Five Great Cafes to Visit in Vienna

Vienna's coffee house culture is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list, which tells you something about how seriously the city takes it. These are not places to grab a quick coffee. They are places to sit down, order something, and stay for as long as you like. Nobody will rush you. This is an odd feeling if you're perhaps British or American but it's part of the charm of European life. 

If you're in Vienna for a ball, you're doing one of the things this beautiful city does best. So come and do the other thing they do best - coffee. Just don't feel bad about eating their famous Viennese sweet treats. Much of the West's greatest philosophy came from these coffee houses so it's almost a risk not to linger for a bit. Perhaps great thoughts will find you but even if they don't great pastries will. 

1. Café Sperl

Gumpendorfer Strasse 11, 1060 Vienna

Open since 1880 and traditional home to archdukes, generals, artists and actors, Café Sperl sits close to the Theater an der Wien opera house and has a feeling of Edwardian refinement that few places in the city can match. The billiard tables are still there. The upholstery is beautifully patterned and entirely original. Yes it's a little faded grandeur but it's also still grand. And for being just a few minutes outside the very centre of the city, it's that bit less busy and more local. Order the Sperl Torte. On Sunday afternoons there is piano music. It not the most iconic café in the city but it's our favourite. 

2. Café Landtmann

Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna

Sigmund Freud's local, and still very much a place where serious people come to think. Landtmann sits opposite the Burgtheater on the Ringstrasse with the plush upholstery, white tablecloths, and fine wood panelling to match its address. Politicians still come here for lunch, which is either a recommendation or a warning depending on your outlook. 

It is also one of the better places in the city for a proper Viennese dinner before a ball at the nearby Hofburg. Schnitzel, it turns out, is one of the few dishes you can eat in white tie without too much fear of splashes ruining your perfect white front. 

3. Demel

Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Vienna

Imagine this. You're off the plane. You've dropped your bags at the hotel and you're tired. You need a pick me up. You walk over to Demel. You queue, hopefully not for too long (we waited less than 10 minutes). Order the Kaiserschmarrn and one of their many elaborate coffee confections of cream and, perhaps, a splash of alcohol. Both will arrive and you'll start to feel more cheerful and like you're on holiday.

Founded in 1786 and appointed purveyor to the Habsburg court, Demel is part confectioner, part living museum, and entirely unlike anywhere else in the city. The window displays on Kohlmarkt are theatrical and elaborate, a tradition that has continued unbroken since the nineteenth century. Empress Elisabeth was a regular, which in Vienna means something. 

Note that queues are common and reservations are not accepted, so ideally go early or late in the afternoon.

4. Gerstner

Kärntner Strasse 51, Palais Todesco, 1010 Vienna

Founded in 1847 and appointed Imperial confectioner in 1873, Gerstner has been catering to the State Opera directly opposite since 1869 and has the gold-trimmed wood panelling, historic ceiling paintings and grand fireplaces to suggest it takes all of this rather seriously. The building is Palais Todesco, one of the great Ringstrasse palaces, and spread across three floors it offers a konditorei at street level, a bar on the first, and a full restaurant above. The view from the upper floors across to the Opera is one of the better ones in Vienna. Book a table in advance. The apple strudel, if you need a reason to go, is excellent.

5. Café Central

Herrengasse 14, 1010 Vienna, closed for renovation until autumn 2026

Under normal circumstances Café Central would sit near the top of this list for many. Since 1876 it has occupied the magnificent vaulted interior of Palais Ferstel, and its former regulars include Freud, Trotsky and Adolf Loos. One of the great rooms in Europe. It is currently closed (until Autumn 2026) for renovation, but a pop-up version called Decentral has opened in the meantime at Palais Harrach, Freyung 3. Check before you visit to see if the main room has reopened.

We should note, while it is charming and deserves a visit, like so many tourist attractions it is both excellent and yet doesn't quite live up to the hype. It is the most famous coffee house in Vienna and yet not the one we'd rush to first. Perhaps it will deserve to be higher on the list when it reopens. Let us know.

 

Honourable mention: Café Hawelka 

Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 Vienna

Hawelka opened in 1939 and has barely changed since. Andy Warhol visited. Hundertwasser was a regular. The worn upholstered seats, chipped wooden chairs, and fraying velvet curtains have been doing exactly this job for the better part of a century. We have heard the café may have changed hands in 2026, so check before visiting. The staff have traditionally been rather... abrupt (bordering on rude) but you just about forgive them for the very faded, deep wooden tones of the place that feel like you're in a Victorian film set. 

A local told us to arrive shortly after 4pm when the freshly made Buchteln, yeast buns filled with plum jam, come out of the kitchen. They run out quickly.