Budapest bookstores recommended by HLO editors Atlantisz Könyvsziget
Occupying a piece of the building that previously housed the Eötvös Loránd University, Atlantisz Könyvsziget claims it is one of the most beautiful bookstores in Budapest. As far as services go, the store sells titles both in Hungarian and in foreign languages, and it also operates a book order service that helps you import titles from abroad. A brick-and-mortar Amazon. Address: 1052 Budapest, Piarista köz 1. E-mail: atlbook@axelero.hu Bestsellers
The company "initially began feeding the starving expatriates with one bookshop called 'Bestsellers' located in the 5th district. At the outset, it was also bound, rather amusingly, to sell groceries. It could be said that bureaucratic reasoning in those days was rather exotic" - the founders recall on their web site. Since the 1992 launch, Bestsellers has cleared its portfolio, opened two other bookstores in Budapest, and continues to feed starving expats with food exclusively for thought. Address: 1051 Budapest. Október 6. u. 11. E-mail: bookshop@bestsellers.hu Írók Boltja
Wide selection of contemporary Hungarian fiction and all sorts of literary magazines and periodicals. Írók Boltja (Writers' Store) often hosts book premieres and other literary events in a building that formerly housed the Japán Kávéház, a well-known artists' café until the mid-1950s. A must-see. Address: 1061 Budapest, Andrássy út 45. E-mail: irokboltja@axelero.hu Könyvudvar
On a shoestring? Visit Könyvudvar, a discount bookstore tucked away in a courtyard just off Múzeum körút. The selection might be erratic, but new books are on a continous sale, so you can generally save as much as 40-50% of the cover price.
Address: 1053 Múzeum körút 7. (in courtyard passage to Magyar utca) Pont Könyvkereskedés
Located in the proximity of Central European Univerity and just off Budapest's financial district, Pont holds thousands of volumes of contemporary literature and non-fiction in its cluttered but cozy store in Nádor utca. A popular hangout of scholars and celeb intellectuals, Pont has an extremely friendly staff and a meticulously updated selection. Just watch your steps. Address: Budapest, Nádor utca 8. E-mail: pont@pontkonyv.hu Treehugger Dan's Bookstore and Café Environmental activist Daniel Swartz' bookstore selling English second-hand books and fair trade organic coffee. "The local bookstore with a global conscience." | 
