A Bookshop Holiday in Wigtown, Scotland
Running a cozy little bookshop where readers can meet and connect over their favorite authors is a dream shared by many book nerds. But beyond the romanticized idea, the independent bookstore business is renowned for being risky, which is why most people never get to follow that dream.
Many bibliophiles imagine leaving daily life to run a small, cozy bookshop where readers gather. For most that remains a daydream—too risky to act on. In Wigtown, however, a practical, creative option exists: The Open Book offers visitors a “bookshop holiday,” letting guests run the shop while living in the apartment above for one or two weeks.
“You come here because of the dream—the ‘what if’ moment,” says Jessica Fox, one of The Open Book’s founders. “It feels like you’re the main character in a movie.” Fox knows that feeling well. She left a high-pressure filmmaking career in Los Angeles, where she even did work connected to NASA, and after volunteering at Scotland’s largest secondhand bookshop decided to settle in Wigtown. She later turned her story into a memoir, Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Real-Life Scottish Fairy Tale.
Keen to let others taste that fairy-tale life without giving up their everyday commitments, Fox helped create The Open Book. Guests can rearrange window displays, set opening hours and program events—wine tastings, karaoke, tea parties, author talks and live music are all on the menu. The experience is hands-on and intentionally analog, giving visitors a break from screens and a chance to connect with a tight-knit community.
Since opening in August 2014, the idea went viral. The shop and its apartment are usually booked as far ahead as Airbnb permits—about two years—and new availability typically appears on the first Monday of each month. “What keeps people coming back—and some have been three times and still wait—is the community they find,” Fox says.
Wigtown, a coastal town of roughly 1,000 residents in Galloway, has long been a destination for readers. Designated Scotland’s National Book Town in 1998, it launched its first book festival that year. The annual Wigtown Book Festival (scheduled in 2026 from September 25 to October 4) now stages more than 200 events and contributes an estimated £14 million to the local economy.
Before the book-focused revival, Wigtown struggled—many buildings stood empty and threatened demolition. “It is essentially the books that have saved Wigtown,” says Joyce Cochrane, owner of The Old Bank Bookshop. “Wigtown has risen from the ashes because of books. It’s a community built on books, a wonderful success story.”
For anyone curious about the life of a bookseller, The Open Book offers a chance to step into that dream for a week or two—shelving, chatting with customers, hosting events and coming away with a deeper appreciation for what books can do for a place and its people.