Books, books and more books. There really is nothing like a book store in England. NOTHING. Ok,…read moremaybe there is, but I digress. This is not your borders, not your B&N, I was a lovely book shop with wall to wall books, including the newest craze, Adult coloring books, and yes, I picked a new one up! They didn't have the foul language one I was looking for, but they did have Notes from the Universe, which was just as nice.

Support your independent bookshop. Knowledgeable staff. Great source of discounted children's…read morebooks. I always use Bookends to order books in. They get them for you the next day, and I can order in advance over the Internet and collect them and pay at the shop. They have a loyalty scheme, so you can collect stickers in exchange for a voucher which you can use at Bookends or at Bookcase (their sister shop which sells second hand books and classical music CDs).

This book shop is situated betwen the Town Hall and the Cathedral and from the outside looks quite…read moresmall but looks can be very deceiving! Once you go inside you will find lots of books about Carlisle and the local area as well as books that have just been published too. There is a wonderful children's section that has lots of different and discounted books to choose from. They have a great children's section too. They also sell calendars and notelets and address books and other things that make ideal presents for those people who are sometimes hard to buy for. This floor is just the tip of the iceburg. Downstairs there are three more rooms crammed with books. You could spend ages just browsing around. the staff are very knowledgeable and very helpful. They are also good at stepping back and letting you look without feeling pressured into buying. I always come here for my books as I feel it is important to support your local independent book shop.

i love waterstones so much, the staff are so kind and the book selection is HUGE. the vibe of the…read moreshop is so cozy and really enjoyable. will be coming more often.

This is now a Waterstone's. Standard high street bookshop. Where this wins is the layout. Spacious…read moreairy store over 2 floors, with the bonus of Costa's cafe on the 2nd floor. Escalator or a lift to the 2nd floor, so it scores better than other shops for accessibility. Standard type of stock and lots of 3 for 2 offers. Not much else though.

This store has a wide variety of products, split over two floors, and stocks most magazines, as…read morewell as stationary, CDs and DVDs, and now also has the main post office in Carlisle situated on the first floor. The staff are reasonably helpful, some more than others. It used to be quite easy to navigate around the store, but since the introduction of the post office, I have found the store to be rather disjointed and cluttered, and as a result don't shop in here as much as I did.

Smith's is on the up as a retailer. They now have a huge range of stationery. Good stock of…read moremagazines. Books on the 2nd floor often have special offers. However, the stairs will put off some, especially as it's where Carlisle's main Post Office is now. Get yourself a WH Smith clubcard, as they often have good special offers.

Really excellent, not just the Debenhams, as I am talking in depth and overall, of the Lanes…read moreShopping Centre, and the other stores, and in the the Scotch and English Streets. I loved this street and indoor shopping malls, as it is boasts a wide range of stores, which are suitable for me, and I have visited this shopping area nearly too often, and do enjoy browsing through, even they have a great car park area all over the carlisle area. Even there are many great restaurants, cafes, shops, bookstores, clothes stores, mobile phone stores, and everything else. I feels like I can be able to get everything in these streets. Once time my sister have came over to Carlisle to stay with me, and we went out for a day worth of shopping experience, and my sister originally thought it would be rubbish day, but she was amazed on how great the town are, and offers loads of things, and she was overly impressed with the location, and everything else, as it is quite near to the train station, bus stations, and even near to the car parks. She said that she would definitely come back there again. so after a month or so she came back with pocketful of cash! For a shopping experience, I would recommend you come during the good weather, as it is open roofed on the Scotch and English Streets. But if it is raining, and you can go in the glass roof topped mall in the Lanes Centre. It is very conveniently placed and totally near to everything else! Even near to the park, and near to the River Eden, and near to the nightlife as well!

This a great department store and I was so pleased when it arrived about ten years ago. It has a…read morefantastic range of womenswear including many designer lables such as Star by Julien Mcdonald and John Rocha. I totally love the Pineapple sportswear and Oasis is fantastic although the outlet is a little small with a limited amount of their clothing. They do a nice range of Wedding dresses which are a lot cheaper than the boutiques and you can buy them off the peg. I also really like their bridesmaid dresses which are great quality. The shop is spread over three floors which are all really accessible with the escalators and there are lifts aswell. The range of perfumes and beauty products is huge and there are often some great batgains on the box sets. I also really like the childrenswear and in particular the Junior J range by Jasper Conran. It seems to wash really well which is great when you have a toddler. The menswear is on the bottom floor and stocks a lot of designer labels and also some surprises such as Cragghoppers which I only noticed the other day. Their Homewares section is really big and again includes items from the designers, although it does seem to be quite expensive and you are paying for the name. The cafe is huge and overlooks the castle which is a really nice view. In store there is also a wedding list service and a free personal shopping service. There are also some toilets located next to the cafe which are always really clean.

This place is a global treasure. One of us had been here 11(!) years ago with friends who live in…read moreNewcastle who brought her here, and she loved it so much that she insisted we all go again--so we did. After spending the morning at Alnwick Castle, we came to Barter Books for lunch and browsing. The cafe is adorable and cozy, and our party of seven was promptly seated. You order at the register and you do not want to sleep on the rarebit--it's so good! While it had just a tad too much mustard than remembered, it was still so gooey and heart-warming (and certainly more impressive than the pile of gloop that was our daughter's mac-n-cheese...let's just pretend that never happened). The beans on toast was also comforting and perfect in such a setting. Fries (chips!) are well-made, and the accompanying salad has a tangy vinaigrette. The whole bookstore is a converted train station and it's massive and we would have perused the titles for several more hours had we not had four children in our party. It was still a lovely time exploring the store, roaming the aisles, and getting lost in old books. We bought a few to bring home, as well as some other swag. And obviously you don't want to miss seeing the famed original "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. This is just one of those magical places that you really can't describe, but once you go, you'll get it. Five unequivocal stars.

Love this place! Neat rooms to explore, fun model train, lots of used books a nice selection of…read morenew gifts AND a great and reasonable cafe. Their chips are so good I went back the next day for a snack.