Bookstores in Assen
Assen, Drenthe has 5 bookstores on the map. That's 5 bookshops mapped around Assen, each with its own shelves and specialties. The used sections are where the real bargains hide. Give yourself an hour minimum — bookshops are the one errand that always takes longer than planned.
This guide covers every bookstore we could verify in and around Assen (within about 25 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Van der Velde and Bruna, plus Bruna. If a bookshop's missing from Assen's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Assen bookstore lineup
5 in Assen, plus 30 more around Assen below:
Van der Velde
Bookstore0.1 km from Assen
Van der Velde is Bookstore on 30-34 Kruisstraat, Assen. Van der Velde also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo 12:00-18:00; Tu-Th 09:30-18:00; Fr 09:30-21:00; Sa 09:30-17:00; Su[-1] 13:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
30-34 Kruisstraat, Assen, 9401JL
Hours: Mo 12:00-18:00; Tu-Th 09:30-18:00; Fr 09:30-21:00; Sa 09:30-17:00; Su[-1] 13:00-17:00
Phone: +31 592 317 519
Bruna
Bookstore0.2 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 7 Kruisstraat in Assen. Also worth knowing about Bruna: the map lists its hours as Mo 12:00-18:00; Tu-Th 09:30-18:00; Fr 09:30-21:00; Sa 09:30-17:30; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
7 Kruisstraat, Assen, 9401JJ
Hours: Mo 12:00-18:00; Tu-Th 09:30-18:00; Fr 09:30-21:00; Sa 09:30-17:30
Phone: +31 592 331 903
Bruna
Bookstore0.9 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 241 Nobellaan in Assen. Also worth knowing about Bruna: the map lists its hours as Mo 10:00-17:00; Tu-Fr 09:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
241 Nobellaan, Assen, 9406AH
Hours: Mo 10:00-17:00; Tu-Fr 09:00-17:00
Phone: +31 592 356 594
ReadShop
Bookstore2.4 km from Assen
ReadShop is Bookstore on 105 Scharmbarg, Assen. ReadShop also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Th 08:30-18:00; Fr 08:30-20:00; Sa 08:30-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
105 Scharmbarg, Assen, 9407EC
Hours: Mo-Th 08:30-18:00; Fr 08:30-20:00; Sa 08:30-17:00
Phone: +31 592 373 992
Bruna
Bookstore3.0 km from AssenRun by Bruna
Run by Bruna, Bruna is Bookstore, found on 35 Kleuvenstee in Assen. Also worth knowing about Bruna: the map lists its hours as Mo-Th 08:30-18:00; Fr 08:30-20:00; Sa 08:30-17:00; Su 12:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
35 Kleuvenstee, Assen, 9403LT
Hours: Mo-Th 08:30-18:00; Fr 08:30-20:00; Sa 08:30-17:00; Su 12:00-17:00
Phone: +31 592 372 117
What the map tells us about bookstores in Assen
5 of the 5 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — bookshops keep civilised hours, so the listed ones are usually reliable.
2 have websites listed. Worth a look for events — readings and signings get announced there first.
Most of the bookstores in Assen list a phone number. Useful for checking whether a specific title is in stock before you visit.
The Assen bookstore crawl
The efficient Assen bookstore crawl strings these together: Van der Velde on 30-34 Kruisstraat, Bruna on 7 Kruisstraat, Bruna on 241 Nobellaan, ReadShop on 105 Scharmbarg, and Bruna on 35 Kleuvenstee — 5 stops, one logical order.
Bookstore tips for Assen
Browsing in Assen? A little strategy helps:
- Ask about ordering at Van der Velde. Independent shops will order anything in print, often in a day or two. No need to default to the big online retailer.
- Note the shop's specialties at Bruna. Sci-fi, travel, art books, philosophy — every good shop leans somewhere. Find the lean that matches yours.
- Look for local history. The local-interest shelf tells you what a town thinks of itself. Great for visitors, better for new residents.
- Visit during author events. Readings and signings are usually free and turn a bookshop into the best evening out in town.
