Blackwell Book Store

What a wonderful surprise!
They carry an extensive collection of Classics, contemporary and pocket-​sized books (handy when traveling). It is an «olde-​worlde» type bookstore but they have everything — from then and now!
I could have spent hours here if I had the time …

I don’t have much to say that has not already been said. Blackwells is ok for an academic book shop, it has some good stuff and a lot of obscure textbooks. This comes in handy if your a book highlighter and dog ear maker and your sick of the library giving you evils. –cough–

There is a second hand bookstore right next door that is open late that I prefer basically because it’s more interesting than a chain, but they are equally expensive. Blackwell’s is good for reliability. It probably has what you are looking for and they can order things in if not. It is also organized neatly and logically compared to a second hand store. They have quirky little puzzle games and similar things which would be great for last minute gifts. Most are prohibitively expensive to be honest, but I could find something for any age here and sometimes it’s worth it. On the other hand, the 3 for 2 offer seems to be a permanent sale and maybe a better gift idea (some for you, some to share). There is also the Cafè Nero attached which is nice to have, not that there is a shortage of coffee shops in the area.

Not the cheapest place in town, but worth a look anyway.
So after receiving news that I would be needing to purchase some school textbooks I decided to check out Blackwell’s. Overall, I liked the location and the selection of books. I also liked how the shop was organised and how it is much nicer inside with seating that I imagined it would be.
The real drawback to Blackwell’s (or any other bookstore) is the fact that they sell books at the retail price and they are almost always more expensive than Amazon. I spent a pretty good amount of money to get myself most of the books I needed and I am happy Blackwell’s had them however, I am certain I would have saved quite a bit by purchasing them online.
The other gripe I have with this place is their online e-​book selection, which is good, but cannot be added to an iPad unless using a different reading app that isn’t that common. In the end, I like this bookstore and will likely come back in the future for books I am in immediate need of or cannot find online for a better price.

I’ve been a huge fan of this bookshop for many many years, and would make the effort to visit it any time I was in the vicinity to feed my reading addiction.
Since the advent of the Kindle, I don’t visit as often and that makes me rather sad, because Blackwell’s is a great bookstore and a cool place just to browse around soaking up the literary vibes.
I love the labyrinth of different rooms and secret corners where you can find the most surprising things from board games to desk toys, DVD’s, maps, children’s books and even a Caffe Nero at the back.
Upstairs they have a vast selection of academic books, and it is this connection with the nearby University that probably keeps this bookshop alive in face of the competition from Amazon and e-​books.
I still love visiting here even though I’m less often inclined to buy a fiction book (most of my fiction is on Kindle these days), as they still have some interesting finds to discover that you won’t find elsewhere. I love their selection of stocking-​filler type gifts, their eclectic CD and DVD offerings, their board games (Carcassonne, anyone?), and of course the Caffe Nero.

Love this bookshop on the Bridges. It’s an Aladdin’s cave and a great place to pass an hour if you need to hide from the rain. There’s also a Costa attached if you need a caffeine pick me up or something to eat/​drink. They have a great selection of cards, literary ones, Scottish themed ones & the usual birthday etc variety at reasonable prices, awesome selection of books and other literary gifts. Also do old style book tokens though they come as a plastic card these days rather than card, but still a great idea for those folk who prefer real books to ebooks.
The staff are really friendly and knowledgeable.

A great selection…
Super slow on ordering…
Few great book launches!

Though my experience as a shopper has been somewhat tainted by amazon, which offers unrivaled quantity with unbeatable prices, Blackwells often provides at least a little inspiration. There are three floors of inspiration, so it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.
My boyfriend is obsessed with books, he buys one or two a week, despite having a kindle. Consequentially, we often spend time in this book shop, as it’s the closest to home. Blackwells is great for university students, as its selection is mainly academic, covering all taught subjects at the University of Edinburgh, from histories of Ancient Chinese art to modern Western Medicine. Whilst he browses the Scottish Gaelic section, I am usually found around the language books. There is a good mix of academic books, study guides, and more accessible reads like le petit Prince and Harry Potter in translation. Indecisive about which grammar book to buy to start learning Chinese, I keep staring at this section and looking confused. The staff don’t mind if you just sit there for ages reading, which is really nice.
There are often deals, like 3 for 2 or buy one get one half price, which makes the prices sometimes match (or be better than) amazon. You can find some amazing deals in the sales section, though I do feel a little overwhelmed by all the discord. I once found Maisy translated into Gaelic for a £1, and put it in my boyfriend’s Christmas stocking. It was a fantastic introductory text!
It’s not all academia, there are plenty of novels, pop science options, cookery books and travel guides, all of which have seduced me from time to time.
The staff have always been very polite and friendly, and there’s a blackwells card which gives you back £5 for every £100 you spend.
I remove one star because as mentioned, a high street book shop can never live up to Amazon in terms of value and choice, yet blackwells does a great job.

