The 17 Greatest Historic Coffeehouses in the World

Gilt-and-marble Central European palaces sit beside dim literary haunts and grand Belle Époque halls, and some regulars swear by one over the rest. Where would you settle in with a cup?

1. 1
   Café Central

   Vienna coffeehouse in the Palais Ferstel, famous for its vaulted hall and its literary regulars.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Café Gijón

   Madrid café on the Paseo de Recoletos, open since 1888 and long the seat of literary tertulias.
   775pts
3. 3
   Café Majestic

   Belle Époque café on Rua de Santa Catarina in Porto, opened in 1921.
   756pts
4. 4
   Antico Caffè Greco

   Rome café near the Spanish Steps, open since 1760 and hung with paintings and busts of its famous patrons.
   724pts
5. 5
   Les Deux Magots

   Saint-Germain-des-Prés café opened in 1884, a hangout of Sartre, de Beauvoir and Hemingway.
   665pts
6. 6
   Café Procope

   Paris's oldest continuously operating café, open since 1686 and once a meeting place of Voltaire and Diderot.
   596pts
7. 7
   Caffè Florian

   Venetian café on Piazza San Marco serving since 1720, with mirrored, gilded rooms.
   517pts
8. 8
   Els Quatre Gats

   Barcelona modernista café-tavern of 1897 where the young Picasso held his first exhibition.
   517pts
9. 9
   Café Slavia

   Prague café opposite the National Theatre, opened in 1884 and frequented by dissident writers.
   423pts
10. 10
    Caffè Pedrocchi

    Neoclassical Padua coffeehouse of 1831, once known as the café without doors.
    310pts
11. 11
    Café Landtmann

    Vienna Ringstrasse café from 1873, a favorite of Freud and of Burgtheater audiences.
    310pts
12. 12
    Gerbeaud

    Budapest confectionery and café on Vörösmarty Square, serving since 1858.
    310pts
13. 13
    Café Tortoni

    Buenos Aires café on Avenida de Mayo, open since 1858 and known for its tango and literary gatherings.
    310pts
14. 14
    Café de Flore

    Paris café on Boulevard Saint-Germain, open since the 1880s and tied to Sartre and the existentialists.
    310pts
15. 15
    Café Sperl

    Vienna coffeehouse unchanged since 1880, with billiard tables and bentwood chairs.
    0pts
16. 16
    Café New York

    Budapest's ornate Italian Renaissance-style café of 1894, once the haunt of writers and journalists.
    0pts
17. 17
    A Brasileira

    Lisbon Chiado café from 1905, where poet Fernando Pessoa is said to have sat.
    0pts

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