Hotel Café Sacher
On Philharmoniker Straße, south of Vienna's historic centre, is the Sacher Hotel, a true icon of the city and Austrian gastronomy.
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Cafés are to Vienna what pubs are to Dublin or the Pope to Rome: they are a true institution and an indispensable element of Viennese identity.
Open the doors of an elegant Viennese coffee house and you will be magically transported into the refined atmosphere of the late 19th century, with the penetrating scent of coffee beans and the sweeter notes of pastry creams, the soft light from precious crystal chandeliers and busy waiters who maintain the savoir faire even during the hectic rush hour.
You can stay for hours, perhaps reading a book or chatting amiably with your partner or friends: no one will pressure you to leave or place a second order: Viennese cafés are the antithesis of fast food.
Don’t be fooled by the name, because in Vienna’s cafés you don’t just go for the black drink. You can indulge in sweets, pastries and chocolates, but also in more substantial meals of meat or vegetables: cafés are among the best places to sample typical Austrian cuisine.
Just as it is impossible to visit all the pubs in Dublin in one lifetime, it is similarly unthinkable to enter all the cafés in Vienna. Their number is incredible, but each one has a distinct atmosphere and personality.
The origins of the café tradition in Vienna date back to the 17th century, with the opening of the first Kaffeehaus on Rotenturmstrasse in 1685. Frequenting coffee houses only became fashionable towards the end of the 19th century, when there were already over six hundred coffee houses in the city.
The Viennese people’s love of coffee has not diminished. On the contrary, new cafés have sprung up alongside the historic coffee houses that carry on the tradition, meeting the taste of the younger generation.
Buying coffee as a souvenir
Did you enjoy Viennese coffee? Take it home with you. An original and undoubtedly welcome souvenir to take to friends and relatives, but also for yourself, is coffee roasted in one of Vienna’s microbreweries. In some places you can watch the roasting process and then taste the coffee.
No holiday in Vienna is complete without at least one stop at one of the city’s historic coffee houses. Here are the 5 best traditional cafés in Vienna.
We can’t start talking about cafés in Vienna without starting with the most famous and most visited, the Café Sacher, the birthplace of the world-famous cake. The interior is sumptuous and of course it is here that the world’s best Sachertorte is said to be eaten, still made according to the original recipe.
We have dedicated an entire in-depth article to this special place, so if you’re keen to try it, be sure to read the article on the Café and the Sachertorte.
Tourists in Vienna go crazy for Demel, the café that used to be the imperial court pastry shop: the clientele has changed but not the quality and variety of the cakes, which are often elaborated like true works of art. If the place is full and you don’t want to go in, you should at least take a photo of the display cases overflowing with cakes.
The peculiarity of this café is that in all its 200-year history it has employed only female sales and service staff.
An establishment steeped in history is the Café Central in Vienna, once a haunt of writers, artists, intellectuals and politicians. Regular guests were Arthur Schnitzler, Peter Altenberg, Karl Kraus and Adolf Loos, while it is said that Trotsky played chess here.
Today it is frequented mainly by tourists, who come here to enjoy a good cake or typical Viennese dishes and to admire the interior of this magnificent venue, embellished with marble columns, arches and glittering chandeliers. Come in the afternoon to enjoy piano music as live background music.
For a less glossy experience, choose a venue beloved by locals such as Café Hawelka, just a stone’s throw from St Stephen’s Cathedral.
You will soon realise that the ambience is decidedly different from the elegant Café Central: spartan furniture, stains on the wall, torn posters are certainly not elements of sophistication. What makes this café unique is its convivial atmosphere, which attracts artists, writers and people without a nose.
From 10pm, freshly baked Buchtel (jam-filled pastries) are served.
If you want to indulge in gluttony, but with class, step into the historic Gerstner family restaurant, protagonists of a sweet success story: in 1847, the Gerstners opened a confectionery-pastry shop, which was soon chosen as a supplier to the royal household because of the quality of the ingredients used and the goodness of the cakes and chocolates.
Today, the Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker is a temple to pleasure on three floors: the shop on the ground floor, where you can buy tasty souvenirs; the Gerstner Bar on the first floor, perfect for a coffee and cake break; the Café-Restaurant Gerstner on the second floor, for a more substantial meal.
The décor is very tasteful, reminiscent of an elegant bourgeois drawing room; from the windows on the upper floors you can enjoy a splendid view of the State Opera.
Come for coffee where Romy Schneider, the Sissi of cinema, used to have it. Café Landtmann is an elegant café along the Ringstrasse founded in 1874, at once cosmopolitan and typically Viennese.
The decor is sophisticated and the waiters may look like court butlers, but the atmosphere is warm and inviting.
Do you dislike historic cafés with dim lighting and heavy chandeliers? Are you trendy and modern? In Vienna, there is also the right coffee house for you. The great Viennese coffee tradition is being reinvented in the most recently opened establishments, which are very different from the typical Viennese cafés.
They are characterised by brightly lit rooms, contemporary décor – sometimes minimal, sometimes kitsch – and a focus on the origin of the coffee beans, their preparation and roasting.
If you want to enjoy a good coffee and a slice of cake in an atmosphere quite different from the historic cafés, try the three modern coffee houses in Vienna that we recommend.
White and light blue are the dominant tones at Café Balthasar, a lovely café with a modern, subtle flavour run by the friendly Otto Bayer (no relation to the wealthier Otto Bayer, founder of the famous pharmaceutical company).
True coffee nerds will appreciate the machine used by Otto, a ‘mythical’ Marzocco Strada, the qualities of coffee served and the gadgets on sale.
Kaffeefabrik is a tiny place worth a visit for its coffee, roasted by the owners themselves. The beans come fromEcuador, Brazil and Nicaragua, and the long-term goal is to be able to import it by negotiating directly with the farmers to offer them more favourable sales conditions.
An ethical microcosm where you can drink excellent coffee at a good price.
Café Couture is the chicest of Vienna’s modern coffee shops, thanks to its barista Georg Branny, a celebrity in Vienna. Try his legendary coffee cocktails.
In the following map you can see the location of the main places of interest mentioned in this article.
It’s easy to say coffee… don’t think you can get away with just one word in Vienna! There are so many different types of coffee served in Vienna’s cafés that the menu may confuse you.
Here is a basic vocabulary to help you choose the best coffee for you.
If they ask you Gross? Klein? don’t panic: you only have to choose between large and small!
City Card allow you to save on public transport and / or on the entrances to the main tourist attractions.
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