Back in 2021, Folkestone already had Marrin’s Antiquarian Bookshop, Waterstones, Oxfam + SB Paperbacks. Steep Street deserves a mention too: it’s a café, but the books are for sale!
After we opened The Folkestone Bookshop in 2022, people often said they’d dreamed of opening one themselves. I’d tell them about ‘bookshop towns’ + offer to share what I’d learnt. Now, in 2026, Folkestone is on it’s way to becoming a bookshop town!
Now there’s Lighthouse Comics + independent publisher Afsana Press on the Old High Street. Down on the Harbour Arm, you’ll find Cosy Cottage Romance + Hut 22 Books, shared by local author Jo Bavington-Jones and photographer Dirk Seyfried.
Oakleaf will be my second, smaller offering to this growing bookshop town. I’ve made this little map of our town’s bookshops, I hope you enjoy it :)
Tap the bookshops, try the lighthouse and the starlings too