6 Best Coffee Shops in Europe for Experiencing Historic Café Culture

The history of coffee dates from centuries ago with one legendary account of its discovery attributed to a goat herder in Ethiopia, who noticed his flock became energised after eating the berries of a certain shrub. Nibbling on the fruit himself, his excitement spurred him to take the berries to show to a monk in a local monastery. Disapproving of their use, the monk cast the berries into the fire, from which an alluring aroma soon arose. The roasted beans were retrieved from the embers and subsequently used to brew the first cup of coffee.

Drinking coffee and coffee shops originated in Arabia and Persia before subsequently moving to the Ottoman Empire, with the first coffee house opening in Istanbul in the mid-16th century. As their numbers increased, coffee shops became well-liked community hubs where people met to discuss news and politics as they drank coffee. The first coffee house in Europe is said to have appeared in Venice around 1640, with similar establishments soon becoming increasingly popular across the continent. As informal social centres, they provided people with a place to gather, talk, read, write and pass the time. And by the 19th century, coffee shops were frequent meeting places for writers and artists. Still in existence today, many of these venerable cafés have hosted some of the most important personalities in art and literature alongside conspirators and leading political leaders of their day. Visit them to savour a fascinating and memorable cultural experience.

The French capital is home to a number of historic coffee shops, but the Procope was the first established. Founded in 1686 by Sicilian chef Francesco Procopio who furnished it with chandeliers, marble tables and mirrors, the café was responsible for introducing coffee to Paris. It became known for serving the then new beverage and went on to attract numerous artistic, literary and political luminaries over subsequent decades as one of the best coffee shops in Europe. In the 18th century, Voltaire and Diderot were habitual customers, while during the 19th century, Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac frequently visited the establishment. Today, you can enjoy traditional French cuisine, patisserie, ice cream and, of course, coffee at tables in its 18th-century styled interior or out on the sheltered terrace.

• Location: 13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, 75006 Paris, France
• Opening hours: Daily 12pm-12am

Overlooking the majestic Piazza San Marco in Venice, Caffè Florian was established in 1720 and has remained open ever since, making it Italy’s oldest coffee house. Named after its original owner, Floriano Francesconi, the café attracted notable customers from the start with Giacomo Casanova and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe among its early patrons. In the latter days of the Age of Revolution, the Florian was a meeting point and temporary hospital for Venetian patriots during the riots of 1848. Remaining open, the café expanded to encompass six rooms that were opulently decorated with numerous wall and ceiling murals, hand crafted mirrors and gilded woodwork, while continuing to attract celebrated clientele from Lord Byron and Charles Dickens to Marcel Proust and Igor Stravinsky. Here, at a table in its magnificent halls or out on the piazza, you can relish espresso, hot chocolate or cocktails, complemented by exquisite savouries and pastries.

• Location: Piazza San Marco, 57, 30124 Venice, Italy
• Opening hours: Daily 9am-11pm

In the heart of Vienna, Café Central first opened its doors to customers in 1876. By the late 19th century, it had become one of the capital’s best coffee shops and a principal forum and meeting place for influential and intellectual personalities in the Austrian capital. Regular patrons included writers, activists and thinkers such as Peter Altenberg, Leon Trotsky and Sigmund Freud, who would meet to debate, theorise and play chess over numerous cups of coffee. A measure of how highly it was regarded was provided by essayist Alfred Polgar who wrote, “Central is not a coffeehouse like any other – it’s a philosophy”. Although the original café closed after World War II, it reopened in the 1970s in another part of the majestically renovated Palais Ferstel. Visit this landmark destination in literary history to enjoy coffee with whipped cream, patisserie specialties and traditional Viennese cuisine served in splendid surroundings.

• Location: Herrengasse 14, 1010 Vienna, Austria
• Opening hours: Daily 8am-10pm

A timeless coffee house that epitomises European opulence, the New York Café offers one of the most extravagantly decorated interiors in Budapest. Set on the ground floor of the baroque-influenced New York Palace Budapest Hotel on the city’s Grand Boulevard, the café was founded in 1894, soon becoming a favoured meeting place for authors and poets as one of the Hungarian capital’s best coffee shops. In fact, the nation’s most highly respected newspapers were edited here on another floor of the building. Reserve a table amid the marble, frescoes, chandeliers and monumental columns to treat yourself to coffee and pastry specialties or delicious à la carte Hungarian cuisine.

• Location: Erzsébet körút 9-11, 1073 Budapest, Hungary
• Opening hours: Daily 8am-12am

An iconic bar restaurant in the centre of the Spanish capital, Café Comercial has developed into a Madrid institution since first opening in 1887. Initially acclaimed for the rich, aromatic coffee it served, the establishment became known as one of the city’s best coffee shops and a popular venue for business meetings, giving the café its name. Following the Spanish Civil War, writers, journalists and intellectuals frequently gathered around its tables to discuss art, politics and current affairs – the venue continues to host cultural gatherings and literary presentations in its first-floor rooms. The elegantly restored ground floor bar and restaurant each offer their own menu. Visit at any time of the day to savour brunch, traditional Spanish cuisine, or cocktails and snacks – the chocolate and churros are not to be missed.

• Location: Glorieta de Bilbao, 7, Centro, 28004 Madrid, Spain
• Opening hours: Daily 8:30am-1am, Fri & Sat until 2am

Originally opened in Lisbon’s old quarter in 1905 to sell imported Brazilian coffee, founder Adriano Telles promoted sales of his product by offering each customer who bought a kilogramme of ground beans a free cup of coffee. And so, A Brasileira as a café was born. After an Art Deco renovation in 1922, complete with an ornate facade, gilded mirrors, brass fittings and long wooden bar, the coffee house became a popular meeting place for writers and intellectuals including Portuguese poet and writer Fernando Pessoa – now immortalised in bronze sitting at a terrace table. The café serves traditional steaks and salads as well as, of course, exquisite Brazilian coffee, best enjoyed accompanied by a delectable pastel de nata.

• Location: Rua Garrett 122, 1200-205 Lisbon, Portugal
• Opening hours: Daily 8am-12am