Discover London’s best book cafés, where literature and coffee come together. Whether you want a lively event or a quiet nook, find your perfect spot!
Cafés and books are natural companions. There is nothing better than the ambiance of sitting down with a good coffee or cup of tea while surrounded by books.
BookBar
With their winning mix of books, coffee, and wine, BookBar is a must-visit spot for book lovers in London. The warm atmosphere encourages conversation, with books tucked in every corner and walls full of recommendations to help you find your next favorite read.
Islington-based BookBar is a social space that wants to bring people together through a love of books. The London book café and wine bar often has live music, readings, and dating events, so you can meet people who share your love of literature.
Stanfords Coffee House
Trading since 1853, Stanfords Coffee House is the world’s largest retailer of maps and travel books. Based in Covent Garden, the book café takes pride in its vast collection of nonfiction, sourced by experts from all over the world.
A must-visit for travel and book lovers, Stanfords Coffee House is home to a huge selection of books and travel gifts. An entire floor is dedicated to maps and guides for basically any country, so you can spend hours browsing and buying. Indulge in your love of geography and then grab a nice cup of coffee in their café.
Vanilla Black Coffee & Books
Vanilla Black Coffee & Books is a charming little book café with a bright, airy atmosphere and a boutique selection of books and gifts. Grab breakfast and lunch while surrounded by wall-to-floor coffee table books and trinkets.
Vanilla Black Coffee & Books is an especially popular brunch spot. With a Scandinavian-inspired interior, enjoy the bright upstairs or retreat downstairs to the cozy fireplace and sofa area. There is even a kids’ corner filled with books and toys, and a hidden courtyard for a warm summer day.
Phlox Books
Despite only opening in 2017, Phlox Books feels like a much older book café. Found in East London, Phlox is a welcoming, family-friendly space for book lovers to take a moment out of their busy day.
The bright, airy Victorian book café has a range of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. The fully integrated bar/café is the ideal spot to enjoy locally roasted coffee, craft beer, or delicious wine.
Books for Cooks
Notting Hill’s famous cookbook shop is crammed with thousands of titles. Unlike other bookshops, you try out some of the cookbooks as co-owner Eric Treuillé likes to put these recipes to the test.
Opened in 1983, Books for Cooks has over 8,000 different cookbooks. You won’t find your run-of-the-mill TV chef cookbooks, instead, the book café likes to find more unique guides from around the world. Hiding in their bookshop are old favorites and new curiosities. Make sure to stick around to try the one recipe Treuillé has picked to try out that day or enjoy a slice of cake and a coffee in their café.
Maison Assouline
Maison Assouline’s international flagship store is a slice of luxury in the middle of bustling Piccadilly. Housed inside an old bank designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1922, browse Assouline’s sleek books on fashion, art, design, and photography.
Even if you’re not interested in this type of book, it’s worth visiting for the stately elegance of the building with its high ceilings and intricate woodwork. After browsing their coffee table books and gifts, check out their sleek bar and café. Maison Assouline feels more like a five-star hotel than a London book café.
Waterstones Piccadilly
Waterstones is a chain of bookshops found across the UK, but the Piccadilly store is extra special. Europe’s largest bookshop, this branch of Waterstones has eight miles of bookshelves over eight floors.
Once you have finished browsing their huge range of books, which cover almost every genre of fiction and nonfiction, head to the Waterstones café. Their fifth-floor café is an ideal stopping point for lunch when shopping in central London, visiting the local sights, or browsing their vast selection of books, board games, and gifts.
Foyles Charing Cross
In 2014, iconic bookshop Foyles moved its flagship store to Charing Cross. Known as the ‘Cathedral of Books’, the Charing Cross branch of Foyle is a book lover’s paradise with over 200,000 books spread over eight levels. There are specialist departments covering everything from military history to children’s fiction and modern art.
Head to the fifth level to visit the Café at Foyles, where you can grab a coffee or try their seasonal menu of fresh food made on site by the team. The sixth level is an auditorium that has a busy, year-round program of literary events, readings, jazz gigs, and workshops.
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Migz
Amelia Harvey
Amelia is a freelance copywriter, entertainment writer and film reviewer. With an English literature degree from The University of Winchester, she loves nothing better than finding a hidden gem of a bookshop. She often daydreams of opening her own second-hand bookshop in a little English village.
