Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2020. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Guides
    • Flight Deals
    • Travel Deals
    • Ways to Save
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Disney Vacations
    • Festivals + Events
    • Airlines + Airports
    • Buses + Trains
    • Ground Transportation
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow us

  1. Home
  2. Food and Drink
  3. Restaurants
  4. 12 Stunning Cafés Every History Buff Needs to Visit

12 Stunning Cafés Every History Buff Needs to Visit

By Jill Krasny
March 22, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: ©Café Central at Palais Ferstel, Vienna
You don’t have to be a caffeine addict to appreciate a coffee house with historic décor. Cafés are also wonderful places for a break in a busy travel day, where you can rest your feet and people-watch. Some of the world’s most stunning coffee shops are integral to a city’s history — from Casanova’s old haunt in Venice to the birthplace of extra-potent espresso. These are the best historical coffee shops around the world to visit for both their backstories and the ambiance.
Start Slideshow

1 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Café Tortoni

Credit: LatinContent/Getty Images

Buenos Aires

With its stained-glass ceiling and Art Nouveau Tiffany lamps, Café Tortoni is straight out of the 19th century. It was founded in Buenos Aires at the end of 1858 by a French immigrant named Touan. Then, at the turn of the century, another Frenchman, Don Celestino Curutchet, bought the space and turned it into a hub of artistic activity in the 1920s. Curutchet later founded Buenos Aires’ Arts and Letters Association, and the café’s basement cellar became the group’s meeting place. Today, it remains a gathering spot for coffee and architecture lovers.

1 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Café Central

Credit: ©Café Central at Palais Ferstel, Vienna

Vienna

With patrons from Stefan Zweig to Sigmund Freud, Café Central in Vienna served as the stomping grounds for all sorts of Austrian intellectuals. Given its spellbinding grandeur, inspired by Venetian and Florentine architecture, it’s easy to see why the literati visited this café often. Built by Heinrich von Ferstel between 1856 and 1860, the whole construction would have cost about 25 million Euro today, thanks to the interior’s use of stucco lustro, leather wall coverings, and wood paneling. The façade is adorned with sculptures by the painter Hanns Gasser.

2 of 12

3 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Café Louvre

Credit: Cafe Louvre

Prague

Who wouldn’t want to spend a dreary day in Café Louvre? There, newspapers hang by long wooden clips while a billiard room in the back beckons visitors to take a shot. Founded in 1902, the café, which bears the name of the famous gallery, played host to the likes of Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka, and German writers like Otto Pick. It’s even been said that it served as a meeting place for upper-class ladies plotting their liberation. Make a pit stop here in between visiting Prague’s many museums, galleries, and other things to do.

3 of 12

Advertisement

4 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Queen's Lane

Credit: Queens Lane via Facebook

Oxford, England

Like many others, Queen’s Lane Coffee House claims to be the oldest coffeehouse in all of Europe. Established in 1654 by a man named Cirques Jobson, it has hosted literary masters, including, quite possibly, J.R.R. Tolkien. A perfect place for families to while away the afternoon, it’s always busy, serves breakfast all day, and specializes in Mediterranean dishes. (Unfortunately, the coffee is not quite as memorable as the cuisine.)

4 of 12

5 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

El Fishawi

Credit: Getty Images

Cairo

Inside the 14th-century Khan el Khalili bazaar, El Fishawi café in Egypt lures visitors with pots of steamy mint tea, fresh lemonade, apple-flavored shisha, and an ambiance that, like its home city, is smoky, noisy, and always chaotic. It’s the perfect stage for a heated debate or some old-fashioned people watching. If you’re lucky enough to snag a tiny round table, indulge in a long-handled shisha, or traditional Arab water pipe.

5 of 12

6 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

New York Café

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Budapest

Calling itself “the most beautiful café in the world” may sound snobbish, but this Budapest coffee house lives up to the claim. High-vaulted ceilings and intricate moldings, not unlike those inside the Uffizi in Florence, will make you feel like you’re in a museum. Yet the café was only restored to its original grandeur in 2006. As you try Austro-Hungarian staples like beef goulash and wiener schnitzel, you’ll feel transported back to 1894, when the café opened.

6 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Le Procope

Credit: Getty Images

Paris

A gelato-loving Sicilian founded the oldest Parisian café in 1686. Francesco Procopio Cutò wooed the intellectual elite of the day, and by the 18th century, his esteemed clientele included Denis Diderot, Voltaire, and Americans like Benjamin Franklin. Some say Voltaire regularly drank up to a hundred espressos a day — mixed with chocolate to help them go down. Though the Parisian café has lost some of its literary allure, the period décor preserves the past.

7 of 12

8 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Baratti & Milano

Credit: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Turin, Italy

It was 1858 when Ferdinando Baratti and Edoardo Milano opened Baratti & Milano. In 1875, they moved to the Carrera-built Subalpina Gallery, where the richness of the décor was described in a local paper as “delicious.” Before long, Turin’s “beau monde” caught on, prompting the owners to expand the property in 1909. Embellishing the walls with carved double festoons, as well as gilded doors and mirror frames, Baratti & Milano remains as lovely as ever.

8 of 12

9 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Caffè Florian

Credit: Getty Images

Venice

Casanova is said to have chosen this Venetian coffee house (which opened in 1720) as the space for his romantic conquests. And for centuries, it has had its own orchestra for live music. Today, Caffè Florian is a world-renowned brand with a contemporary art collection, an updated menu, and a line of commercial goods. In the gift shop, you’ll find Venetian rose tea alongside scented candles.

9 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Caffè Reggio

Credit: Moment Editorial/Getty Images

New York City

The doors to Caffè Reggio first swung open in 1927, long before Greenwich Village was synonymous with bohemia. There, founder Dominic Parsi served cups of coffee to his friends — according to a New Yorker article from 1955, he claimed he never removed his hat while using the espresso machine. The faded “plaques, medallions, and fly-specked miniatures” that characterized the interior are still visible today, which may explain its small cameo in the Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis.

10 of 12

11 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

A Brasileira

Credit: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Lisbon

Built in 1905 in the Chiado district of Lisbon, this coffee shop is supposedly the birthplace of the Bica — an incredibly potent espresso. Once a bastion of intellectuals, it’s now incredibly popular with tourists, though no one can deny the appeal of sipping “dark tar” after meals or people watching over a beer. The large portions are worth the prices, despite the less-than-reliable service. Tip: You may also score a discount by sitting in the basement, as opposed to the patio.

11 of 12

12 of 12

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tahmis Kahvesi

Credit: Tahmis Khavesi via Facebook

Gaziantep, Turkey

Described by Al Jazeera as a “city in flux,” harshly affected by the crisis across the border in Syria, this Turkish city may not be the safest place on this list for a cup of coffee. But should you ever pass through, visit Tahmis Kahvecisi. A centuries-old coffee shop situated in a bazaar, it’s a cozy place to play backgammon or sip a frothy cup of Turkish coffee. Visitors recommend the pistachio-flavored menengiç coffee, which is prepared from black menengiç seeds.

12 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Jill Krasny

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 12 Café Tortoni
2 of 12 Café Central
3 of 12 Café Louvre
4 of 12 Queen's Lane
5 of 12 El Fishawi
6 of 12 New York Café
7 of 12 Le Procope
8 of 12 Baratti & Milano
9 of 12 Caffè Florian
10 of 12 Caffè Reggio
11 of 12 A Brasileira
12 of 12 Tahmis Kahvesi

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

12 Stunning Cafés Every History Buff Needs to Visit
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.