Bookstores in Lausanne
Lausanne, Vaud has 15 bookstores on the map. That's 15 bookshops mapped around Lausanne, 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 Lausanne (within about 25 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Librairie de l'Univers and Tanigami, plus Payot. If a bookshop's missing from Lausanne's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Lausanne bookstore lineup
15 in Lausanne, plus 18 more around Lausanne below:
Librairie de l'Univers
Bookstore0.1 km from Lausanne
Librairie de l'Univers is Bookstore on 5 Rue Centrale, Lausanne. Librairie de l'Univers also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Tu-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
5 Rue Centrale, Lausanne, 1003
Hours: Tu-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00
Phone: +41 21 312 85 42
Tanigami
Bookstore0.1 km from Lausanne
Tanigami — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Tanigami: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:00-18:45; Tu-Fr 10:00-18:45; Sa 10:00-18:00; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo 13:00-18:45; Tu-Fr 10:00-18:45; Sa 10:00-18:00
Payot
Bookstore0.1 km from Lausanne
Payot — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Payot: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-19:00; Sa 09:00-18:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-19:00; Sa 09:00-18:00
Phone: +41 21 341 33 27;+41 21 341 33 31
Librairie de la Louve
Bookstore0.2 km from Lausanne
Librairie de la Louve is Bookstore.
Madeleine
Bookstore0.3 km from Lausanne
Madeleine — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Madeleine: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 08:30-17:30; Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-Sa 08:30-17:30; Su off
Phone: +41 21 312 74 96
Librairie Le Valentin
Bookstore0.4 km from Lausanne
Librairie Le Valentin is Bookstore on 2 Rue Pré-du-Marché, Lausanne.
2 Rue Pré-du-Marché, Lausanne, 1004
Books Books Books
Used bookstore0.4 km from Lausanne
Books Books Books is Used bookstore on 1 Rue du Valentin, Lausanne. Books Books Books also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 09:00-18:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
1 Rue du Valentin, Lausanne, 1004
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:00-18:00
Phone: +41 76 604 31 61
Bélphegor
Bookstore0.5 km from Lausanne
Bélphegor is Bookstore on Boulevard de Grancy. Bélphegor also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Tu, Th-Fr 10:00-12:15, 14:00-19:00; We 14:00-19:00; Sa 10:00-17:00.
Boulevard de Grancy
Hours: Mo-Tu, Th-Fr 10:00-12:15, 14:00-19:00; We 14:00-19:00; Sa 10:00-17:00
L'inopinée
Bookstore0.6 km from Lausanne
L'inopinée is Bookstore on 4 Avenue Gabriel-de-Rumine. L'inopinée also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
4 Avenue Gabriel-de-Rumine, 1005
Phone: +41 21 611 20 53
Molly & Bloom
Bookstore0.6 km from Lausanne
Molly & Bloom is Bookstore.
Librairie ex nihilo
Bookstore0.7 km from Lausanne
Librairie ex nihilo is Bookstore. Librairie ex nihilo also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 10:00-17:00.
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 10:00-17:00
Basta
Bookstore0.7 km from Lausanne
Basta is Bookstore on 4 Rue du Petit-Rocher, Lausanne. Basta also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Tu-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 10:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
4 Rue du Petit-Rocher, Lausanne, 1003
Hours: Tu-Fr 10:00-18:30; Sa 10:00-17:00
Phone: +41 21 625 52 34
Basta
Bookstore3.7 km from Lausanne
Basta is Bookstore. Basta also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-We 09:00-12:30,13:30-17:15; Th 10:30-12:30,13:30-17:15; Fr 09:00-13:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-We 09:00-12:30,13:30-17:15; Th 10:30-12:30,13:30-17:15; Fr 09:00-13:00
Phone: +41 21 691 39 37
La Maison des Feuilles
Bookstore4.6 km from LausanneRun by La Maison des Feuilles Sàrl
La Maison des Feuilles is Bookstore run by La Maison des Feuilles Sàrl on 2 Avenue du Tir-Fédéral, Chavannes-près-Renens. La Maison des Feuilles also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:30-18:30; Tu-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
2 Avenue du Tir-Fédéral, Chavannes-près-Renens, 1022
Hours: Mo 13:30-18:30; Tu-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su off
Phone: +41 21 634 32 41
La Boutique
Bookstore5.1 km from LausanneRun by EPFL
Run by EPFL, La Boutique is Bookstore. Also worth knowing about La Boutique: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-17:00
Phone: +41 21 693 51 04
What the map tells us about bookstores in Lausanne
11 of the 15 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — bookshops keep civilised hours, so the listed ones are usually reliable.
9 have websites listed. Worth a look for events — readings and signings get announced there first.
Most of the bookstores in Lausanne list a phone number. Useful for checking whether a specific title is in stock before you visit.
