Bookstores in Melbourne you need to visit!
I explored Melbourne bookstores and have some great recommendations of places you must visit! Melbourne is so rich in the book shopping scene that this is by no means an exhaustive list, but they are wonderful places to visit nonetheless. Let’s get started!
Hill of Content
Level 2/86 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
This iconic place is the oldest bookstore in Melbourne and opened in 1922! It’s a double story bookstore with a great selection of new books, with two levels to explore.
There are shelves and large tables full of interesting reads. I don’t know what it is about browsing on tables with all the books laid out but I love it!
They also have some very cute prints, tote bags, cards and wrapping paper for sale. Its a very quiet and cosy store.
You get given a free bookmark with your purchase and as a sentimental hoarder I just love this touch.
Literally as I am writing this, I found out that the new owner of the building is asking the business to vacate. So go visit it while you still can until the end of June 2025!! But luckily the store is continuing on and moving just down the road.
The Paperback Bookshop
60 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
It lives up to the name and is literally floor to ceiling books! As in, the walls of this store are actually made of books to purchase.
It’s like a cute little maze as you walk through. It feels almost like an adventure to discover all the little nooks and sections on offer.
Depending on the crowd it can be either silent with only the noise from the street, or quiet conversations between friends can be heard.
The store has that kind of vibe where you would come here with your book lover friends and have fun browsing and chatting.
For such a small place they have a really great variety of new fiction and non-fiction books here, you could really spend hours browsing.
City Basement Books
342 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000
This is a secondhand bookstore that is quite unassuming from the outside, but as you walk in, you’re met with bookshelves filled to the brim. There are so many passages of bookshelves that give way to little themed rooms all filled with books, of course!
The books range from being published a couple of years ago to decades and decades ago. This means you can find some really old and random books that have been out of print for a long time. They have large sections of books in other languages, too.
They also have a lot of books and magazines based on Melbourne history which makes this place a lovely resource for people to find this kind of obscure information.
Dymocks
Lower Ground Floor, 234 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
A classic store to visit while in Melbourne. They have such a grand entrance into the store that it’s difficult not to arrive in awe.
The birds-eye view gives way to a huge selection of new books.
You could really spend hours here, so luckily they also have a little cafe inside too. Although I feel like its never open when I visit!
They have a large selection of very cute bookish items to browse. Plus there’s also a bargain section for titles on the way out of their rotation and you can find some good deals here.
They have a membership too where you can accumulate points and eventually get credit to spend in-store.
There are so many more great bookshops in Melbourne and I barely scratched the surface of what this city has to offer! Look out for more of these as I make my way exploring them all.
