames, the faint creak of an old building doing its thing.
Typewronger Books
Address: 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh, EH7 4AE
Opening Hours: Daily 11am–9pm
Sharing the building with McNaughtan’s is one of Edinburgh’s most singular shops. Typewronger is the smallest indie bookshop in the city, but it punches well above its weight.
Run by Tee Hodges — who previously worked at Shakespeare & Company in Paris — it stocks new books, indie publications, zines, and secondhand typewriters, with a free public typewriter that anyone can walk in and use.
The events programme is equally distinctive, featuring open mic nights with a gong and a play-reading group called Type-CAST!
The shop also operates its own risograph printing studio. It’s a community hub, a literary odd-job shop, and a bookshop all at once.
Stockbridge Bookshops
Stockbridge is one of Edinburgh’s most charming neighbourhoods — all artisan delis, cobbled lanes, and Sunday market stalls by the Water of Leith. It also happens to have a cluster of wonderful bookshops that make for an ideal afternoon crawl, particularly if you combine them with a stroll through the nearby Dean Village or a visit to the Royal Botanic Garden.
The Gently Mad Book Shop & Bookbinder
Address: 2 Summer Place, Edinburgh, EH3 5NR
Opening Hours: Daily 11am–5pm
A few minutes’ walk from the Royal Botanic Garden, The Gently Mad is one of those bookshops that feels genuinely transportive.
A family business opened in 2012 by bookbinder Rab Mullin and his son Baz, it specialises in second-hand and antiquarian books, with a particular strength in illustrated children’s books, natural history, Scottish interest, and mythology.
Old bird cages hang from the ceiling, vintage lamps glow softly, and the smell of aged leather and dust is utterly intoxicating.
Downstairs, there’s a working bookbindery — you can bring in a treasured old volume for restoration. Rare and valuable items, including first editions, are kept behind glass and available on request.
Rare Birds Book Shop
Address: 13a Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, EH4 1HU
Opening Hours: Daily 10am–5:30pm | Closes 5pm on Sundays
Scotland’s only bookshop dedicated entirely to women’s writing, Rare Birds is a joyful, colourful space that makes a compelling case for specialist curation.
The shelves are packed with fiction and non-fiction by women across every genre — new releases, literary classics, modern backlist — along with subscription boxes, bookish gifts, and a lucky dip “mystery book” wall.
Dogs are not only welcomed but positively encouraged! The ethos is warm and the recommendations are always excellent.
Golden Hare Books
Address: 68 St Stephen Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5AQ
Opening Hours: Daily 10am–6pm
Winner of Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2019, Golden Hare is tucked away on the charming St Stephen Street and has a reputation that precedes it.
The space is small and thoughtfully arranged, with every title feeling carefully chosen — literary fiction, non-fiction, nature writing, and a beautiful children’s section.
A central fireplace in the middle room adds warmth on grey days.
The booksellers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and the PostBooks subscription service — a parcel of hand-picked books delivered monthly — is a lovely way to support the shop from afar.
Ginger and Pickles Children’s Bookshop
Address: 51 St Stephen Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5AH
Opening Hours: Mon 10am–5pm | Tue Closed | Wed 10am–5pm | Thurs–Fri 10am–6pm | Sat 9:30am–5pm | Sun 10am–4pm
Directly opposite Golden Hare Books sits Edinburgh’s only dedicated children’s bookshop, and it’s a delight.
Small but beautifully stocked, Ginger and Pickles champions timeless stories and Scottish authors, with something for every young reader from board books and picture books to middle grade and young adult fiction.
The shop also runs writing competitions, donates books to schools and charities, and collaborates on author events with local primary schools. A wonderful place to find a thoughtful gift for a young reader in your life.
Edinburgh Bookshops Further Afield
These three shops are worth making a specific trip for — each one offers something genuinely distinctive that you won’t find in the city centre clusters.
Argonaut Books (Leith)
Address: 15–17 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH6 8LN
Opening Hours: Sun–Thu 10am–6pm | Fri–Sat 10am–8pm
Set inside the beautifully restored old Leith Central train station at the foot of Leith Walk, Argonaut Books has quickly become one of the most exciting bookshops in Edinburgh.
