Speciality & Gift Shops

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Monday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Tuesday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Wednesday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Thursday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Friday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Saturday

9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Sunday

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Write a review

About

Duration: < 1 hour

Suggest edits to improve what we show.

Improve this listing

Tours & experiences

Explore different ways to experience this place.

Full view

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience Blackwell's Bookshop

See all

The area

Address

Reach out directly

Best nearby

We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.

Restaurants

643 within 3 miles

BBuona Pinsa Bar

652

0.2 mi££ - £££ • Italian • Pizza • Cafe

Sartorelli’s Pizza

205

0.1 mi£ • Italian • Pizza • Neapolitan

100% Pasta

124

0.3 mi££ - £££ • Italian • Mediterranean • European

Ben's Cookies

365

0.2 mi£ • Bakeries

The Spires Cafe & Restaurant

157

0.3 mi££ - £££ • Pizza • Cafe • International

Turtle Bay Oxford

1,994

0.2 mi££ - £££ • Caribbean • Bar • Healthy

O'Neill's

717

0.2 mi££ - £££ • Quick Bites • Irish • Bar

Najar's Place

129

0.2 mi£ • Lebanese • Fast food • Mediterranean

No.1 Ship Street

637

0.1 mi££ - £££ • British • Grill • Vegetarian friendly

The Red Lion

1,403

0.2 mi££ - £££ • Bar • British • Pub

See all

Attractions

226 within 6 miles

Trinity College

286

38 ftEducational sites

History of Science Museum

652

92 ftScience Museums • History Museums

Weston Library

311

139 ftArchitectural Buildings • Libraries

Sheldonian Theatre

535

159 ftArchitectural Buildings • Convention Centres

Bodleian Library

3,514

383 ftHistoric Sites • Architectural Buildings

University of Oxford

1,661

298 ftEducational sites

Balliol College

393

424 ftEducational sites

Radcliffe Camera

488

519 ftPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Architectural Buildings

Bridge of Sighs

1,030

400 ftPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Bridges

Wadham College

142

385 ftEducational sites

See all

See what travellers are saying

Felix -momiji haiku-
Spain89 contributions
The dream bookstore
To enter Blackwell's is to enter another world. In a world where you can truly believe that no matter what book you are looking for, it will be there. Because of its dimensions, several floors with a cafeteria included, and its catalog, it might as well look like a library. Wandering through its rooms and shelves, letting yourself be carried away among diverse literature and the most exotic subjects, is a truly pleasant experience for anyone who loves books and the atmosphere they create. Whether you buy or not, it is a place to see and enjoy. about language of birds, books in languages I don't understand
Visited July 2023
Travelled solo
Written 7 December 2023
Liselotte B
1 contribution
Happy browsing and buying at Blackwell’s.
Blackwell is a great bookshop on several levels. An event was going on downstairs which created a great atmosphere. I particularly the music section and the comfortable seating in the coffee shop. Slight drawback that the toilets are on a different floor to the coffee shop.
Visited March 2024
Travelled solo
Written 27 March 2024
John A
2 contributions
An extraordinary find
If your travels take you to Oxford. England, then you must make time to visit Blackwell's Books. Head straight for the lower floor where there is a giant room filled with almost every book you can imagine and then some.
Visited April 2024
Travelled with family
Written 19 April 2024
permia
64,847 contributions
A veritable institution
As a devotee of bookshops avidly looked forward to visiting what is a veritable institution. And were not disappointed. A phenomenal selection of books is on offer. Most gratifying in a time of so much online and e-reading. Particularly impressed with the extent of the volumes in the basement.
Visited May 2024
Travelled as a couple
Written 7 June 2024

These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Contribute

Write a review Upload a photo

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.

Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews

Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.

When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.

Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.

Learn more about our review moderation.

4.5

212 reviews

Excellent

167

Very good

29

Average

2

Poor

2

Terrible

12

lazenlondonuk

London Uk298 contributions

Finally Up For Sale according to the printed press

Feb 2022

Blackwell’s, which operates 18 shops and a website, is reported to be Up For Sale.

The problem in Uk publishing is first we have reached the saturation situation with far too many books around.About 90% of dubious value and unresalable fit only for landfill.

Secondly Large scale second hand online wholesalers have muscled in and collared
the used market driving any particular price down to a wafer slim margin online
employing pennies for postage.

Thirdly theres uncertaintity of new Woke generation book consumers really care about books at all.

