About The Guide

Hello! We are Sonja and Ivan. And this is our Bookstore Guide - an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe. We hope this Guide will help you find the book(stores) you are looking for. Unfortunately, the bookstores are no longer uploaded and may be out of date

New Feature on Bookstore Guide




Thanks to Nomao and Google Maps, we have the pleasure to introduce a new feature to our guide. Namely, it's a map where we've marked all the bookstores in our guide. This should help you locate the bookstores more easily. Unfortunately, not all the cities have a detailed map of the streets but should at least give you some sense to where the place with the bookstore is. We have just started adding the bookstores to the map, so stick around to see the whole map of Europe become filled out with your favorite bookstores.

Each page has a smaller map zoomed in to show you where exactly the bookstore can be located (where available).

Enjoy your bookhunt,
Sonja and Ivan




Papyrus, Naxos Town


Where? Naxos Town, Naxos, Greece



Recommended by
Janet (USA)

Janet said: "I can personally vouch for several bookstores I have enjoyed on my 7 extended trips to Greece (I'm ALWAYS running out of books). My favorite is in Naxos -- Vrakas, in Naxos town. It used to be in the back room of the Vrakas Jewelry store on the harborside crescent, with its famous sign "Gold, Silver, Used Books." It became so popular it has moved about 20 meters to the left, in a niche up a few steps. It stocks used hardcover & paperbacks in 6 or 7 languages, English the most extensive-- meticulously shelved by fiction/nonfiction alphabetically. As a North American, I especially enjoy finding UK titles that are not available in the US. You can swap your own books for credit toward purchase."

Located in Naxos Town, on the island of Naxos, the biggest one of the Greek islands in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea, Papyrus, a bookstore which specializes in second hand books, can certainly be considered a rarity for anyone, whether a local or a tourist for it provides literature in many European languages.

Papyrus, a bookstore selling only used books, both fiction and non-fiction, in many languages, some of which are English, German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek and Italian, is located in the small alley between Loca Bar and Vrakas - Silver Jewelry on the waterfront in Naxos Town. The bookstore also buys books for half the selling price.

Papyrus - Used books
Address:
Vaggelis Georgiadis
Waterfront of Naxos Town
Naxos








Website:
none

Phone:
+30 22850 23039

Working Hours:
Winter (Low Season): Daily 18-22
Summer (High Season):
Mon-Sat 10-14 and 18-22
Sun 18-22

Atlantis Books, Oia



Where?
Oia, Santorini, Greece



Recommended by:
Ingela

Ingela said:"Atlantis books - a GREAT bookshop. As their web site is explaining, it was opened in 2004 by some Americans, some English guys and Maria from Cyprus. The shop has a very cozy, homey atmosphere: they live there, they cook there and sometimes one can even get a meal there. They have a big material hanging on the roof having all the names of people who have worked there during the years. They have a great selection of books and editions that one can't find anywhere in Greece (not that I know of anyway). All of us living here are very happy to have a such a bookstore close by."

Atlantis Books resides in the basement of one of the white houses that create the typical scenery of the beautiful island of Santorini. Although Santorini is one of top Greek tourist destinations, it is still a rather remote island in the Mediterranean with a population of about 7000 and finding a bookstore like this in one of its small villages must seem like a gift from the ancient Greek gods. In four years of its existence, Atlantis Books has become one of the island's main attractions and has received praise and worship from practically everyone who has been lucky enough to visit it.

The story describing the birth of this bookstore is fascinating enough to deserve a post of its own, and it should also serve as inspiration to all those who argue that trully independent bookstores don't exist anymore. Check out the full story on their website, we'll only mention that this bookstore has originated in the whirlpool in an eager-to-be-emptied bottle of Greek wine. Or in other words - how often does it happen that you go on a vacation to a different continent and end up running a bookstore there?

Located in Oia, a small village on the island of Santorini, this bookstore opened up in 2004. The founders of this bookstore claim to be inspired by the legendary Shakespeare & Co in Paris, and thus the bookstore is not their workplace but their place of residence and their way of life. Atlantis books also hosts poetry readings, theater performances, movie screenings and other sorts of cultural events on regular basis. The offer of this bookstore is far beyond what you'd expect in a small Greek village. Its selection of English titles, whether fictional or non-fictional, goes unmatched far beyond the island.

The volcano, the sea, and THE bookstore...

Atlantis Books
Address:
Oia, Santorini
T.K. 84702
Cyclades








Website:
http://www.atlantisbooks.org/

Phone and Email:
+30 22860 72346, +30 6945 613220
hello@atlantisbooks.org

Working Hours:
June-Sept (High Season) 9:30-2 (yes, we mean past midnight)
Oct-May (Low Season) 10-00 or 01