BookshopSt. Georges Road

Kemptown Bookshop

Cosy indie bookshop with café and writers' space

6.4/10

Local score

No. 16 of 43 shops on r/brighton, from 8 locals across 7 threads.

100% would send a mate. Still recommended in 2026.

A well-loved independent bookshop opposite the Open Bakery, with a lovely café upstairs serving pastries and drinks, cool stationery in the basement, a monthly book club and a shared writing space/socials for writers. Consistently named among Brighton's best indie bookshops alongside City Books.

Go for
Browsing then coffee upstairs

What locals say

Hand in Hand is up there comfortably with the best pubs in Brighton. The Well and Rock Inn are decent places to drink too as is, at weekends, the Loud Shirt taproom going towards Whitehawk. Kemptown Bookshop is a great independent bookshop.
u/Englishtwerkingclass, 202618 upvotes“The best of Kemptown - your favourite shops, cafés, pubs and restaurants?”
City Books is pretty much the best bookshop in Brighton & Hove (what with it being in Hove) but the Kemptown Bookshop is pretty good. Has the benefit of being opposite the Open Bakery too so you can browse and then go and grab a pretty awesome treat.
u/InfiniteBaker6972, 20238 upvotes“Cool Bookshops in Brighton”
The Kemptown Bookshop is really lovely, has a café at the top and lots of cool stationery in the basement. The Open Bakery does the most gorgeous savoury and sweet stuff! Arcobaleno is an awesome charity-owned queer venue that does incredible Maltese-inspired food during the day and is a great venue at night.
u/charlesalot, 20242 upvotes“best things to do in kemptown?”
Kemptown Bookshop is lovely, independently owned, they host events now and again and pretty sure you can get pastries and drinks upstairs.
u/Illneverforgetthis, 20262 upvotes“The best of Kemptown - your favourite shops, cafés, pubs and restaurants?”

Ranked from 21,200 r/brighton comments. Summaries are written by AI from what locals said; quotes are word for word. Not affiliated with Reddit. Back to the guide