Helena Richardson's charming bookshop – fighting off a leviathan Waterstones around the corner – is a mainstay of Richmond reading life. With a terrific range compressed into a small space, this is excellent, unhurried browsing territory and full of surprises; but if you're after something specific, ask Helena – she knows her stock inside out.
The Open Book
Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court
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Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
12.97 MILES
The world’s largest and oldest continuously occupied fortress, Windsor Castle is a majestic vision of battlements and towers. Used for state occasions, it…
8.22 MILES
A splendid mixture of architectural styles, Westminster Abbey is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic. It's not merely a beautiful place…
9.55 MILES
One of London's most amazing attractions, Tate Modern is an outstanding modern- and contemporary-art gallery housed in the creatively revamped Bankside…
6.16 MILES
With its thunderous, animatronic dinosaur, riveting displays about planet earth, outstanding Darwin Centre and architecture straight from a Gothic fairy…
9.74 MILES
Sir Christopher Wren’s 300-year-old architectural masterpiece is a London icon. Towering over diminutive Ludgate Hill in a superb position that's been a…
10.5 MILES
Few parts of the UK are as steeped in history or as impregnated with legend and superstition as the titanic stonework of the Tower of London. Not only is…
9.65 MILES
Seeing a play at Shakespeare's Globe – ideally standing under the open-air "wooden O" – is experiencing the playwright's work at its best and most…
8.78 MILES
With almost six million visitors trooping through its doors annually, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, one of the oldest and finest museums in the world,…
Nearby Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court attractions
0.12 MILES
A short walk west of the Quadrant (the road at the tube exit) is Richmond Green with its mansions and delightful pubs. In the Middle Ages, jousting…
0.17 MILES
Just off Richmond Green, the attractive remains of Richmond Palace – the main entrance and red-brick gatehouse – date to 1501. Henry VII’s arms are…
0.17 MILES
This five-span bridge, built in 1777, is London’s oldest surviving crossing and was only widened for traffic in 1937. According to the Richmond Bridge Act…
0.48 MILES
Dating from 1894, 250ft long Richmond Lock and footbridge is open during the day to pedestrians.
0.6 MILES
The pastoral vista from Richmond Hill has inspired painters and poets for centuries and still beguiles. It’s the only view (which includes St Paul’s…
0.68 MILES
Once part of the Ham House estate, pastoral Petersham Meadows – where cows still graze – is a perfectly bucolic slice of rural England, especially if you…
0.77 MILES
An 18th-century Palladian peach conceived as an idyllic escape from the hurly-burly of city life, this majestic love nest was originally built for George…
0.86 MILES
Where else in London can you size up an 18th-century 10-storey Chinese pagoda and a Japanese gateway while finding yourself among one of the world’s most…