Foyles Bookshop
Foyles Bookshop
4.5
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
11:30 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Relocated in 2014, from its former location to 107 Charing Cross Road, world-famous bookseller Foyles' flagship boasts six floors of books across all subjects and specialisms. Foyles Charing Cross Road also has an extended range of designer gifts and stationery, a free Gallery space, an Auditorium with a lively programme of public events and private hires, and a Cafe offering hot and cold drinks and locally-sourced food.
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Soho
The go-to district for a good time in London, Soho hosts a wealth of world-class theatres and a compelling lineup of cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars, and clubs. At Soho's core is London's original Red Light District and the epicenter of the LGBT scene – and thus the city's hottest nightlife. For shopping enthusiasts, Soho is not only the home of London's greatest concentration of boutique shops, but also the most strategic place to set off on a tour of the world's most celebrated department stores. In the southern part of the neighbourhood lies Chinatown, with its multitude of delicious and affordable restaurants. Closer to the Thames, Chinatown's narrow and teeming lantern-lit lanes spill onto the expansive hub of glitzy Leicester Square.
How to get there
- Tottenham Court Road • 3 min walk
- Leicester Square • 5 min walk
Reach out directly
Best nearby
Restaurants
10,000 within 5 kms
Attractions
2,812 within 10 kms
See what travellers are saying
- HappyDays1894United Kingdom196 contributionsGreat selection of booksThe selection of books here is not to be missed and it's presented in a really great way. I love the choice. I wouldn't bother with the cafe though as the queues were long and it was expensive (£2.95 for a can of coke). Didn't use the W/C so can't comment on them but there was the usual line for the ladies.Visited October 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 16 October 2023
- GGsSweden77 contributionsBrilliant BookshopThis bookshop is a dream for book lovers! You can find almost everything here. It is easy to spend a few hours here and find a lot of books. Also a great selection of sheet music and CDs.Visited August 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 16 December 2023
- therichastillStevenage, United Kingdom3,458 contributionsWell ReadFoyles Bookshop is quite well known bookshop and well worth checking out if you are a book lover. There are a wide variety of different genres available across their floors. All the floors are accessible by lift as well so if you have problems with mobility this is not an issue. As well as books they sell gifts and jigsaw puzzles as well as things for children too. When I visited the store was clean and everything was well presented. Staff were available to assist if necessary as well.Visited January 2024Travelled soloWritten 17 January 2024
- Peter JChichester, United Kingdom465 contributionsStill a great bookshopI arrived with a list of five books that I wanted to purchase and could not find a single one! A very helpful and friendly member of staff went on the hunt for me and located three of the books. (Foyles still has some oddity about it compared to the old shop!) He then went on his computer and was able to locate copies in another London branch. I will come again.Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 5 April 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
465 reviews
Excellent
336
Very good
93
Average
23
Poor
6
Terrible
7
tartnjohn
Olney, UK3,641 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
Used this cafe some time ago in a morning and found it pretty good so headed there on a Saturday morning expecting a similar experience.
What a mistake that was!!!!
It's a huge place and I would expect it to have had massive experience of handling large numbers of diners but how wrong can you be?
Finding a table was difficult but we grabbed one as it became available and my wife & I took up post whilst my daughter joined the lengthy queue.
25 minutes later, she arrived with the food - 2 cream teas, 1 almond croissant, 2 teas and a coffee and over £20 lighter. 25 minutes for that meagre tray full, pathetic service and paying top whack.
Throughout the 1.5 hours we were there the queue was constant but only 3 staff were plodding around taking ages to serve what was effectively plated meals. In fact one had the audacity to see her boyfriend standing beside the servery so simply downed tools, left her colleagues, quick snog and for the next 5 minutes had a chat before returning to the melee!!!
To say the operation was totally over whelmed was an understatement.
One suggestion for the Foyles management! Somewhere in amongst the thousands of books on your shelves will be tomes with well proven economic, hospitality, customer service organisational practices and business Analysis tips. Written by world experts in their fields, perhaps some time could be taken out by those running this excuse for a cafe and steps taken to manage the throughput.
