Where to go book shopping in Hampshire is your guide to the best areas to hunt for new releases and second-hand books.
Recently I’ve found a whole new part of Hampshire I’ve only ever gently touched upon. Yep, you guessed it, the county’s bookshops and my goodness we have lots of them.
For a long time I’ve been robbed of the joy of reading either from being stressed or time poor but, mostly from being stressed.
Rediscovering reading has got me out exploring different areas while I’ve been hunting for books. And, now I’m sharing where to go book shopping in Hampshire so you can have boujie, slow days brunching and browsing books.
📍 Alton
📖 Alton is not home to a huge amount of shops but Goldfinch Books is worth a peruse, it has a really lovely Waterstones and it has plenty of charity shops with great second hand book sections to explore.
📍 Emsworth
📖 Bookends of Emsworth is the best shop here for second hand books but there’s also lots of charity shops. The coastal location means its a great place to tie in a walk too, just make sure you walk first, buy books later.
📍Hayling Island
📖 In Hayling you’ll find the smallest village bookshop in the UK, The Hayling Island Bookshop. The shop is tiny, charming and a hundred percent worth a stop when nearby. And yes, there’s plenty of charity shops to get stuck into too.
📍 Lee-on-the-Solent
📖 I sound like a broken record but Lee has lots of charity shops that are good for second hand books too. But it also has one book shop, and I think it’s the only one, that’s been running since 1933 called The Book Shop.
📍Lymington
📖 Lymington is home to the absolutely magical The Imaginarium, an independent bookshop with a focus on fantasy, folklore and magic. They have a children’s, chart and other sections too. Saturday is market day and a good time to visit as in addition to the charity shops and book shops you’ll also find book stalls among the traders on the high street. The Oxfam dedicated music and book shop has a brilliant second hand book selection and I came back with a whole bag full of books just from this one shop recently.
📍Petersfield
📖 In Petersfield you’ll find One Tree Books an award winning independent bookshop, The Petersfield Bookshop which is a maze of second hand books waiting to be discovered, Waterstones and of course more charity shops!
📍 Portsmouth
📖 Unlike the other towns and villages mentioned Portsmouth is much bigger and the book shops spread out. Different areas have little nuggets of book-ish goodness. Seek out the independent Pigeon Books in Southsea, second hand books at Jade Mountain and The Bridge Bookshop (also second hand). Portsmouth is covered with charity shops too that are well worth popping in to see what book treasures they hold.
📍 Southampton
📖 The massive Waterstones with its lovely cafe is just great. The commercial giant has been helping to keep the UK book scene afloat and they have their place, and their new layouts make browsing such a treat. Forbidden Planet is also ace for fantasy and graphic novels among other fantasy games, models and toys.
And, oh my I will sound like a broken record but Southampton has so many charity shops. I have most of my book success in the ones on the main high street, the British Heart Foundation is particularly excellent for literature with a high turn over. It’s also worth going to the Oxfam Music and Book shop too that’s literally the other end of the high street.
Southampton is pretty big, and there’s shops all over, head to Portswood for October Books which I think is the city’s largest independent bookshop.
📍 Winchester
📖 Undoubtedly P&G Wells independent bookshop is the most historic bookshop in Hampshire. This is where Jane Austen herself shopped for books which gives it legendary status among its peers for sure. You’ll find second hand book heaven at Winchester Cathedral Deanery Bookstall, The Winchester Bookshop and Oxfam Books and Music. There’s even a few books lined up on the wall at Kingsgate Prints and Books.
Book Shopping in Hampshire
I hope you’ve enjoyed this round up of where to go book shopping in Hampshire and have an excellent time when you are out hunting for your next read.
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A great blog bringing together many of the great independent book shops that we are lucky enough to have here in Hampshire