📚 SCOTLAND'S BOOK TOWN. Wandering around shops in readers' paradise of Wigtown, Galloway (30.8.2025)

Taking a wander around Wigtown—Scotland’s National Book Town, nestled in the scenic south-west of Scotland, a week before the famous book festival on Saturday, 30 August 2025. Though small, it packs a powerful literary punch with around a dozen to fifteen book-related businesses and hundreds of thousands of books to buy. I explore the town’s literary heartbeat, visiting its varied and distinctive bookshops, including: The Bookshop Scotland’s largest second-hand bookstore—with over a mile of shelving and roughly 100,000 titles to explore. A literary labyrinth where you might even meet its famous resident cat, Captain. The Old Bank Bookshop A building once housing customs and banking operations, now transformed into a multi-room vault of second-hand fiction, regional history, antiquarian treasures, sheet music, and art volumes. Byre Books Housed in an old cow shed, this magical off-the-beaten-path shop specialises in mythology, folklore, history, and Scottish heritage—all surrounded by greenery. (My favourite) Number 11 Operated by the Wigtown Festival Company, this shop offers a mix of new fiction and non-fiction—sometimes featuring signed editions—alongside literary gifts and crafts. The Open Book A truly unique experience: stay in the apartment above the shop and help run it for a week. A dream come true for book lovers, and all proceeds support local charity work.