One thing is certain, I doubt if I will ever set foot in this excuse for a cafe again.
What a mistake that was!!!!
It's a huge place and I would expect it to have had massive experience of handling large numbers of diners but how wrong can you be?
Finding a table was difficult but we grabbed one as it became available and my wife & I took up post whilst my daughter joined the lengthy queue.
25 minutes later, she arrived with the food - 2 cream teas, 1 almond croissant, 2 teas and a coffee and over £20 lighter. 25 minutes for that meagre tray full, pathetic service and paying top whack.
Throughout the 1.5 hours we were there the queue was constant but only 3 staff were plodding around taking ages to serve what was effectively plated meals. In fact one had the audacity to see her boyfriend standing beside the servery so simply downed tools, left her colleagues, quick snog and for the next 5 minutes had a chat before returning to the melee!!!
To say the operation was totally over whelmed was an understatement.
One suggestion for the Foyles management! Somewhere in amongst the thousands of books on your shelves will be tomes with well proven economic, hospitality, customer service organisational practices and business Analysis tips. Written by world experts in their fields, perhaps some time could be taken out by those running this excuse for a cafe and steps taken to manage the throughput.
One thing is certain, I doubt if I will ever set foot in this excuse for a cafe again.
Written 22 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robbie D
2 contributions
May 2024 • Solo
For a long time Rays was (as far as I know) the only dedicated jazz shop left in the UK - managed by the ubiquitous Frank.
In 2022 things suddenly took a change for the worse. I believe Frank resigned and Rays moved to a smaller windowless room on the same floor of Foyle's. Since then whenever I have visited - it has been unstaffed and the sales desk messily stacked up with boxes. The shop feels forlorn and abandoned and without customers. The 'new releases' section which used to be full of that month's releases is now totally out of date. It feels that Foyle's will close it down completely at some point - which would actually be better than this sad reminder of better days.
In 2022 things suddenly took a change for the worse. I believe Frank resigned and Rays moved to a smaller windowless room on the same floor of Foyle's. Since then whenever I have visited - it has been unstaffed and the sales desk messily stacked up with boxes. The shop feels forlorn and abandoned and without customers. The 'new releases' section which used to be full of that month's releases is now totally out of date. It feels that Foyle's will close it down completely at some point - which would actually be better than this sad reminder of better days.
Written 13 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
thezine71
London, UK49 contributions
Aug 2019
Why I adore I enjoy reading and writing - because it gives me a sense of hope. The idea behind reading is to encourage and motivate more people to enjoy the subjects they are reading to think more about the world we live in. There are a lot of positive things to take into consideration and those strategies can be lost on the lack of compassion given to the words on the pages. I am thinking about how words turn into sentences so that is why we think before we write. Our lives can be jam packed with things to do - but there are no new ways of telling who knows what. Books continue to be my favourite source of entertainment and happiness and I love the variety it allows me. Instead catch up with a friend and bond over a favourite thing you have read.
Always remember that Foyles has survived for over 100 hundreds and continues to think about the lives of overs.
Always remember that Foyles has survived for over 100 hundreds and continues to think about the lives of overs.
Written 18 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard H
1 contribution
Mar 2023
When in London I always visit Rays Jazz in Foyles, followed by a visit to the Cafe on the 5th floor for a scone and a coffee.
While always enjoyable, the coffee shop has been taken over by an army of people studying with laptops making it difficult for customers to find a seat.
Foyles need to get this sorted.
While always enjoyable, the coffee shop has been taken over by an army of people studying with laptops making it difficult for customers to find a seat.
Foyles need to get this sorted.
Written 5 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TravellingLX
Blackpool158 contributions
Jan 2022 • Business
Lovely book store, great selection across multiple floors. Nice cafe which is a great escape from the London hustle. Prices can be slightly more than online but it’s great to support such an iconic location
Written 15 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
smilgaki
London, UK2,409 contributions
Jan 2020 • Solo
I hadn't visited Foyles on Charing Cross for many years. The shop is vast and used to be in the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest book shop in the world. It also used to be bewildering, chaotic, badly laid out, expensive and the aisles used to be uncomfortably narrow. I used to feel like I needed to take a compass along in order to make it out again or starve to death in a remote section for sheet music.
