A great little newsagent up in Twthill. Malcolm stocks the usual newspapers, magazines, cigarettes,…read moredrinks and sweets. He also, somewhat oddly, stocks a wide range of fishing gear. Malcolm enjoys fishing and can offer advice on what kit to buy etc. Although it may appear strange to sell this gear from a newsagent shop word of mouth means people know where to find him. The shop is within easy walking distance of the town centre, and luckily is on the main stretch that most schoolkids walk to school - meaning plenty of business to be made around 9am and 4pm, though the shop can be a little busy for non-hobbits!

This is the smallest branch of W. H. Smith that I know of so there's a fairly limited selection…read more They do stock the usual books, newspapers, magazines and stationary but lack the choice you get elsewhere, and being Smiths it's not all that cheap. I suspect that they do quite well as there's not much competition in Caernarfon, although The Works is only a couple of doors away and Clinton Cards is just up the street.

W H Smith in Caernarfon is pretty much the same as any other Smiths throughout the country. It's a…read morebit smaller than most, but they still stock a decent selection - plenty of books and magazines fill the shelves. I'm not sure how they still manage to turn a profit considering that their buying deparment seem to operate on the principle of checking how much a title sells for on amazon, doubling this price, adding on a pound, then rounding to the nearest 99p. There must be plenty of fools out there that love paying through the nose for books. The staff are always courteous, but the queues in there can often be horrendous - the till jockeys aren't too quick on the old scanner. The school stationary kit they sell is of a high quality, but you can buy similar quality stuff much cheaper elsewhere. I can see online sales really battering Smiths this year.

Castle News is a tiny newsagents located directly opposite the entrance to Caernarfon Castle. It's…read morethe sort of place where if there are more than two customers it's packed out. The stock a decent range of newspapers, magazines, confectionary, tobacco and the obligatory tacky souvenirs of Wales. They are the one place in Caernarfon I know of who sell foreign newspapers so if you need a New York Times or a copy of Le Monde then this is the place to go.

Somewhere I'll pop into now and then when walking by to buy a can of coke or a chocolate bar or…read moresomething. This can't be enough to keep the place ticking over. The shop does stock a lot of gifts and postcards aimed at tourists, and due to it's location directly across the road to the castle entrance it no doubt makes a bob or two off their backs. The shop is very small, but the layout makes the most of the space on offer. Somewhere the locals no doubt treat as invisible, but probably of interest to visitors.

An excellent indie book shop which is always worth a visit while in town, especially as it's hard…read moreto say 'no' thanks to the vey inviting window display, which always look superb. Shop itself is well stocked with both Welsh and English books and a small selection of audio CD's and cards. If a book is not instock, it can be ordered in for the very next day. Staff are bilingual and are true experts at helping you and suggesting new books and authors. There wasn't any indictaion of this from the outside, but at the back of the shop there was a small coffee bar, with a few tables and chair and a very large comfortable sofa, where you could loose hours reading books. Also, there were toilets, computers for surfing the internet and a childrens play area. Very modern, yet the shop still had that vintage feel. You don't get that from WHSmith and Waterstones, that's for sure!

Good book shop.read more

The Works in Caernarfon is a small, but well-stocked store. This means that there's not a lot of…read morespace in the shop, due to the placing of the tables, and items stacked on the floors near to the tables. I don't think it would be accessible to wheelchair users. Having said that, the stock remains organised, with childrens' books located together, at the front of the store, and other categories such as craft items, fiction and non-fiction, are all located together in areas of the store. The Works has a good range of discounts, but I tend to find the books on offer in their stores aren't really my cup of tea. Their range of fiction titles are quite limited. The childrens' titles are brilliant, however, and they cater for all age ranges. They also stock a limited range of toys and games and a few dvd collections, which I assume cater to a range of interests and age groups.