The Lausanne bookstore crawl
Making a day of it in Lausanne? Work this order: Librairie de l'Univers on 5 Rue Centrale, Tanigami, Payot, Librairie de la Louve, Madeleine, Librairie Le Valentin on 2 Rue Pré-du-Marché, Books Books Books on 1 Rue du Valentin, and Bélphegor on Boulevard de Grancy. That's the bookstore crawl in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 7 more are listed below.
Bookstore tips for Lausanne
Browsing in Lausanne? A little strategy helps:
- Read the first page in the shop at Librairie de l'Univers. The first-page test never lies. If it doesn't grab you standing there, it won't grab you at home.
- Ask for the out-of-print hunters at Tanigami. Some used shops will hunt down out-of-print titles for you. It takes patience, but the find is worth it.
- Check the events board. Book clubs, writing groups, story times — bookshops are community centres that happen to sell books.
- Learn the remainders table. Publisher overstocks sold cheap. Great for gift buying — new books at used prices.
Good to know
We searched about 25 km around Lausanne — 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 Lausanne can take a while to appear. The 15 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 15 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 Lausanne
18 more within about 25 km of Lausanne — here are the 15 nearest:
Le Petit Prince
Bookstore10.3 km from Lausanne
Le Petit Prince — Bookstore.
Payot
Bookstore10.3 km from Lausanne
Payot — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Payot: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 08:30-18:00.
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 08:30-18:00
Le 9e Art
Bookstore10.4 km from Lausanne
Le 9e Art is Bookstore.
Librairie du Muratore
Bookstore13.6 km from Lausanne
Librairie du Muratore is Bookstore. Librairie du Muratore also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-12:30,14:00-19:00; Sa 10:00-19:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-12:30,14:00-19:00; Sa 10:00-19:00
Phone: +33 4 50 74 04 79
La Bouquinerie
Bookstore13.6 km from Lausanne
La Bouquinerie — Bookstore.
Baker street
Bookstore13.7 km from Lausanne
Baker street — Bookstore.
Librairie du Midi
Bookstore16.0 km from Lausanne
Librairie du Midi is Bookstore on 5 Route de Palézieux, Oron-la-Ville. Librairie du Midi also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:30-18:30; Tu-Fr 08:30-12:00,13:30-18:30; Sa 08:30-16:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
5 Route de Palézieux, Oron-la-Ville, 1610
Hours: Mo 13:30-18:30; Tu-Fr 08:30-12:00,13:30-18:30; Sa 08:30-16:00
Phone: +41787834040
Cultura
Bookstore16.8 km from Lausanne
Cultura — Bookstore, found on Rue des Vignes Rouges in Publier. Also worth knowing about Cultura: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 09:00-20:00; Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Rue des Vignes Rouges, Publier, 74500
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:00-20:00; Su off
Phone: +33 4 56 66 06 20
La Clef de Sol
Bookstore17.5 km from Lausanne
La Clef de Sol — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about La Clef de Sol: the map lists its hours as Mo 13:30-18:00; Tu-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.
Hours: Mo 13:30-18:00; Tu-Fr 09:00-18:00; Sa 09:00-17:00
Phone: +41 21 921 22 53
Payot
Bookstore17.5 km from Lausanne
Payot — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Payot: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 08:30-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 08:30-17:00
Phone: +41 21 921 17 32
La Fontaine
Bookstore17.5 km from Lausanne
La Fontaine is Bookstore on 47 Rue du Lac, Vevey. La Fontaine also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
47 Rue du Lac, Vevey, 1800
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-18:30; Sa 09:00-17:00
Phone: +41 21 921 79 02
Librairie de Champanges
Bookstore17.7 km from Lausanne
Librairie de Champanges is Bookstore on Rue de Savoie. Librairie de Champanges also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
Rue de Savoie, 74500
Phone: +33450734046
L'Imprudence
Bookstore18.1 km from Lausanne
L'Imprudence is Bookstore on 26 Rue d'Italie, Vevey.
26 Rue d'Italie, Vevey, 1800
Fnac
Bookstore18.7 km from LausanneRun by Yutaka
Fnac is Bookstore run by Yutaka on 7 Rue Amédée de Foras, Thonon-les-Bains. Fnac also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 09:30-19:30; Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
7 Rue Amédée de Foras, Thonon-les-Bains, 74200
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:30-19:30; Su off
Phone: +33 4 80 29 00 11
Majuscule
Bookstore20.2 km from Lausanne
Majuscule is Bookstore on 7 Rue des Arts, Thonon-les-Bains. Majuscule also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo 14:00-19:00; Tu-Fr 09:15-12:00,14:15-19:00; Sa 09:30-12:15,14:15-19:00; PH,Su off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
7 Rue des Arts, Thonon-les-Bains, 74200
Hours: Mo 14:00-19:00; Tu-Fr 09:15-12:00,14:15-19:00; Sa 09:30-12:15,14:15-19:00; PH,Su off
Phone: +33 4 50 71 25 45
Bookstore listings for Lausanne: 15 in Lausanne and 18 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.