Columbus Booklovers Trail

The Columbus (Ohio) Booklovers Trail is the perfect adventure for any book lover. The trail includes cute book shops, comic book stores, and of course one of the nation’s largest independent owned bookstore. This adventure takes you to the heart of Columbus and lets you also explore the beautiful neighborhoods surrounding the capital.

10 book stores are included on the trail, with additional optional stops along the way. After collecting all of the points by visiting each required stop, you can collect a special Booklovers Trail sweatshirt from Experience Columbus Visitor Centers! Books and a cozy sweatshirt. Books and a cozy sweatshirt!? Sign me up!

Okay, well we did sign up. We registered online (which is free), we checked in at each location, we drank all the coffee and treated ourselves all along the way.

Did we jam to 90’s music most of the way? Yes.
Did I make snackle boxes for the trip? Yes.
Did we laugh every other minute? Yes.
Did we do the WHOLE TRAIL IN ONE DAY??? YES!!!!!

Did we pick a book for our next book-ish club read? No.

This day was FUN. We treated ourselves, we stocked up on gifts, we only had one parking snafu! It was all in all a successful day with lots of fun and lots of book-ish related activities. We were notified after completing the trail that we have one year to pick up our sweatshirts.

I created an itinerary based off location, hours of operation, and vaguely where we wanted to end. I may have also come up with “Book Trail Bingo” with book store related things as well as coffee shop/adventure things! Because I’m a little extra.

This “trail” hosted by Expereince Columbus, does not have a posted end date (at the time I’m writing this) so you don’t have to do it all in a day! We did and it was a blast, but you could definifetly make it easier on yourself and do this over a few weeks or event months. However you do it, make sure you register online at Experience Columbus and check in using your phone’s location at each stop!

STOP 1: Storyline (Upper Arlington) *opens at 8AM, perfect place to start!

-stop for coffee after this one! Bitty & Beau’s is located nearby!

STOP 2: Little Gay Bookstore (High Street, Columbus)

STOP 3: Prologue Bookshop (High Street, Columbus)

STOP 4: Blue Couch Bookshop (Grandview Ave, Columbus)

STOP 5: Clintonville Books (Clintonville)

-lunch time! Highly recommend “Dough Mama” which is within walking distance from stop 5

STOP 6: Packrat Comics (Hillard)

STOP 7: Birdie Books (Westerville)

-perfect time for another coffee, a couple options within walking distance from stop 7

STOP 8: Krazzy Comics (Gahanna)

STOP 9: The Book Loft (German Village) *this one is open late so could be moved to your last stop if needed

STOP 10: Bound By Books (Grove City)

Things to consider:

-you have to REGISTER beforehand to be able to physically check in at each location.

-double check store hours within a day or so of going! Holiday hours can vary.

-If you’re not someone who buys themselves a lot of books, consider stocking up on gifts! A lot of these stores also have “gift” type items for sale, perfect for pairing with a new book to gift to someone this holiday season.

-pack snacks and water to save a little time/money

Is this something you would do!? Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions reach out!

For all the details on how to register, additional option locations, and more click the link below