Stanfords are the UK's leading specialist retailer of maps, travel books, and other travel accessories, having been established in 1853 by Edward Stanford. After 118 years at their Long Acre address the flagship store has relocated to a new London home on  Mercer Walk in Covent Garden.

Stanfords books has have been an essential first port of call for adventure and armchair travellers alike for more than a century. Their roll-call of customers past and present includes such famous names as Amy Johnson, David Livingstone, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Florence Nightingale, Ranulph Fiennes, Bill Bryson, Michael Palin, and even Sherlock Holmes.