Richmond Reading Room

The Richmond Reading Room is a book-themed cafe at 28A Bridge Street in the heart of Richmond, Tasmania, part coffee room and part curated secondhand bookshop. Dogs are welcome outside, which makes it an easy stop on a slow loop of the village with your dog.

The dog setup

Dogs sit with you in the outdoor footpath and courtyard seating on Bridge Street. Keep the lead short and your dog settled, because the seating is close together and the shop doorway sees constant traffic from browsers coming and going. Staff are generally happy to see dogs, but bring your own water bowl rather than counting on one being provided. The books stay inside, so tie up any browsing ambitions until after the coffee.

Worth knowing

The draw is the combination: specialty coffee and well-regarded matcha alongside shelves of secondhand books, most priced in the single digits, so you can leave with a read for the trip home. Pastries and baked treats fill the food side, with vegan and vegetarian options. Hours run from 7am on weekdays, wrapping at 1:30pm, with shorter weekend trading that ends around midday, and occasional shifts for events, so check the venue's socials before planning a late-morning stop.

Getting there and parking

Richmond sits 25 minutes or so north-east of Hobart on the Coal River, and Bridge Street is the historic main strip. Parking is on the street around the village, busiest from late morning when the day-trippers arrive, so earlier is easier with a dog.

Close by with the dogs

On the drive in from Hobart, the Cambridge Dog Park makes a good off-lead stop, and Red Square Cafe or Smith's Pies at Cambridge cover the coffee-and-pie run closer to the airport side.

More options are on the Tasmania dog friendly cafes guide and the Richmond destination page.

Max: go early on a weekday, because Bridge Street turns into a crowd-control exercise for a leashed dog once the coaches roll in.