Opened in 2021 by Adam Barclay — a lifelong Leither and former EIBF bookshop manager — it stocks a genuinely diverse and curated selection of new releases, old favourites, and carefully chosen backlist titles.
There’s also a lovely café with local suppliers’ coffee and Artisan-roasted beans, making it equally good for working, reading, or simply watching the world walk past the big windows.
The events programme is ambitious and well-attended.
The Edinburgh Bookshop (Bruntsfield)
Address: 176 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4DF
Opening Hours: Mon–Wed 10am–6pm | Thu–Sat 9:30am–6pm | Sun 11am–5pm
The big purple bookshop on the corner of Bruntsfield Place is a Bruntsfield institution and one of the best-loved independent bookshops in Scotland.
Multiple winner of Scottish Independent Bookshop of the Year, it specialises in intelligent, unusual curation — the kind of shop where you reliably come across something you’ve never heard of and immediately need to read.
A welcoming, warm-hearted shop that makes the trip down from the city centre well worthwhile.
Portobello Bookshop (Portobello)
Address: 46 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh, EH15 1DA
Opening Hours: Daily 10am–6pm
Edinburgh’s seaside suburb has its own charming bookshop, and it’s rather wonderful.
The Portobello Bookshop opened in 2019 in what was formerly a fishing tackle shop, and the conversion is elegant — soft colours, clean lines, and a warm, welcoming interior stocked with over 8,000 titles across fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and a very special children’s area.
The shop hosts regular author events and is the anchor venue for the annual Portobello Book Festival.
Science fiction and fantasy author V.E. Schwab lives locally and is one of its most enthusiastic regulars. Combine your visit with a walk along the promenade.
Little Free Libraries & BookCrossing in Edinburgh
Edinburgh has a scattered network of Little Free Libraries — those painted wooden boxes where you take a book and leave a book — which feel rather appropriate for a UNESCO City of Literature.
Keep an eye out as you wander: there are notable examples in Stockbridge, Leith, and the Meadows area.
Edinburgh Bookshop Crawl Tips
Plan your route by area. The West Port shops (Edinburgh Books, Armchair Books), the Royal Mile area (Blackwell’s, Lighthouse, Till’s, Book Lovers), and the Haddington Place cluster (Topping & Company, McNaughtan’s, Typewronger) can each be done in a morning or afternoon. Stockbridge’s four shops fit neatly together with a stroll.
Bring a bag. Ideally a large one. You will buy more than you planned.
Check hours before you go. Smaller independents can keep variable hours, especially outside peak tourist season. Typewronger in particular is worth confirming in advance.
Visit during the festivals. The Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place every August in Charlotte Square, and many of the city’s bookshops extend their hours and host their own events alongside the main programme.
Have a favourite Edinburgh bookshop that isn’t on this list? Let me know in the comments — this city’s literary scene is too rich for any single guide to cover completely.
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More Fantastic Books & Where to Find Them
For more of what to read where, check out my full Travel Books Guide, filled with book recommendations for different destinations, the most beautiful bookstores around the world, tips on how to get the best deals on audiobooks and e-books, as well as more literary travel.
Travel Essentials
Here are the websites and services I personally use and recommend.
FLIGHTS: The best deals can be found on Skyscanner, Google Flights and Kiwi (learn more about Kiwi travel hacking here).
TRAVEL INSURANCE: I recommend World Nomads for travel insurance because you can purchase once you’re already overseas and you can easily extend your policy. For digital nomads, I recommend and personally use Genki (learn more about Genki digital nomad health insurance here).
E-SIM: For travel in Europe, I use an e-sim with GoMobile, which is a provider based in Malta, but you need to be there to set it up.
ACCOMMODATION: I use Booking.com for hotels and Airbnb for apartments. For Colivings, I usually book privately, but Coliving.com is a good place to start.
THINGS TO DO: I use Viator or Get Your Guide for booking day trips, city tours and other activities, though I often check reviews on TripAdvisor too.
