Open Air Books & Maps

SOON TO CLOSE!!! We stopped in here yesterday and sadly learned the landlord does not want to renew the lease and the owner is not interested in relocating. No definite closing date but the store lease ends on April 1, 2016.

The best travel bookstore. Has been the best forever. The ONLY place to get maps, guides, travel memoirs etc.

Exceptional selection of travel books and guide maps rarely stocked with such consistency, and from less-​easily-​found publishers you are unlikely to find in as great a number elsewhere.
Also knowledgeable, empathetic support from the helpful staff. And it’s located in a weird basement level abode off an interesting street location, just as all magical book shops that lead to great adventures ought to be. Might as well go enjoy lunch at nearby Terroni to celebrate your going on a trip…

You may easily walk past this basement bookstore; the travel guides piled on windowsills are a tip-​off. When you walk in (through an unmarked door) you are confronted with towering stacks of books leaning against overflowing shelves. Do not let the apparent chaos overcome you — the rewards are well worth the risks.
You not only find just about every travel guide published to just about every imaginable destination, you can find a tremendous collection of oral histories of different geographic locations, biographies of famous (and infamous) explorers, accounts of adventure travel… anything you can think of. I found three or four times the number of travel guides to my west coast destination alone than I did at some of the ‘bigger’ bookstores in Toronto. If I hadn’t been saving my pennies for my trip I’d have walked out with an armful of books.
I’ll be blunt. This bookstore isn’t the tidiest and the folks who own it far from corporate drones. But if you are planning a vacation, wish to immerse yourself in splendidly written accounts of travel, or live vicariously through the diary of some adventurer… I can’t imagine going anywhere else.
The only problem with this store is you never seem to have enough time.

A fantastic place for travel books! If you’re planning a big trip, come here. Forget Chapters Indigo: their travel section is pathetic compared to this little shop.
It’s a small and cramped place but it’s full, I mean FULL of travel-​related books. Books are pilled from floor to ceiling; some shelves are two rows deep. Try to spend some time perusing through the different sections, there are some gems to be found.*
Open Air sells current edition guide books, non-​fiction travel novels, historical novels, maps of almost every single country in the world, as well as other nature and outdoor-​related books. You can also find books on bird watching, fishing and camping. Anything travel related, you can find here.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just ask and the owner is kind enough to help you.
An important bonus: they accept Interac. Cha-​ching!
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Edited:
* The store is pretty well stocked with new and older, and out-​of-​print books.