It will be sad to see the 159 year old shop go along with so many other 'traditional'
businesses in Oxford.

But their market has shrunk sadly they are not being replaced with very much at all.

Written 2 February 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Louis100

Melbourne26 contributions

The store maybe, online, be wary...

Nov 2021

The bookshop itself may well be a "destination" but its online service is appalling.

I decided to give Blackwells a go having been buying books from other online stores for over 20 years and never had a missed delivery or query not responded to in good time.

I ordered a book from Blackwells on 5 Nov 2021 as a Christmas gift. It is now 11 Jan 2022 and despite two messages to Blackwells, and apart from an auto reply, there has been no response.

Not good at all.

Written 11 January 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BritInBelgium

Belgium133 contributions

Awesome shop

Jul 2020

Didnt want to leave. We were all oohing and aahing on the ground floor before we even found out the other floors!! staff were great: very knowledgeable and friendly (perhaps they recognised book addicts willing to spend money!!). it was extremely hard to leave as we could have spent all day there!!

Written 1 August 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Grover R

Pensacola, FL22,266 contributions

The Clown Car for Books - Amazing

Dec 2022

It is hard to believe from the exterior that this building can house so many books. Our Harry Potter tour took us inside. Obviously for a campus with such a literary history of both writers and inspiration, this seems to be a natural. I was impressed by the depth of the catalog and offerings. I'm not the fiction reader my wife is, but I was blown away by the history collection. My wife also bought a 25th anniversary Harry Potter book here. Great stop.

Written 27 December 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kurt C

Malta53 contributions

On the 8th day, God created Blackwell's

Sept 2024 • Couples

This is heaven for bookworms. You cannot just go in there, and you do not experience an out of this world experience. This is the biggest bookshop I experienced in my life with technically all the genres in the world fitting in shop. I am lucky enough to be alive in a period where Blackwell's Bookshop exists. Highly recommended. And so spare some time (2 hours should be okay, 3 hours reasonable, 4 hours perhaps enough to explore in here). Time flies. Literally. And I hope I fly again soon to visit here.

Written 4 October 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tilndominie

Sevenoaks, UK110 contributions

Great for browsing

Nov 2022 • Solo

Blackwell’s looks small from the outside, but it is huge inside. Blackwell’s have three shops in the area but the largest is near the corner of Turl Street and Broad Street. I thought they had a good range of books and knowledgeable staff. It also has one of Antony Gormley’s statues on the roof.

Written 5 November 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Gabby1994

1 contribution

Horrific experience, bad customer service, book never came

Nov 2021

I visited the store several years ago while visiting Oxford from Australia, however, my recent online experience was horrific. I purchased a book from their online store back in November of 2021. I received no notification of shipment and had to send their customer service team several emails before I was notified that my shipment was sent on the 3rd of December. My shipment has not arrived (26th of January 2022), I have contacted them many times requesting an update to which I have either received no response OR contradictory information, having recently been notified that my shipment was in fact been sent on the 30th of December. This sort of experience leaves you with a really bad taste in your mouth. I have since requested a refund ... I highly doubt I will be receiving the refund OR the book I ordered. Horrific experience!

Written 25 January 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LaJarrie

Southampton, UK506 contributions

This will put you off other bookshops for life!

Aug 2021 • Family

We popped in for a quick explore. MISTAKE! We emerged nearly an hour later, and went back again the next day - and that was even with teenagers in tow. Enter at your peril (or that of your credit card) this is not the place for a cursory visit, as whatever your interest, you will find something fascinating.

Written 20 August 2021

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Felix -momiji haiku-

Spain89 contributions

The dream bookstore

Jul 2023 • Solo

To enter Blackwell's is to enter another world. In a world where you can truly believe that no matter what book you are looking for, it will be there.

Because of its dimensions, several floors with a cafeteria included, and its catalog, it might as well look like a library.

Wandering through its rooms and shelves, letting yourself be carried away among diverse literature and the most exotic subjects, is a truly pleasant experience for anyone who loves books and the atmosphere they create.

Whether you buy or not, it is a place to see and enjoy.

about language of birds,
books in languages
I don't understand

Written 7 December 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mark P

Hampshire, UK1,757 contributions

Huge bookshop - go downstairs to the Norrington room to see it all

Feb 2020

Bookshop selling a huge range of books. Make sure you go downstairs into the Norrington room. Huge area with even more books.

Play running here in the evenings (Bleak House the musical!).

Written 2 February 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

2

…

Showing results 1-10 of 173

Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.