Anyone who knows me knows that I’m quite the book nerd. On this trip I didn’t have a lot of must-do activities, so I gave myself the grace to enjoy a lazy afternoon here and there in pubs or over a meal reading a book. I also managed to bring home a total of 18 books … let’s just say I checked my carry-on suitcase on the way back home so I could have an extra tote bag of books on the plane. I bought those books at a total of 8 different bookshops and museum shops between London and Edinburgh. Here is the breakdown of where I went and what I came home with.

Do you ever buy books as souveniers?

London: Waterstones (Kensington High Street & Notting Hill)

Kensington High Street Store: 130 Kensington High St, London W8 7RL, United Kingdom

Notting Hill Store: 39-41 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ, United Kingdom

Waterstones is the UK equivalent of the US Barnes & Noble. They’re a big bookseller with locations everywhere. They do a lot of collaborations with authors to release special editions just like B&N, but the UK and US versions are always different / exclusive to the two stores.

On my first day in London I stopped into the Kensington High Street store to grab the special editions of Heartstopper, vol. 1 by Alice Oseman and Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I love both of these books so much and wanted to pick up the special editions before they sold out in the post-Xmas sale rush.

Later in my trip I finished reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry on my kindle and decided that since I liked it, I would pick up the full set of Emily Henry books in their UK paperback cover form. The UK covers are much more fun than the US ones, so I got the trio. I had to go to both the Kensington High Street & Notting Hill branches to get the full set but it was only a 15 min walk between the two so that was easy!

london / richmond: The Open Book

Address: 10 King St, Richmond TW9 1ND, United Kingdom

This was such a cute find around the corner from the famous Ted Lasso pub in Richmond (see more about that day here). David Attenborough must live nearby because they had a whole shelf of signed books by him. I had to grab one! Plus some classics.

london / richmond / kew: The Kew Bookshop

Address: 1-2 Station Approach, London TW9 3QB, United Kingdom

The Heartstopper obsession continues. I saw this cute bookshop on the way to the train station after visiting Kew Gardens (more on my Kew visit here) and had to grab something. When in doubt: always more Heartstopper.

london: Tate Modern Museum

Address: Bankside, London SE1 9TG, United Kingdom

Don’t forget that a lot of museums have great bookshops, when I was visiting the incredible Magdalena Abakanowicz exhibit, I picked up these two interesting London guidebooks to help with my trip.

London: Hatchard’s (Picidilly)

Address: 187 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9LE, United Kingdom

Note: The largest / main branch of Waterstones is just down the street from Hatchard’s. I went to other branches so didn’t need to stop in, but if you want to go to one Waterstones, make it that one.

I MAY have gone a WEEE bit overboard in here. But hey, it’s the oldest bookstore in London for a reason. The selection in here was incredible.

I’ve followed Max la Manna for years on instagram and had to grab his zero-waste cookbook while in the UK.

I picked up two classics, one Agatha Christie and the A. A. Milne book. The Milne one is the special Hatchard’s printing copy that has a hand numbered limited run. How could I not grab that?

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint is on my to-read pile but I knew the UK cover of this was different and lovely so I grabbed it.

And last but not least, I was able to book a last minute few days in Edinburgh (there was a train strike so it wasn’t certain that I could go before I got to London, see that full blog post here), so I grabbed a guide book once I knew I could get tickets!

Edinburgh: Golden Hare Books

Address: 68 St Stephen St, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 5AQ, United Kingdom

An adorable indie bookshop tucked in a side street near the xx was such a fun find. I just wanted to cozy up next to that fire!

The table of books I have shown above is all Scottish / Edinburgh authors. I almost grabbed a book from there, but then I saw this absolutely gorgeous copy of Celtic Weird and it had to come home with me.

Edinburgh: Ginger and Pickles

Address: 51 St Stephen St, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 5AH, United Kingdom

Right across the street from Golden Hare is Ginger & Pickles, an adorable little bookshop dedicated to children’s books up through the YA level. I had to grab a British children’s classic there of course!

Thanks for coming along with my book obsessed tour of the UK. I hope you consider getting a book as a souvenir next time you travel!

Happy Travels, and Happy Reading