City Lights Bookstore

261 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone - (415) 362-8193
Categories: Book Stores

Mentioned in the Following Guides

North Beach, Nob Hill

North Beach, Nob Hill

  • By Sunset Blue
  • Updated about 1 month ago
  • 2 Thumbs Up

I have spent hours of perfectly good daylight in the basement browsing through the pantheon of books. The CityLights originally published Ginsberg’s Howl, so is a Mecca for bibliophiles like me. The poetry room up the back stairs also has lots of local stuff in addition to the classics, and I never come out without buying something.

San Francisco's Used Bookstores: A Reader's Guide

San Francisco's Us...

  • By Juliette
  • Updated 2 months ago
  • 5 Thumbs Up

This is probably THE bookstore everyone tells you to come to in SF. In the 50s, beat poets like Kerouac spent their days at City Lights and then went to Vesuvio’s next door, a cute little bar, to drink their brains out. You should go to Vesuvio’s, have some whiskey, and go puke in Jack Kerouac alley. You’ll be reliving history! This bookstore is a landmark. Definitely check it out at some point. You’ll have to stomach the tourists, but if you come late, after a night of drinking in North Beach (yes, this store is open late) you might stumble into something or someone (ooh la la) of interest. Lots of great lectures and authors series held here too.