The staff here have always been really friendly and helpful when I’m not entirely certain what I am after. I remember shopping here as a tourist in 2009 and had the same experience then as I do now as a local. I also love that they are open quite late most evenings because it gives me the opportunity to have a post-​work browse.

I have been to this bookshop so many times over the years. I have very fond memories of it from when I was younger and vividly remember begging by mum for us to go every time we visited Edinburgh.
Now as an English Literature student in Edinburgh I can apprectiate the wonders of this bookshop even more. Every time I walk past I can never resist going in, and once I’m in I can never resist buying something. Not so good for my purse, but very good for my mood!
I also managed to find all my books for all my courses at university very easily and for a reasonable (compared to most other places) price, and the staff were very friendly and helpful when I had questions.
There is a very extensive range of books, as well as a wonderful stationary section and an adjoining café. I could literally spend the whole day in here if I didn’t have other things to do. It also has pretty late opening time for a bookshop, which is particularly great for me on lazy weekends when I don’t surface from the land of nod until embarrassingly late in the day!
Of course, sometimes it is easier to buy books cheaper on Amazon, but I have such a longstanding soft-​spot for this bookshop, that I never resent spending a wee bit more in here. Plus it means I get to lose myself in this beautiful bookshop for a wee while, which can never be a bad thing.

gut sortierte Buchhandlung mit nettem Personal.

As far as chain bookstores in Edinburgh go, this is the best in the city by many country miles.
An excellent and extensive range of books, a knowledgable and friendly bunch of staff and the addition of a coffee shop makes for one happy book-​lover. As is a chain’s wont, there are some deals and offers on too, so you can come away with a good bargain on fiction or best-​sellers.
This is the book store of choice for students too, with a huge range of academic texts upstairs.
This is a great book shop; I cannot fault it. I am sad that it’s a chain — it really does feel like an independent.

Since the demise of Borders, and the hefty prices of Waterstones, the English Lit. graduate in me has been rebelling against my amazon addiction, desperate to once again experience the comforting, satisfying sensation of book browsing. To while away half an hour in a maze of bookshelves, enjoying the hallowed hush of the fellow customers, picking copies up at random, reading the first few pages, a chapter even, and finally settling on my next night-​time novel. Yes, there is nothing quite so satisfying as buying a new book and the experience is one that should be calmly and slowly enjoyed.
What a pleasant surprise it was, then, to find a less well known bookstore (read not waterstones) on one of the busy main streets in Edinburgh, complete with stationery shop and café. And from the moment I stepped inside I knew they held the same respect for books, and the art of choosing one, as I did. The store is clean, well laid-​out, and actually very expansive despite it’s small shop-​front.
With the herald of amazon, kindles, ipads and all other elements out to bastardise the book, there has been a wave of ‘cheap and cheerful’ bookstores akin to Woolworths or the Superdrug of books. It has been a long time since I’ve come across a ‘local’ bookstore that retains its dignity and tradition, and which I could easily lose myself in for an hour or so.
A strange choice perhaps, but Blackwell is now one of my new locals.

There’s a reason Blackwells has so many reviews. It really is a great bookshop. A modest chain store it may be, but you will forget that with its excellent quality of service.
This Blackwells in particular is stocked well with academic books geared toward the nearby University campus. In fact Blackwells is the first port of call for arts and humanities students stocking up on their course textbooks (if they’re buying them first hand anyway). But beyond this they still offer a great range within each genres. Take philosophy. yes they offer some of the pop and pulp philosophy like Waterstones and other chains, but they also stock some really stimulating, acadademic books and new publications outwith the philosophy department’s reading lists. This makes browsing these sections far more intereting.
Of course they don’t only offer academic books, being a commercial high street book shop and you can still expect everything on the top 100 book charts, all your Twilights and what nots. Blackwells also has a good children’s section and a modest selection of stationery. As I’ve mentioned in a previous review, I also enjoy the guilty pleasure of sitting in the Costa café attached, and browsing through books I’ve picked up.
Books are a little pricey, but Blackwells isn’t any more expensive than Waterstones or whoever. It is of course cheaper to buy online.
Overall an excellent bookshop with a better selection than most high street retailers.

