Daunt Books has ten shops and three of them do not have Daunt above the door.
The Owl Bookshop, Hart’s Books and The Marlow Bookshop are all Daunt shops. So are Marylebone, Holland Park, Cheapside, Hampstead, Belsize Park, Notting Hill and Summertown in Oxford.
If you have a favourite independent bookshop in Kentish Town, Saffron Walden or Marlow, it may already be part of the same company.
The books are shelved by country
The thing Daunt is actually famous for, and it is a browse category in their own navigation: Books by country.
Rather than separating travel writing from fiction and history, Daunt shelves a country’s novels, histories, guidebooks and memoirs together. So looking up Japan gives you the novels and the train timetables on the same shelf.
That is why the Marylebone shop works as a place to plan a trip and not only to buy a book, and it is the single best reason to go in person rather than order online.
What is online is not what is in the shop
Stated plainly on their own site, and worth acting on.
“Our website lists a curated selection of the titles available in our shops.”
So a book missing from the website is not a book they do not have. Ring 020 7224 2295 or email enquiries@dauntbooks.co.uk rather than assuming.
Most retailers imply the opposite. Daunt admit the website is a sample.
Marylebone’s hours, and the Sunday
Daunt Books Marylebone, 83 to 84 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW.
Monday to Saturday: 9am to 7.30pm. Sunday: 11am to 6pm.
Ten and a half hours, six days a week, which is long for an independent bookshop and means it works before and after work. Sunday loses three and a half hours at both ends.
Baker Street and Bond Street are the nearest stations, with Regent’s Park a short walk.
Marylebone is the events shop
Every talk on the current programme is at Marylebone rather than spread across the ten shops.
Monday 12 October: Alexander McCall Smith.
Wednesday 14 October: Colin Thubron in conversation with Miranda Seymour.
Wednesday 21 October: Nao-Cola Yamazaki in conversation with Sharlene Teo.
Tuesday 27 October: a children’s event with Jessica Courtney-Tickle.
Thursday 29 October: Teresa Krasny in conversation with Jackie Wullschläger.
Tuesday 24 November: Mary Lawson in conversation with Graham Norton. Sold out.
Note the Graham Norton event selling out seven weeks ahead. If a name on that programme matters to you, book early, and sign up to their newsletter, which is how the dates are announced.
The subscription and the bags
A Daunt Books subscription sends the subscriber a new title every month for a year, chosen according to their tastes, and they can tailor the service to their preferences. It is sold as a present and works better as one than a gift certificate does.
The cotton and canvas tote bags come in a range of colours and now in children’s sizes.
The bag is the thing people actually travel to Marylebone for, and the children’s size is recent. Gift certificates and stationery are also sold.
How to plan it
Marylebone: 9am to 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm Sunday.
Looking for one specific book: ring first, because the website is only a selection.
Planning a trip: browse by country, which is how the shelves are arranged.
Wanting an event: they are all at Marylebone, and the big names sell out weeks ahead.
Buying a present: the subscription, a title a month for a year.
Wanting the bag: all shops, now including children’s sizes.
Already visit the Owl Bookshop, Hart’s Books or The Marlow Bookshop: you are already a Daunt customer.
Daunt Books Marylebone
- Address
- 83 to 84 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW
- Nearest
- Baker Street and Bond Street, with Regent’s Park a short walk
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday 9am to 7.30pm. Sunday 11am to 6pm
- Booking
- None needed. Talks and events are ticketed and announced through their newsletter
- Price
- Bookshop prices. Subscriptions send a title a month for a year. Cotton and canvas tote bags in adult and children’s sizes
- Standing
- An Edwardian bookshop that shelves its stock by country rather than by genre, and the flagship of ten shops
How to get in
Three of Daunt’s ten shops trade under other names: the Owl Bookshop, Hart’s Books and The Marlow Bookshop. The website lists only a curated selection of stock, so a missing title does not mean they do not have it, and they ask you to telephone. All the talks and events are held at Marylebone, and the bigger names sell out weeks ahead.
Where to go next
Hatchards on Piccadilly is the other great London bookshop, and Cecil Court is the street of antiquarian dealers.
The bookshops page covers the rest, and Marylebone restaurants cover lunch nearby.
Questions we get asked
How many Daunt Books shops are there?
Ten. Marylebone, Holland Park, Cheapside, Hampstead, Belsize Park, Notting Hill and Summertown in Oxford trade as Daunt Books, while the Owl Bookshop, Hart's Books and The Marlow Bookshop are also Daunt shops under their own names.
What are Daunt Books Marylebone's opening hours?
Monday to Saturday 9am to 7.30pm, and Sunday 11am to 6pm. The address is 83 to 84 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW, on 020 7224 2295.
Does the Daunt Books website show all their stock?
No. Their site states that it lists a curated selection of the titles available in their shops, so a book missing online may still be in store. They ask you to telephone 020 7224 2295 or email enquiries@dauntbooks.co.uk instead.
Why is Daunt Books arranged by country?
Books by country is one of their browse categories, and the shelving puts a country's fiction, history, guidebooks and memoirs together rather than separating them by genre. It makes the shop useful for planning a trip as well as buying a novel.
Where are Daunt Books events held?
At the Marylebone shop. The current programme includes Alexander McCall Smith on 12 October, Colin Thubron on 14 October, Nao-Cola Yamazaki on 21 October, a children's event on 27 October, Teresa Krasny on 29 October, and Mary Lawson with Graham Norton on 24 November, which has sold out.
What is a Daunt Books subscription?
The subscriber receives a new title every month for a year, chosen according to their tastes, and can tailor the service to their preferences. It is sold primarily as a present.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 312 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