However, the shop was renovated some years ago, and Foyles was taken over by Waterstones. So as I was passing and had some book vouchers to spend, I thought I'd give it another shot.
The shop is now much improved: it's brighter, more modern and much better organised. The browsing experience is pleasant with staff recommendations and dotted with benches to sit on.
When I went to the till, the assistant was very friendly, which is book shop gold dust. Frequently, staff working in book shops are introverted to the point of rudeness.
It's still not a place to hunt for bargains (but that's what the internet and second hand shops are for), and it remains a bit narrow in places but overall it's great and there are very few books you won't find here including specialist subjects.
However, the shop was renovated some years ago, and Foyles was taken over by Waterstones. So as I was passing and had some book vouchers to spend, I thought I'd give it another shot.
The shop is now much improved: it's brighter, more modern and much better organised. The browsing experience is pleasant with staff recommendations and dotted with benches to sit on.
When I went to the till, the assistant was very friendly, which is book shop gold dust. Frequently, staff working in book shops are introverted to the point of rudeness.
It's still not a place to hunt for bargains (but that's what the internet and second hand shops are for), and it remains a bit narrow in places but overall it's great and there are very few books you won't find here including specialist subjects.
Written 12 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mariette Walters
29 contributions
Aug 2024 • Friends
I got nothing bad to say about the content of the shop. But it is very difficult to get around the shop in a wheelchair. Especially around the lifts, stuff everywhere! When I told this to a staff member when I paid for a book, he was very nonchalant, his attitude was ”I couldn’t care less about accessibility for people in wheelchairs”. A white man in his 30’s, thin, with brown hair and glasses needs a lesson in customer service and manners.
Written 21 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sarny
Bexleyheath, UK1,008 contributions
Dec 2023 • Couples
Visited with my husband and our dog. So good to see more shops being dog friendly and we purchased some travel books we were looking for and some things seen near the counter - the shop itself is well laid out and thorough in it's supplies. What marks things down for me is personal to me and not perhaps the shop but I asked the staff at the cafe if we could get coffee with our dog and was told no - I felt that unnecessary in a dog friendly space with our very well behaved dog.
Written 29 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bernie
2 contributions
Nov 2021
Attended on sunday 28th afternoon for a few hours, and after 2 coffees, I moved tables to get to the charging ports in order to do some work.
The waiter approaches and asks me "are you eating and drinking?" I said that I'd ordered 2 coffees already. He leaves without saying another word. 30minutes later he comes back and says "If you don't order anything I am going to have to ask you to leave, I can't have you treating this place like a library." I informed him of the fact that I'd ordered coffees previously and he didn't care: I said "really?", he said "really".
Absolutely disgusted, particularly given how high the prices were already.
I've been to foyles many times but now I'll never be returning - the staff literally don't care about you.
The waiter approaches and asks me "are you eating and drinking?" I said that I'd ordered 2 coffees already. He leaves without saying another word. 30minutes later he comes back and says "If you don't order anything I am going to have to ask you to leave, I can't have you treating this place like a library." I informed him of the fact that I'd ordered coffees previously and he didn't care: I said "really?", he said "really".
Absolutely disgusted, particularly given how high the prices were already.
I've been to foyles many times but now I'll never be returning - the staff literally don't care about you.
Written 28 November 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
therichastill
Stevenage, UK3,458 contributions
Jan 2024 • Solo
Foyles Bookshop is quite well known bookshop and well worth checking out if you are a book lover. There are a wide variety of different genres available across their floors. All the floors are accessible by lift as well so if you have problems with mobility this is not an issue.
As well as books they sell gifts and jigsaw puzzles as well as things for children too.
When I visited the store was clean and everything was well presented. Staff were available to assist if necessary as well.
As well as books they sell gifts and jigsaw puzzles as well as things for children too.
When I visited the store was clean and everything was well presented. Staff were available to assist if necessary as well.
Written 17 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi guys,
Im looking for a good bookshop where i could find books - English as a second language. To teach and learn at school
Thanks in advance
Written 2 May 2018
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