Wigtown’s Open Book: The holiday that’s a ‘book lover’s dream’

A shop on the corner of a small town in southern Scotland might not seem like a prime holiday destination.

However, the Open Book in Wigtown – which has been running for a decade – now has a two-year waiting list.

The brainchild of author and filmmaker Jessica Fox, the volunteer-run enterprise lets visitors live the dream of running their own bookshop.

In the process, it now also contributes about £10,000-a-year to the Wigtown Festival Company’s charitable work.

But who comes to stay and run the shop and what draws them to this corner of south-west Scotland?

One of its most recent occupants was humanitarian aid worker Isabella Garcia from Austin, Texas.

She stayed for five nights, taking the chance to run the shop for four days.

“I actually found out about the Open Book years ago – I would say maybe even five or more years ago,” she said.

“I am a book lover so usually every town I go into, every place I visit, one of the first things I look for is a bookshop or a bookshop-coffee shop joined together.”

She read about the spot in rural Galloway when looking for holidays for book lovers.

“I came across an article that talked about this and I thought that was so interesting and especially, back then, there was no place where you could run a bookshop,” she said.

“I have found recently that there are apparently a few other Airbnbs – but nothing like this one.”

However, while it was relatively easy to find out about the shop, securing a stay was another matter.

“It was always booked up every single time,” said Isabella.

“There was never anything available, not even during Christmas holidays.”

In fact, since it first started taking bookings in August 2014, nearly 450 guests have come to stay.

A map on the wall shows where they have come from – with locations as far apart as Hawaii and Beijing.

Isabella put herself on a waiting list to join their number but stumbled across two dates open this year and snapped them up.

She said her few days had been a delight – despite coming to Scotland in the dampest of summers.

And business turned out to be better than expected.

“I’m actually surprised that we got as many people coming through the shop as we did,” she said.

“We arrived pretty late – after 18:00 – and the town was empty.

“It’s been amazing.”

She said it was a big contrast to her work on the front-line at crisis points in the likes of Ukraine and Haiti and that the houses in Wigtown had a picture-book look.

“This is a throwback in time,” she said.

“It’s like the good old days, it’s a little town, everyone’s very friendly, there’s only so many places.

“It does make you think about sustainability of towns as well as the environment and conservation of the resources that you’re using. “

Her advice to anyone hoping to follow in her footsteps?

“I would say to keep checking because you never know when something will pop up,” she said.

“Running the bookshop was definitely worth it.

“There’s no better feeling than somebody buying a book that you put on display.”

And her own stay more than lived up to expectations.

“I feel like this is a book lover’s dream,” she said.

“It is a small little town, which means that there’s not much to do.

“That window seat is absolutely amazing, it’s right on the corner and it sees right into the town.”

And with 14 bookshops she said “you’ll never not have something to read”.

“I could see myself retiring and opening up a bookshop and something similar to this – an independent bookshop in a small town,” Isabella added.

“I love the fact that it’s a lot of small businesses.

“I’m hoping to be able to return here during the book festival and from what I’ve seen and heard I need to book my accommodation early.”

The festival runs from 27 September to 6 October this year.

Even if Isabella does not make it back, she will already have done her bit to help support Scotland’s national book town.