The world’s first book town, Hay On Wye, is probably best known for hosting the Hay Festival. Bringing together authors, readers and reviewers alike to this small Welsh village.
I had the pleasure of visiting this village in December last year, as my boyfriend’s family home is conveniently less than an hour’s drive away.
The book town boasts a total of 26 bookstores for its population of 2,000 people. That’s 1 bookstore per 77 people in the small village. Aka, my kind of place.
I wanted to make a list of all the bookshops in the area, if like me, you want to visit and browse every single one. You can find my monthly book reviews here, and follow me on Goodreads here.
Related blog posts to read:
- Reviews and Ratings of the 100 Books I Read in 2022
- 10 Obsessively Addictive Book Series to Read This Year
- My 9 Most Anticipated Books Releasing in 2024
- Four Weeks Exploring Wales
- I’ve Moved to Cardiff, Wales!
If you need somewhere to eat during your visit to Hay On Wye, check out The Cosy Cafe. We had a gorgeous breakfast here before starting to browse the book town!
You can also explore Hay On Wye visually in my YouTube vlog as I recorded my time there, wandering through many of the bookstores:
26 Bookshops to Visit in Hay On Wye, Wales
1. Richard Booth’s Book Shop
Address: 44 Lion Street, HR3 5AA
2. Addyman Books
Address: 39 Lion Street, HR3 5AA
3. Gay on Wye
Address: 3 Lion Street, HR3 5AA
4. Castle Book Shop
Address: Castle St, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford HR3 5DF
5. The Poetry Bookshop
Address: The Pavement, Lion Street, HR3 5BU
6. Murder & Mayhem
Address: 5 Lion Street, HR3 5AA
7. Clock Tower Books
Address: 5 Market Street, HR3 5AF
8. Hay Cinema Bookshop
Address: Castle Street, HR3 5DF
9. Green Ink Booksellers
Address: Grove House, High Town, HR3 5AE
10. Hay on Wye Booksellers
Address: 13/14 High Town, HR3 5AE
11. North Books
Address: 4 Castle Street, HR3 3DF
12. Francis Edwards
Address: First floor of Hay Cinema Bookshop, Castle Street, HR3 5DF
13. The Addyman Annexe
Address: 27 Castle Street, HR3 3DF
14. The Old Electric Shop
Address: 10 Broad Street, HR3 5DB
15. The Children’s Bookshop
Address: Toll Cottage, Pontvaen, HR3 5EW
16. Haystacks Music & More
Address: Backfold, HR3 5EQ
17. The Hourglass Collection
Address: 2 Broad Street, HR3 5DB
18. Carden Bookseller
Address: The Nursery, Forest Road, HR3 5DT
19. Broad Street Book Centre
Address: 6 Broad Street, HR3 5DB
20. Tom’s Record Shop
Address: 13 Castle Street, HR3 5DF
21. Mostly Maps
Address: 2 Castle Street, HR3 5DF
22. Tangled Parrot
Address: 2 Lion Street, HR3 5AA
23. The Hay Binders
Address: The Blacksmith’s Shop, Lion Street, HR3 5AD
24. The Black Mountains Bindery
Address: Oxford Terrace, HR3 5AH
25. The New Strand
Address: Eardisley, Hereford, HR3 6PW
26. Brecon Books
Address: 11, Lion Yard, Brecon, Powys, LD3 7BA
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