Located on the historic South Bridge, this Blackwell is an airy and spacious bookshop that’s much lovelier to visit than any of the wee University branches. Spread over three floors, it’s a mammoth shop with cosy arm chairs, big windows and literally thousands of books.
As Blackwell is an academic chain, the majority of stock is aimed at students and lecturers with eXpensive text books on every discipline from English Literature and languages to history, geography, economics, social sciences and medicine. For those that are lucky enough to have their studies behind them, there’s a good fiction section and a small selection of art, travel and photography books.
My only grumble is that the café in the basement is a Café Nero rather than an independent like Grind House or Black Medicine Coffee Co. Not only do the latter serve much better java but it would encourage students to think local rather than corporate.

If you’re a student this shop will eat up your money very quickly. This is the traditional place to come to buy all your much needed text books for your courses. And let me tell you, after four years as a student, buying books is not cheap, especially academic books.
However, apart from the prices, the shop is always well stocked and during term time you can always spot some confused looking group of students searching for that must have text book!
Blackwells also stores a good selection of fiction books on the ground floor, and always have a good range on the three for two deal. Next door to this part of the shop is a small café and stationary department. The café is quite small and usually you will struggle to find a table!
I great place to browse through interesting books, you could spend endless amounts of time in Blackwells, but you will be dropped straight back into reality when you take the books up to the cashier!

Blackwell’s on South Bridge received my valued custom just about the whole way through my first and second years. They sieze the initiative and stock all the books required for just about every course which Edinburgh Uni offers. Every September the shop is full of anthologies and text books relating to dozens of courses. Despite the the fact that publishers deliberately make text books obscenely expensive, Blackwells try and sell them to students as cheaply as they can.
Their reward cards help to ease the financial pain further by giving you £5 back for every £100 you spend.
The layout feels well organised with plenty of designated and specific sections, from Scottish literature to physics. For the range and depth of the books on offer, Blackwells has to be Edinburgh’s best bookshop.

Lacking in the charm that characterises Southside Books mere yards away, Blackwell’s is nonetheless an excellent bookshop, albeit one that you’ll perhaps find fairly useless once you’ve finished education and begin living in the real world.
They do have a pretty large selcetion of non-​education books, but as Marj said it still pales in comparison to the tearfully departed Borders.

Blackwells gains a huge amount of business from the nearby University of Edinburgh’s students, and there’s a good reason why.
Reliability, a simple layout and plenty of stock result in a fully justifiable first stop at least when it comes to looking for academic books.
There’s usually plenty of enticing 3 for 1 offers and informative helpful staff to accompany. An all round good bookshop.

Blackwell’s is one of the most neatly organised, concise book shops in Edinburgh.
Emma is spot on — comprehensive is the best word to describe this place. While Borders’ layout used to baffle me at times, there is no room for confusion in Blackwell’s. With everything placed in the most precise category they can put it in, you will be able to find what you need in a matter of minutes.
You are greeted with tourist driven books at the front of the shop, but they are definitely of a more interesting variety as they showcase photography journals and up to date information books on Scotland’s cities. They have a wide range of affordable classics, an endless wall of fiction and some book related merchandise.
But above all, Blackwell’s is a student’s best friend as it houses university approved anthologies on every subject under the sun. They also have friendly reminders that «the clock is ticking» as far as exams are concerned — posters are plastered over the walls. The panic propaganda is meant to assist the student but I couldn’t help breaking out in a cold sweat looking at them. I’m not even sitting exams this year. But at least it’ll lead people up the stairs who are and loading themselves up on knowledge!

Blackwells on South Bridge is not only a bookshop, it’s a labyrinth! Seriously, you could get lost in here.
Spread out over three floors, this shop caters for all your literary needs. As it’s closely affiliated with Edinburgh’s Universities there is a comprehensive academic department covering everything from Medicine to Media Studies, and the staff can provide useful guidance if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. If you’re here for something more recreational, the ground floor is a good place to while away an afternoon browsing the shelves. There is also a music department with a lot of Scottish and classical CDs and a nice children’s department in the basement. Café Nero has cleverly set up camp in here too, so you can start your new tome with a cup of coffee in hand without even leaving the building.
Unfortunately there is no student discount (although there is a loyalty card scheme) and it can’t rival Amazon’s prices, but the shop is open pretty late and I think it’s the best large bookshop in Edinburgh.