Daunt Books
83–84 Marylebone High Street, London / Online
📍 83 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW
What Daunt Books is known for
The 1912 Edwardian bookshop with oak galleries and skylights — travel books shelved by country, arguably the most beautiful bookshop in the world.
James Daunt opened his Marylebone bookshop in 1990 in an Edwardian premises built for booksellers: long oak galleries, skylit stained glass, and the travel-forward arrangement that became the shop's signature — books shelved by country, with guidebooks, novels, history, and cookery of each place standing together, so that reading for a journey becomes browsing a nation. The formula made Daunt's the most beloved independent bookshop in London and launched its founder toward the stewardship of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, where the Daunt philosophy — booksellers choosing books — was applied at scale. The Marylebone original remains the essential visit: the galleried back room is one of the finest bookshop spaces anywhere. The canvas book bag became a quiet London status object. Buy for a destination — the shop's organizing idea works exactly as promised.
Ask the booksellers for a destination and let them build the stack; the shop's country shelving exists precisely for that conversation, and it works.
Best for — travel literature under the skylight
N/A (bookshop).
ORBIS tier: Icon
Where next
- Foyles — London
- Persephone Books — London
- Choosing Keeping — London
✓ Personally verified — crawled twice, human-checked · July 2026 · no store paid to be here
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