Paddington

An independent bookshop on Oxford Street in Paddington, near the markets, opened in 1985 by Jane Blanks and now run by her daughter Julia. One of Sydney's oldest booksellers, it's known above all for art, design and architecture, with poetry, plays, film and literature alongside, plus cards and small gifts. In its early years it traded until midnight seven days a week and ran all-night events, among them a three-day reading of Don Quixote in 2007. The family left Oxford Street in 2016 and has since brought Ariel back to it.

Berkelouw Books occupies a Victorian terrace on Queen Street in Paddington, stocking secondhand and rare books alongside vintage maps, postcards, and prints. The shop's inventory spans literary fiction and non-fiction across multiple decades, with particular depth in Australian publishing from the mid-20th century. A small rooftop café overlooks the street. The business operates as both bookshop and paper ephemera dealer, with stock that reflects decades of selective buying rather than volume.

On a quiet corner in Paddington, this is a shop for people who care where a wine comes from and who made it. The list leans toward Burgundy and its Australian counterparts — Mornington pinot specialists, cool-climate cabernet from Henty, museum releases held back until they've found their stride — alongside the kind of German riesling and small-grower champagne that reward patience. Rather than chasing volume, the focus is on producers with a story worth telling: a Meursault domaine quietly rated by critics, a Geelong winemaker known for restraint over power, a Tasmanian pinot from a single vintage. Regular tastings and dinners bring winemakers themselves through the door — a chance to hear directly from the people behind the label rather than just read the back of a bottle. The staff clearly taste widely and talk about wine with the ease of people who've spent time in the trade, not just behind a till. It's a place built around discovery rather than habit: new arrivals rotate constantly, seasonal collections spotlight a single producer, and the emphasis throughout is on wines with real provenance and character. Open long hours, seven days, it rewards both the considered special-occasion purchase and the simple pleasure of browsing something new.