Favorite Edinburgh Bookstores

My favorite part about exploring Edinburgh is discovering all the great bookstores here. I keep finding more and wanting to buy books from them. I'm trying to restrain myself but when a bookstore has a great atmosphere, sometimes I just can't help myself.

Here are some of my favorite ones that I've discovered!

Blackwell's

Just a five minute walk from the center of my campus, Blackwell's is highly recommended for buying your schoolbooks. It might be a full-priced chain bookstore, but it's nevertheless fantastic. I walked in and it just has a great clean vibe. It's well-stocked and has a Caffè Nero attached to it so you can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while you read your recent purchases. While I adore secondhand bookstores, you can't help but admit that bookstores like Blackwell's are more likely to have what you're searching for and it will be much easier to find it.

Word Power Books

Word Power Books is basically two minutes away from the center of my campus and I walked by it numerous times before I got the chance to check it out. I adore Russian literature and I often saw in the windows books about Russian history and a beautiful copy of Doctor Zhivago, which I'd read while I was in Russia. I eventually walked in one morning when I was early for class and it's a fascinating and powerful store. The majority of its books are about activism and social change. I saw many feminist books and copies of The Communist Manifesto. It's an independent bookstore that's still full-priced, but you want to give it money as it's fighting against Amazon's takeover of bookselling. To feel inspired and motivated, check this bookstore out.

Till's Bookshop

Till's Bookshop is located on my trek back to my dorm from classes. The bookshelves go all the way to the ceiling and are packed full with books. I haven't had the chance to check out the shelves here as much, but it's a great secondhand store that you can spend hours at just staring at all the books.

Old Town Bookshop

Old Town Bookshop is located on my favorite street in Edinburgh, Victoria Street. Some people say the street inspired Diagon Alley and it has many other great stores to check out. There weren't as many books here that I wanted to check out, but in the back are some great old prints of Scotland. It also has that amazing tiny bookstore feel where you want to be quiet and gaze up at the full towering shelves. You'll feel incredibly scholarly here.

Armchair Books

Now Armchair Books is my favorite. It has a great selection for a secondhand bookstore and I cannot believe how the owners keep it organized. Everything is correctly sorted by author, something really difficult when the shelves look like this:

This is the bookstore to drool over: filled to the brim and giving off a warm homey vibe. The light fixtures are superb in adding to that effect and then you have the old rugs below you. It's the most idyllic bookstore I've ever been in. Yeah there are numerous bookstores that fill their walls to the top, but this one remains organized where you don't feel like you're in chaos. The great atmosphere makes you want to search every inch of these shelves though so you're still hunting through and able to stumble upon something great.

I can't wait to discover more here, even though they're so dangerous to my wallet!

What's the best bookstore you've ever been to? Tell me the story of how you found it!