Bookstores in London --- coordinating with can't-miss historic sites

Great question. I love a good used bookstore too, and only found one in South Kensington last time we were in London. I'd love to find a really good one though, just to browse around in. I think there is a book flea market somewhere in London but don't know where or when though. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Hatchards in Piccadilly is my favorite bookstore ever. You can work it into a scenic walk between the National Gallery and Westminster Abbey. And if you go a little nuts and buy too many books* for your luggage to handle, they happily ship to the U.S. *No such thing as too many books!

When I'm in London I usually visit Stanfords in Covent Garden, not to be missed if you like travel books (and maps, and gizmos, and...): http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/detail/37574 And about anywhere in London there'll be a Waterstones nearby: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/

Wendy, check out the stores in the Cecil Court area, just off of Charing Cross Road near the Leicester Tube stop (www.cecilcourt.co.uk) It has about 20 antiquarian and second-hand independent bookshops. Just a short walk from the National Gallery.

My husband and I too love bookstores. We used to visit quite a number of them close to the British Museum, but I can't tell you their names (or if they are still there). It's been 3 years since we visited. However, that was a great area then for bookstores.

Charing Cross Road isn't the bookstore mecca that it once was, but there are still plenty of secondhand and antiquarian shops along the street and in the side alleys. For the widest ion of new books, nothing beats Foyles and Hatchards. If you get up to Oxford, check out the main Blackwell's shop. It's huge, altho you wouldn't know it from the outside. If you and your daughter are serious book and bookstore fanatics, it is worth the one-hour train trip to Oxford. Blackwell's in Oxford is my favorite bookshop, period.

If you are a book lover you must visit Foyles and hatchards just for the experience. Foyles is overwhelming. I always waalk up Charing Cross Road. Still a number of specialist book stores on the side streets and alleys leading off it. It is very convenient to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden. Chinatown.

Wendy, My own preferred route is to take the Underground to the Tottenham Court Road station, then exit and head south down Charing Cross Road. There are many fine new and used bookstores still, although as someone else mentioned, not apparently as it was in the past. (And on a side note, if you are a book lover, see the film 84 Charing Cross Road, if you haven't already.) You could spend hours exploring Foyle's and you should. I don't know what's become of the giant Borders there now that the company is failing. I've found many smaller, independent used bookshops along this route, although personally I find the shops in Cecil Court to be a bit too antiquarian, and too costly, for my wants. I continue walking south until Trafalgar Square (I think there is a more specialized technical bookshop somewhere in the vicinity?) and then peel off down Northumberland St. to have a meal at the Sherlock Holmes Pub and a post-meal walk along the embankment. As a different route, I also recommend the bookseller stalls along the south bank of the Thames. My best buys during my last trip came from the display tables set up along the riverbank. I don't recall if they are there every day or just weekends.
Happy reading and happy travels!

If you happen to be in Notting Hill to check out the Portobello Road market with your teen daughter, you may want to stop at The Travel Bookshop at 13-15 Blenheim Crescent. They have everything from guidebooks to travel memoirs, atlases, etc for kids to adults. It's also the bookstore that served as the inspiration for the travel bookstore run by Hugh Grant's character in the movie "Notting Hill" (the actual store where the movie interiors were shot with Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant is just around the corner and has changed hands a few times, I think it was a shoe store at some point in the last few years but I'm sure the clerks at The Travel Bookshop can point you in the right direction if you wanted to stop there, too. There also was a very cool mural down the block of Samuel Beckett painted on the wall, but I think there was some petition recently to save the mural so I don't know which side won and if Beckett's mural still remains. While Portobello may not be the best market in London, it is fun to walk around the area for an hour or two. You can find some pretty good street food on market days for a cheap lunch and no lack of cute cafes on the side & secondary streets for a sit down meal in Notting Hill.

Lots of good advice here. Ceidleh has a great suggestion with The Travel Bookstore. Also, I'm with Kathy; Stanfords in Covent Garden, and Waterstone's. There's a great Waterstones at 203 Piccadilly Street, a few steps from Piccadilly circus; seven floors, the fifth floor offers a bar with great views of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the towers of Houses Of Parliament. Great place to have a cup of coffee in the morning and buy a newspaper. Another great one is Books for Cooks. Lots of cookbooks, and cooking classes given in two different kitchens, by French, Italian, Japanese and British chefs. Also a fantastic cafe with international cuisine. 4 Blenheim Crescent, Notting Hill. They have a big comfy couch where I usually settle in with a cup of coffee or tea. Great place to stop in mid-afternoon for a break from sightseeing.

Best is waterstone's gower street. Various other specialist ones are scattered, eg cookery, old books, book markets.

Ps Piccadilly waterstone's great too

Is there still an outdoor sale in summers under Waterloo bridge, on the Thames? Wasn't exactly cheap, but I never really found cheap used books in the UK. A good place to look are charity shops as well, I picked up several things for a great price that I just cannot get here.

Thank you for all the great suggestions on bookstores and related walking routes. Wonderful suggestions. I'll also be doing a search to try to find out more about the outdoor book market on the South Bank - to find out exactly where it is, days and hours. Thanks, booklovers. Any other replies also welcome.

Since you are book lovers, suggest you read or at least rent "84 Charing Cross Road" delightful book about American woman who has a 30 year relationship with a bookstore at that address in London, sadly it is now I think a pizza place.

I've bought some great-and cheap- used books at Oxfam (charity shops), also at the library near Victoria Station, tho I'm sure any library would have some used books.

x2 on reading 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff!

The Travel Bookshop is closing soon. See this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8718545/The-Travel-Bookshop-Notting-Hill-store-that-inspired-Hollywood-film-to-close.html

=== the fifth floor offers a bar with great views of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the towers of Houses Of Parliament
=== Prices are a bit high, and we didn't get a window seat when we went there, but the view was indeed a nice one: http://hull534.smugmug.com/photos/i-28xRm9R/0/L/i-28xRm9R-L.jpg

Great photo, Dave!

You must visit Bloomsbury! Just up from the British Museum are five of the finest and independent book shops in London. Skoob (read it backwards) is near Russell Square tube and underneath Waitrose. Right next to it is Gay's the Word, which is a very famous LGBT book store. Just up the road is Judd Books, which has an emphasis on art and architecture. And for true London eccentricity, there is a little bookshop behind there which doesn't even have a name. It's run by a typically surly madman, who is terrifyingly knowledgable. Amongst the rotting knitting patterns and theatre programmes (10p each) you may well find a first edition or two (£500). There's also an Islamic bookshop around the corner. Mark