Books

Finding books in English in Cape Town is very easy, although they are fairly expensive (R 120 - 200 for new paperbacks). The best place to look for books is Exclusive Books - a local chain of book stores located in most shopping malls and pffering a very wide selection of books and magazines. Most of Exclusive Books stores have a loyalty program called Fanatics which allows you to earn discount vouchers. They also have pleasant cafes in most shops where you can enjoy a cuppa while browsing books or magazines.

Exclusive Books also earns our vote for one of the best online book stores in South Africa, along with and Kalahari.net which is an exclusively online store similar to Amazon. Speaking of Amazon, we have recieved numerous reports about Amazon having trouble delivering orders to South Africa, so as much as we love them - check twice with local stores before you order from Amazon.

Wordsworth Books is another local chain that you can find in numerous shopping malls. They are smaller than Exclusive Books but nevertheless worth a browse. There are also numerous independent and specialty book stores scattered all over Cape Town. The highest concentration of these is in the City Bowl around Long Street. Some of these sell second-hand books for very reasonable amounts (R10-50), or will swap your second-hand books for theirs. Check out Baobab Books (Boabab Mall, Long Street), Bookwise (Long Street), Reader's Den (Long Street), Tommy's Book Exchange (Long Street), Ulrich Naumann Bookshop (Burg Street), Clarkes Bookshop (Long Street) and Select Bookshop (Long Street).

CDs, DVDs, Gaming

The best stores to shop for CDs, DVDs and games are Musica and Look & Listen. Both are local chains, both can be found in most shopping malls and offer the largest selection. You will also be able to find a modest selection of music and DVDs at supermarkets like Pickn’Pay at very good prices.

Online Shopping

If you prefer to do your shopping online, you'll be happy to her that Cape Town offers a very good choice. Here's our top suggestions:

Books, cds, dvds and games: Kalahari and Take2

Books only: Exclusive Books

CDs, DVDs, Games: Look & Listen

Dvds and games: e-dreams

Last update: September 24, 2009