Charity shops by city
4314 charity shops and second-hand bookshops across the UK, mapped city by city for book hunters. Pick a city and plan a route between the shops worth the walk.
London
855 shops · 224 second-hand bookshops
Cecil Court has the most shops on one street, 9, with Kentish Town Road close behind on 8.
Bristol
159 shops · 28 second-hand bookshops
Gloucester Road has 15 shops, more than any other street.
Birmingham
143 shops · 17 second-hand bookshops
PDSA runs 10 branches, ahead of every other chain.
Edinburgh
139 shops · 45 second-hand bookshops
The Nicolson Street run packs 9 shops into a 3 minute walk.
Manchester
121 shops · 23 second-hand bookshops
Barnardo's has 11 branches across the city, more than any other chain here.
Glasgow
114 shops · 22 second-hand bookshops
Barnardo's has 12 branches, the most of any chain in the area.
Nottingham
110 shops · 12 second-hand bookshops
Mansfield Road carries 11 shops, more than any other street nearby.
Bournemouth
97 shops · 7 second-hand bookshops
Start along Christchurch Road, which has 11 shops, more than any other street.
Newcastle upon Tyne
96 shops · 6 second-hand bookshops
The Shields Road run brings together 9 shops on a 10 minute walk.
Sheffield
96 shops · 13 second-hand bookshops
A 4 minute walk along the Fulwood Road run takes in 6 shops.
Leeds
95 shops · 11 second-hand bookshops
7 shops line the Otley Road run, a 12 minute walk.
Brighton
87 shops · 19 second-hand bookshops
London Road has 13 shops, more than any other street in the city.
Liverpool
70 shops · 7 second-hand bookshops
Barnardo's has 8 branches across the city, more than any other chain.
Norwich
70 shops · 9 second-hand bookshops
6 shops line Magdalen Street, more than any other street in the area.
Southampton
67 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Shirley High Street counts 9 shops, more than any other street around.
Portsmouth
64 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
High Street has 13 shops, more than any other street in the city.
Leicester
60 shops · 7 second-hand bookshops
Age UK operates 12 branches, more than any other chain here.
Plymouth
60 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
British Red Cross has 5 branches, and the Broadway run adds 7 shops in a 6 minute walk.
Cardiff
56 shops · 12 second-hand bookshops
Cowbridge Road East carries 7 shops, more than any other street here.
Stockport
56 shops · 7 second-hand bookshops
E.J. Morten Booksellers anchors a run of 9 shops over a 14 minute walk.
Belfast
51 shops · 10 second-hand bookshops
Botanic Avenue has 7 shops, with 6 of them packed into a 5 minute walk.
Derby
51 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
Normanton Road and Shardlow Road each carry 5 shops, and the Shardlow Road run links 7 of them in a 7 minute walk.
Worthing
47 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Goring Road carries 7 shops, and its run stretches to 8 across a 7 minute walk.
Blackpool
46 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Victoria Road West run covers 8 shops in 10 minutes.
Preston
46 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Hough Lane run stretches 12 minutes and takes in 9 shops.
York
46 shops · 13 second-hand bookshops
Goodramgate has 6 shops, more than any other street here.
Bolton
45 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Barnardo's has 4 branches here, and the Chorley Old Road run links 5 shops in a 6 minute walk.
Bath
44 shops · 11 second-hand bookshops
Moorland Road run packs 7 shops into 4 minutes of walking.
Cheltenham
44 shops · 7 second-hand bookshops
In 6 minutes, the Bath Road run takes in 10 shops.
Oxford
44 shops · 11 second-hand bookshops
Oxfam has 7 branches scattered across the city.
Exeter
40 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
With 11 shops, Fore Street is the busiest single street.
Lancaster
40 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
A 5 minute walk along Regent Road takes in 6 shops.
Cambridge
39 shops · 9 second-hand bookshops
6 of Burleigh Street's 10 shops fit into a 3 minute stretch.
Aberdeen
37 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
Union Street has 7 shops to start with.
Halifax
35 shops · 6 second-hand bookshops
Commercial Street run covers 9 shops in 7 minutes, more than any single street here.
Ipswich
35 shops
There are 4 shops along Upper Brook Street.
Bradford
34 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
Age UK has 6 branches across the area.
Coventry
34 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
A 4 minute walk covers 4 shops along the Earlsdon Street run.
Dundee
34 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
Along Brook Street, 8 shops sit within a 7 minute walk of each other.
Eastbourne
34 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Terminus Road holds 9 shops in a single stretch.
Poole
34 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
The Salvation Army anchors a run of 9 shops in a 4 minute walk.
Middlesbrough
32 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
Newport Road carries 5 shops, the most of any street, and British Heart Foundation has 5 branches around the city.
Reading
32 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Sue Ryder operates 6 branches, more than any other charity, while Age UK adds another 4.
Shrewsbury
32 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
Oxfam anchors a run of 10 shops that takes 14 minutes to walk.
