The 13 best bookshops in Cape Town

Set on busy Roeland Street, The Book Lounge is one of Cape Town’s best-loved independent bookshops, where staff are always clued up on what’s new, what’s interesting, and what’s worth a gamble. Shelves run from literary fiction and new releases to children’s books, young adult titles, non-fiction, and a particularly strong South African selection. It’s also one of the city’s busiest book-world gathering points, with regular launches, author conversations, and literary events.

71 Roeland Street, Cape Town

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A Long Street landmark since 1957, Clarke’s is the bookshop for those who like their shelves with a bit of history. Founded by Anthony Clarke as a second-hand bookshop, it began specialising in Africana in the 1970s and remains one of the city’s essential stops for books on the continent. Expect new titles, second-hand finds, remaindered stock, and a dedicated Africana room where collectors and the casually curious can happily lose an hour. It’s a great stop if you love history, politics, biography, travel writing and regional non-fiction.

199 Long Street, Cape Town

There are so many good reasons to visit Kalk Bay, and few places offer a more tempting setting to browse a little longer than Kalk Bay Books. Set on Main Road in the seaside suburb, this independent store is a natural stop to bookend a leisurely lunch or a wander along the harbour. The selection here is carefully curated rather than all-encompassing, with a good spread of contemporary fiction, African and South African writing, children’s books, non-fiction, and a great choice of gift-worthy titles. It’s a small shop with a strong sense of place, and a useful reminder of how a great bookshop can still anchor a neighbourhood.

62 Main Road, Kalk Bay

One of the city’s best-loved second-hand bookshops turns buying a second-hand book into a small act of practical support. The charity-shop project is part of Goedgedacht Trust, which raises funds for programmes that support rural children and families in the Swartland area. Their Kirstenhof bookshop (and an online store too) sells well-priced donated books, while the wider operation also includes charity shops, a mobile bookshop and an online bookshop. The appeal is simple: affordable pre-loved books across an array of categories, with your next holiday read or children’s book helping to fund a much bigger purpose. 

254 Main Road, Kirstenhof

Amid the pool bars, restaurants and vintage stores of Lower Main Road, this charmingly independent store stocks both new and second-hand books, with an eclectic range of genres. And there’s more than just books on offer, with vinyl and vintage comics adding to the sense of a treasure hunt of creativity. It’s the kind of place where you might arrive with one title in mind, but leave with a handful of others you never knew you needed. 

76 Lower Main Road, Observatory

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Paper Moon brings old-school second-hand browsing to Roodebloem Road, with shelves of pre-loved books in good condition and a side helping of vinyl, posters and prints. The Woodstock shop is especially good for readers who enjoy the hunt: discounted paperbacks, unexpected finds, vintage oddities and the distinct possibility of leaving with more books than you intended to buy. This is a proper neighbourhood second-hand bookshop, where the pleasure lies in poking around.

105 Roodebloem Road, Woodstock

On Imam Haron Road in Claremont you’ll find a charity-shop ‘village’ rather than a simple second-hand bookshop. On site, you’ll find dedicated shops selling bric-a-brac, clothing, furniture and bakery goods, as well as a charming little café. That’s a fine spot to settle in with your latest find from the wonderful bookshop, where shelves are filled with everything from cookbooks and novels to children’s books and coffee-table titles. They’re all sold at low prices – some as little as R10, but usually R40-R80 for current paperbacks – and all funds raised support the Oasis Foundation, which works to improve the lives of people living with intellectual disability. 

Corner of Lee Road and Imam Haron Road, Claremont

For book shopping with a paw-sitive impact, TEARS is your go-to. The Emma Animal Rescue organisation sells pre-loved books through its charity retail network, with stores in Fish Hoek and Retreat. Expect the usual charity-shop mix of popular fiction, children’s books, old hardbacks (Jack Reacher is almost always in stock) and the occasional surprise. Every purchase supports TEARS’ animal welfare work, from rescue and rehabilitation to veterinary care.

Various addresses in Fish Hoek and Retreat

Trading in Fish Hoek since 1970, The Bookworm is one of the deep-south classics of Cape Town’s second-hand book scene. They buy and sell books alongside art, collectables and décor, giving the whole place the feel of a bookshop, an antique store and a vintage palace rolled into one. If you love your second-hand bookshops with plenty of character, this is an essential stop.

Corner of Recreation Road and First Avenue, Fish Hoek

You’ll find another feel-good second-hand bookshop on the Domestic Animal Rescue Group (DARG) property in Hout Bay, where the Book Shack sells donated books to help fund the organisation’s work with rescued dogs and cats. The stock is suitably varied and affordable, and entirely dependent on what has recently come in through donations. And that’s the appeal: one visit might turn up a summer beach read. Another might bring a stack of non-fiction or a forgotten classic. 

DARG, Main Road, Hout Bay

This compact second-hand store in the southern suburbs has a loyal local following, and it’s not hard to see why. The 3 Arts Village Mall has become a vibrant hub off Main Road, with ample parking that makes it easy to spend an hour meandering through shelves stocked with pre-loved fiction, history tomes, coffee-table books, collectables and the odd surprise. The mall setting makes it easy to pop in, but the stock has more personality than the location might suggest. For southern suburbs readers, it’s a useful stop for affordable books.

3 Arts Village Mall, Main Road, Plumstead

If you’re looking for the latest Dan Brown page-turner, Quagga Books is not for you. Rather, this is a destination for collectors, map lovers and anyone with a taste for the unusual. Founded in 1990, this family-owned Kalk Bay specialist buys and sells rare and collectable books, maps, artwork, photography and ephemera. Here, the books on the shelves lean towards the antiquarian and out-of-print, but even if you’re not in the market for a four-volume ‘The Book of Antelopes’, you’ll love browsing the mix of printed objects, visual arts and historical oddities. 

84/86 Main Road, Kalk Bay

Attached to the A4 Arts Foundation, the inspiring A4 Store is all about art books, rare books and artist-led creativity that spans contemporary art, design, publishing and visual culture. Expect small-run publications, photobooks, limited-edition zines, apparel and other artefacts connected to artistic projects and processes.

23 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town