Cover to cover: 29 of our favourite bookshops in Belgium

BRUSSELS

Evasions
Second-hand store with a selection of English-language books and open seven days a week. You can also sell unwanted books here.
89 Rue du Midi

Cook & Book
Vast food and literature emporium. Organised by themes, including English section with leather armchairs, Victorian-style bookcases and cheeky lampshades.
251 Avenue Paul Hymans

Filigranes
Art, classics and travel sections, plus a substantial English-language and international section. Also has a coffee bar, with live music.
39 Avenue des Arts

Grande Muraille
Everything from acupuncture and traditional medicine to Chinese politics and tourism, in Chinese, French, Dutch and English. It also sells Chinese literature, magazines, CDs, paper and calligraphy materials.
92 Avenue Paul Deschanel

Gutenberg Buchhandlung
German classics as well as translations of international novels, travel books and language learning material.
26 Rue d’Argile

Muntpunt
The main library of the Flemish community in Brussels. Fiction and non-fiction in several languages, plus study rooms, newspapers, magazines, DVDs and events for kids and adults. Membership €10 a year; children free.
Place de la Monnaie

Passa Porta
An international house of literature, stocking books in Dutch, French, German and English. Authors are regularly invited for lectures with events throughout the year.
46 Rue Antoine Dansaert

Pêle Mêle
With branches in the city centre, Ixelles and Waterloo, this secondhand chain buys and sells books, CDs, DVDs, board games and video games.

Piola Libri
Wine bar and bookshop offering books of all genres in original Italian and translated English, French and Dutch versions. Plus literary events and concerts.
66-68 Rue Franklin

Punto y Coma
Spanish-language classics, books for children and for language learning, and a collection of Spanish and Latin American DVDs.
115A Rue Stevin

Sterling
Brussels’ largest independent English-language bookstore. Newspapers, magazines, fiction, children’s books, cookery books, travel guides, business literature, dictionaries and gifts.
38 Rue du Fossé aux Loups

Tropismes
Beautiful mainly French-language store, stocking a small selection of English-language works.
11 Galerie des Princes

Waterstones
Fiction, classics, politics and history texts, cookery, business and language books, travel guides, maps, games and imported magazines and papers. The ‘homesick corner’ sells tea, jam, brown sauce and biscuits.
71-75 Boulevard Adolphe Max

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

BDScope
Comic-strip specialist with the latest editions as well as manga and related accessories. Weekly book signings.
28 Rue de la Casquette, Liège

Bibliopolis
Chain store offering discounted end-of-stock titles, including art and history, novels, dictionaries, language books and DVDs.
28 Rue Saint-Paul, Liège

Copyright
Specialises in works on art, design, fashion and architecture. Branches in Antwerp and Ghent.

Florilege
Specialises in children’s books.
16 Rue du Grand Jour, Mons

Furet du Nord
French chain in Louvain-la-Neuve selling children’s books and academic tomes as well as stationery. It also hosts evening literary events. Second outlet in Namur.
11 Place Agora

Graffiti
Independent store in Waterloo stocking more than 40,000 books.
129 Chaussée de Bruxelles

Groene Waterman
Literary meeting place, 50 years old, offering multilingual fiction and non-fiction and regular events.
7 Wolstraat, Antwerp

Kartonnen Dozen
The only bookshop in Flanders to specialise in gay literature.
34 Draakstraat, Antwerp

De Krook
Ghent’s central library is a whole media centre, home to tech research institutions and a student radio station. It provides books in multiple languages and a wide selection of CDs and DVDs.
1 Miriam Makebaplein

Ligne Claire
Pop culture, comic strips, manga, board games, war games and more.
66 Grand’Rue, Mons

Molière
Situated in Charleroi’s former Hôtel des Postes, selling a wide range of literature plus regular events.
68 Boulevard Tirou

Paard Van Troje
‘Offline’ bookshop selling fiction and non-fiction in Dutch and English, indie music and documentaries, with a cafe-bar.
Kouter, Ghent

Pax
A Liège institution, this independent store is of architectural interest as well as a cultural treasure trove. Features exhibition catalogues, books dedicated to the Théâtre de Liège, and an enthusiastic team of booksellers.
4 Place Cockerill

De Reyghere
Flanders’ oldest bookshop, with works in Dutch and English, regular readings and a travel bookshop next door.
12-13 Markt, Bruges

Scientia
General bookstore that also stocks scientific and academic works. ÄÄ 9-13 Passage du Centre, Mons

De Slegte
New and second-hand titles in Dutch and English. Branches in Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Mechelen.