Bookstores in Ubud

If you judge a town by its bookshops, Ubud, Bali gives you 7 to judge by. That's 7 bookshops mapped around Ubud, each with its own shelves and specialties. The used sections are where the real bargains hide. Staff picks shelves are the fastest way to read a shop's personality.

This guide covers every bookstore we could verify in and around Ubud (within about 20 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Ary's Bookstore and Periplus Bookshop, plus Periplus Bookshop. If a bookshop's missing from Ubud's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.

The Ubud bookstore lineup

7 in Ubud, plus 8 more around Ubud below:

What the map tells us about bookstores in Ubud

2 of the 7 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.

The Ubud bookstore crawl

Plot these on a map and the day plans itself: Ary's Bookstore, Periplus Bookshop, Periplus Bookshop, Cantina Taco Bar, Ganesha Bookstore on Jalan Raya Ubud, Rendez-vous doux, and Toko Senyum Smile Shop on Jl. Raya Nyuh Kuning. That's 7 stops on the Ubud bookstore crawl.

Bookstore tips for Ubud

Browsing in Ubud? A little strategy helps:

• Bring a tote bag at Ary's Bookstore. Bookshops and tote bags are a natural pair. You'll need it — nobody leaves with the one book they came for.
• Check the bargain carts outside at Periplus Bookshop. Sidewalk carts are the shop's clearance rack. A dollar a book, and the turnover is fast.
• Check for a café corner. A bookshop with coffee is a trap in the best way. Plan accordingly; you won't be leaving soon.
• Don't judge by the window display. The front table is marketing. The back shelves are the shop's real taste. Walk the whole floor.

Good to know

We searched about 20 km around Ubud — 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 Ubud can take a while to appear. Spotted a closure among the 7, or a bookstore we missed entirely? The map is the source of truth here — one OpenStreetMap edit corrects it for everyone.

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 7 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 Ubud

8 more within about 20 km of Ubud, nearest first: