5 Best Bookstores in Abu Dhabi (2026)

Kinokuniya Abu Dhabi is the Middle East outpost of the Japanese bookstore chain, located across two floors at The Galleria on Al Maryah Island, stocking books, comics, figurines, and stationery. It offers a large, well-curated selection spanning genres, alongside a dedicated children's section and rotating themed displays, and runs a paid annual membership offering a discount on every purchase. The store also supports online ordering for customers who can't make it in person.

Abu Dhabi Children's Library, run by the Department of Culture and Tourism through the Cultural Foundation, is a free public library built specifically around children's reading, with themed spaces like the Book Mountain auditorium and a dune-inspired reading area. It combines a large multilingual print and digital collection with interactive learning zones, video games, and an art workshop, aimed at fostering reading habits from a young age. This is a public library, not a retail bookstore, so books are borrowed rather than purchased.

The Bookshop Library Est at Al Danah is the deepest reviewed name on this page, combining an Arabic and English bookstore with an extensive stationery, art supply, and office supply operation. Reviewers describe it as more of a comprehensive stationery destination that happens to carry books, particularly strong on Arabic titles and children's storybooks, with a lighter selection of English fiction and non-fiction. It also carries seasonal items, toys, and school supplies.

Al Andalus Bookshop, located near the airport road, specializes in school stationery and curriculum books for the Indian education system, carrying NCERT and CBSE titles alongside reference guides from major Indian publishers. It's a go-to for parents whose children attend Indian curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi, stocking everything from notebooks and geometry sets to Holy Qurans with translations and UAE flags. The shop also offers photocopying and document scanning services.

Goyals Books and Beyond in Al Zahiyah is a designated distributor for specific Indian curriculum schools' textbooks in Abu Dhabi, alongside stationery and school supplies. As one of the limited official distribution points for certain schools' required books, many parents have no alternative supplier for those specific titles, which shapes some of the frustration visible in its reviews around pricing and return policy. The shop keeps split daily hours across morning and evening sessions.