Swindon
32 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Prospect Hospice leads a stretch of 10 shops that takes 18 minutes to walk end to end.
Colchester
31 shops · 5 second-hand bookshops
10 shops cluster near The Lawrence Walker Gallery within a 7 minute walk.
Wakefield
31 shops · 6 second-hand bookshops
Kirkgate holds 5 shops, more than any other street, with Age UK running 3 branches elsewhere.
Hull
29 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
British Red Cross runs 4 branches, more than any other chain, with Holderness Road offering 3 shops together.
Milton Keynes
29 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
A run of 9 shops built around Age UK takes 7 minutes to walk.
Stoke-on-Trent
29 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
Bennett Precinct has 5 shops, with a wider run of 8 taking 7 minutes to walk.
Northampton
28 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
Mind sits at the centre of a run of 10 shops across 30 minutes of walking.
Newport
27 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Commercial Street's run covers 9 shops in 14 minutes, and the shorter Gwent Square run adds 4 more shops in just 4 minutes.
Chester
26 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
7 shops make up an 8 minute run led by Hospice of the Good Shepherd.
Swansea
26 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
6 shops sit within a 7 minute run near Wales Air Ambulance.
Warrington
26 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
7 shops line the London Road run, a walk of 7 minutes.
Chelmsford
25 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Moulsham Street has 4 shops, and a nearby run covers 6 shops in 9 minutes.
Gloucester
25 shops
Sue Ryder has 4 branches, and a run of 3 shops takes 1 minute to walk.
Luton
25 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
The Salvation Army leads a run of 8 shops across 29 minutes of walking.
Huddersfield
24 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
A run of 10 shops takes 17 minutes to walk, while New Street holds a separate 3 within a few steps of each other.
Worcester
23 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
7 shops form a 3 minute run starting at Cancer Research UK.
Durham
22 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
Oxfam starts a run of 6 shops that takes 6 minutes to walk.
Lincoln
21 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
High Street has 8 shops, more than any other street in the area.
Sunderland
19 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Blandford Street holds 4 shops, and Prince Edward Road's run of 3 shops takes about 10 minutes to walk.
Truro
19 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
The run from 8 Cathedral Lane covers 9 shops in an 8 minute walk.
Southend-on-Sea
18 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
The High Street run packs 7 shops into 12 minutes, then Hamlet Court Road offers 4 more in 13 minutes.
Inverness
17 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
6 shops line the Save the Children run, a 5 minute walk away.
Canterbury
16 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
The Burgate run holds 7 shops across a 17 minute walk.
Wolverhampton
16 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
British Heart Foundation has 2 branches along a 10 shop run led by Barnardo's that takes 18 minutes to walk.
Carlisle
15 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
A 6 shop run beginning at Bookcase takes about 19 minutes to walk.
Hastings
15 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
A 6 shop run built around British Heart Foundation takes 14 minutes, and a shorter 3 shop stretch near The Community Shop takes 7.
Rotherham
15 shops
Cancer Research runs 3 branches, and British Heart Foundation anchors a 4 shop run that takes 8 minutes to walk.
Salisbury
15 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
The Catherine Street run brings together 7 shops in a 5 minute walk.
Wrexham
15 shops · 1 second-hand bookshop
Near Manna Christian Bookshop, a run of 7 shops takes 15 minutes to walk.
Stirling
14 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
The Book Nook anchors a run of 6 shops in 6 minutes.
Doncaster
13 shops
YMCA leads a run of 7 shops packed into a 13 minute walk, and Barnardo's has 3 branches nearby.
Guildford
13 shops · 2 second-hand bookshops
High Street carries a run of 9 shops that takes 17 minutes to walk end to end.
Wigan
13 shops
Market Street has 3 shops, while a longer run starting at Salvation Army covers 7 shops in 21 minutes.
Aberystwyth
12 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Within 12 minutes, The Bookshop By The Sea leads a run of 6 shops.
St Albans
11 shops · 3 second-hand bookshops
Oxfam runs 3 branches, and the walkable run starting at Rennie Grove Hospice Care covers 9 shops in 16 minutes.
Winchester
8 shops · 4 second-hand bookshops
A 12 minute walk links 6 shops, starting with Oxfam.
Why charity shops are the best book hunting there is
Every charity shop shelf is stocked by donation, priced to move, and re-shelved constantly, which makes it the least predictable and most rewarding bookshop format there is. The same shelf can hold airport thrillers, a Booker winner, and an out-of-print favourite someone finally let go of. The catch is volume: reading a few hundred spines shop after shop is where good intentions go to die. That's the bit Spines takes off your hands: photograph the shelf and it identifies every book, pulls ratings, and flags the ones that match your taste. If you're new to the hunt, start with our guide to finding good books in charity shops.
Hunt smarter in any of them
Spines reads a whole shelf from one photo and shows you which books are worth grabbing — tailored to your taste. Free to try.
Elsewhere? thrift stores by state in the US · thrift stores by province in Canada, or all directories.
Shop data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License. Shop details can drift out of date — check opening hours before travelling.