Good to know
We searched about 25 km around Assen — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new bookstore in Assen can take a while to appear. The 5 above are only as current as the community map. A bookstore that's shut, or a new one nobody's added yet, gets fixed with a single OpenStreetMap edit.
We don't list prices — they change constantly and vary by edition. What we list is the where: real shops, verified by real mappers, in alphabetical order with no favourites.
If you run one of the 5 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Worth the trip: more bookstores around Assen
30 more within about 25 km of Assen — here are the 15 nearest:
Bruna
Bookstore13.8 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 4b Stationsweg in Zuidlaren.
4b Stationsweg, Zuidlaren, 9471GR
ReadShop
Bookstore15.4 km from Assen
ReadShop is Bookstore on 71a Hoofdweg, Eelde. ReadShop also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00; Sa 08:00-17:30; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
71a Hoofdweg, Eelde, 9761EB
Hours: Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00; Sa 08:00-17:30
Phone: +31 50 309 5774
Bruna
Bookstore15.4 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 27 Brinkstraat in Beilen.
27 Brinkstraat, Beilen, 9411KK
Borker Boekwinkel
Bookstore16.6 km from Assen
Borker Boekwinkel is Bookstore on 39A Hoofdstraat, Westerbork. Borker Boekwinkel also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
39A Hoofdstraat, Westerbork, 9431AC
Hét Aanbod
Bookstore17.0 km from Assen
Hét Aanbod is Bookstore.
Bruna
Bookstore17.4 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 5 Grote Brink in Borger.
5 Grote Brink, Borger, 9531AK
Bruna
Bookstore18.0 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 19 Stationsstraat in Oosterwolde.
19 Stationsstraat, Oosterwolde, 8431ET
Bruna
Bookstore18.0 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 53 Heerestraat in Roden.
53 Heerestraat, Roden, 9301AE
't Kruispunt
Bookstore18.1 km from Assen
't Kruispunt — Bookstore, found on 27 Albertsbaan in Roden.
27 Albertsbaan, Roden, 9301KS
Daan Nijman
Bookstore18.1 km from Assen
Daan Nijman — Bookstore, found on 95 Heerestraat in Roden. Also worth knowing about Daan Nijman: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
95 Heerestraat, Roden, 9301AE
Phone: +31 50 501 2967
ReadShop
Bookstore18.6 km from Assen
ReadShop is Bookstore on 17 Roderweg, Nieuw-Roden. ReadShop also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-18:00; Sa 09:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
17 Roderweg, Nieuw-Roden, 9311PA
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-18:00; Sa 09:00-17:00
Phone: +31 50 2003311
Boomker Boeken
Bookstore20.1 km from Assen
Boomker Boeken — Bookstore, found on 7 Raadhuisplein in Haren Gn. Also worth knowing about Boomker Boeken: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:00-18:00; Tu-Fr 09:30-18:00; Sa 09:30-17:00; Su 12:00-17:00; Jan-Sep Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
7 Raadhuisplein, Haren Gn, 9751AM
Hours: Mo 13:00-18:00; Tu-Fr 09:30-18:00; Sa 09:30-17:00; Su 12:00-17:00; Jan-Sep Su off
Phone: +31 50 534 4013
Bruna
Bookstore20.1 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 22 Brinkhorst in Haren Gn. Also worth knowing about Bruna: the map lists its hours as Mo-Th 08:00-18:00; Fr 08:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
22 Brinkhorst, Haren Gn, 9751AT
Hours: Mo-Th 08:00-18:00; Fr 08:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-17:00
Phone: +31 50 534 4139
Bruna
Bookstore21.6 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 4 De Schans in Leek.
4 De Schans, Leek, 9351AZ
Bruna
Bookstore22.1 km from Assen
Bruna — Bookstore, found on 153p Gorecht-Oost in Hoogezand. Also worth knowing about Bruna: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:00-10:00; Tu-Th 09:00-18:00; Fr 09:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su closed; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
153p Gorecht-Oost, Hoogezand, 9603AE
Hours: Mo 13:00-10:00; Tu-Th 09:00-18:00; Fr 09:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su closed
Phone: +31 598 326 878
Bookstore listings for Assen: 5 in Assen and 30 more nearby mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.