Arcadia Scotland

Whenever I go to a new place, one of the stops I make is a bookstore. Looking at bookstores can help me understand what is prioritized in a city, and in London, it is clear that writing and books themselves are held in the highest regard. When I decided to study abroad in London I immediately started making a list of all the bookstores I wanted to visit. Some of these stores were ones on my bucket list of bookstores I have always wanted to go to, and some I found by chance. London is a city that has a bookstore on almost every block. It was so much fun being able to walk around and find bookstores that I would not have been able to find otherwise! Although I went to likely over twenty bookstores in all, I definitely had a stand-out few that I would classify as new favorites!

• Waterstones on Piccadilly 
  Waterstones is the main chain bookstore in London. You can find one every other block. All of them have a wide array of books and are often the most convenient ones to pop into. However, my personal favorite Waterstones is the one on Piccadilly. It is six floors tall and has an almost endless supply of books. If you are looking for one specific book, you are almost guaranteed to find it within this store. I had an amazing time looking through all of the books and could have spent many more hours wandering around.
• Foley's
  Another ginormous bookstore, this one located on Charing Cross Road, is Foyle’s. This store, although a bit smaller than the Piccadilly Waterstones, is still quite large at four floors. There are tons of books to look at and a nice cafe to sit and work or read. I enjoyed the selection of books that they had and I really enjoyed the layout of the shop. It felt like a maze that I got to navigate with books around every corner.
• Hatchard's
  To hit another bookshop on Piccadilly is Hatchard’s. Hatchard’s is the oldest bookshop in London, and you can tell with the glorious dark wood and beautiful stairs. Although it might be old it is quite large with five floors to explore. My favorite thing about Hatchard’s was how cozy it felt with window seats and all the walls lined with books. I also really enjoyed their collections of special editions that I did not see in any of the other bookshops that I visited!
• Daunt Books
  I would say that the most gorgeous bookshop that I went to in London was Daunt Books. Daunt Books is a shop with its books mainly organized by country. Because of this, they have a large variety of travel books and nonfiction, while still stocking fiction that takes place in these countries or at least was inspired by them. My favorite part about this shop was the balcony on the top floor where you get a bird’s eye view of the bookshop. 
• Word on the Water
  The most unique bookshop that I went to in London was Word on the Water. This bookshop is held on a barge on Regent’s Canal. The boat is decorated with flowers, lights, and of course books. Although they may not have a large collection of books, each of their books is selected with care. They also sometimes have live performances held on top of their barge to help create an even better ambiance. 

Final Thoughts

Whether you are also someone who loves to explore a new bookstore—or some other hobby—if there is some other shop or other experience, London is likely to have it. There is so much to do, and so much to see. I was there for almost three and a half months and I still had bookshops left on my list to see! One thing I definitely appreciated about London was the sheer quantity of bookshops I could go to, and the quality of these bookshops. Someday I would love to go back and experience these bookshops all over again!