In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Order a Melange (espresso with hot milk and milk foam) or an Einspänner (a double espresso under whipped cream) and expect a glass of water with it. Café Sacher (daily 07:00 to 23:00) asks you to reserve and charges €11.50 for the Original Sacher-Torte with cream. Demel (daily 10:00 to 19:00) takes no reservations. Café Central is closed for renovation and says it reopens in winter 2026; its pop-up DECENTRAL is at Freyung 3/1. Sperl is closed on Sundays in July and August. Or book a guide: the Coffee House Culture Tourad is from €36 for 1 to 2½ hours.
⚠️ Café Central is closed. It shut on 16 March 2026 for a general renovation of Palais Ferstel and says it reopens in winter 2026, with no date. The pop-up DECENTRAL, Freyung 3/1, is open daily 07:30 to 22:00.
How a coffee house works
UNESCO put Viennese coffee house culture on its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011. The Vienna Tourist Board describes a typical house as booths, bentwood Thonet chairs, marble tables and newspaper tables, with more than 40 kinds of coffee on the menu (Vienna Tourist Board). A glass of water comes with the coffee, a custom that goes back to the World Expo of 1873, when cafés used it to show off the quality of Vienna’s new mountain-spring water. The UNESCO report’s point is that guests spend time and space in a coffee house and only the coffee appears on the bill. Prices below are from the cafés’ own menus.
| Name | Price at Café Sacher | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Melange | €7.50 | Espresso with hot milk and milk foam; milder than a cappuccino |
| Einspänner | €7.50 | A double espresso in a glass, under whipped cream; named after the one-horse carriage drivers who wanted their coffee to stay warm |
| Kleiner Brauner | €5.10 | A single espresso served with coffee cream |
| Großer Brauner | €7.10 | A double espresso served with coffee cream |
| Verlängerter | €6.70 for its black coffee with hot water | A lengthened espresso with or without milk, reminiscent of an Americano |
| Fiaker | €10.90 | Espresso with cherry brandy and whipped cream |
The houses differ in detail. Café Sacher serves its Melange with whipped cream, while Demel describes its Melange as a small espresso with milk and milk foam, its Einspänner as a large espresso with whipped cream in the glass and its Franziskaner as a Melange with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.
Coffee with a glass of water and a jug of cream, as served at Café Sperl. Photo: Geolina163, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The cafés
Café Sacher
Philharmonikerstraße 4, 1010 · daily 07:00 to 23:00 · reserve online · sacher.com
The café of Hotel Sacher, behind the Opera, and the home of the Original Sacher-Torte. The torte with whipped cream is €11.50 and a Melange is €7.50; a set of torte, whipped cream, a hot drink and water is €24.50. Breakfast runs from 07:00 to 11:00. The café asks guests to reserve a table in advance, in person or through its online tool. Dogs are welcome.
Demel
Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 · café daily 10:00 to 19:00 · no reservations · demel.com
The court confectioner’s café, with Demel’s own Sachertorte with whipped cream and a case of cakes, among them Dobos, Esterházy and Anna cakes, plus savoury dishes such as Old Viennese beef goulash. A street-side stand sells Kaiserschmarrn to take away, also from 10:00 to 19:00. The Tourist Board says all the servers are women in black-and-white uniform, the Demlerinnen, who still address guests in the majestic plural when they speak German. Demel does not take reservations, so there is no table to book ahead.
The Demel frontage and terrace. Photo: Gryffindor, Wikimedia Commons.
Café Landtmann
Universitätsring 4, 1010 · Monday to Saturday 07:30 to 00:00, Sunday 07:30 to 22:00 · reservation form online · landtmann.at
It opened in 1873 on the Ringstrasse, opposite the City Hall and next to the Burgtheater, and is one of the handful of the original 27 Ringstrasse cafés that survive. It serves breakfast, cakes and Viennese dishes. Vienna City Card holders get 20% off food and drink at Landtmann, once per card: see Vienna Pass or Vienna City Card.
The main room of Café Landtmann. Photo: Joe Ross, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Café Hawelka
Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 · Monday to Thursday 09:00 to 00:00, Friday and Saturday 09:00 to 01:00, Sunday 09:00 to 22:00 · hawelka.at
A café not far from Stephansplatz that the Tourist Board calls a meeting place for people from art and culture, among them Hans Moser, Udo Jürgens and Andy Warhol, and known for its Buchteln, jam-filled yeast buns. It is the one here that stays open to 01:00 on Friday and Saturday. It also roasts and sells its own coffee.
Café Sperl
Gumpendorfer Straße 11, 1060 · Monday to Saturday 07:00 to 22:00, Sunday 10:00 to 20:00 · closed Sundays in July and August · cafesperl.at
A coffee house since 1880 between Mariahilfer Straße and the Naschmarkt, with three carambole billiard tables, a choice of daily, weekly and monthly newspapers, and the Sperl Torte, which the café says was created in the house. A pianist plays on Sundays from 15:30. A summer garden opens in the warm months.
Café Sperl on Gumpendorfer Straße. Photo: Jeremy Thompson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Café Prückel
Stubenring 24, 1010 · daily 08:30 to 22:00 · terrace tables cannot be reserved · prueckel.at
A Ringstrasse café since 1903. Tables inside can be reserved through its site, and the terrace tables cannot be reserved.
Café Schwarzenberg
Kärntner Ring 17, 1010 · Monday to Friday 07:30 to 23:30, Saturday and Sunday 08:30 to 23:30 · reserve online · cafe-schwarzenberg.at
The café says it has stood since 1861 and is the oldest Ringstrasse café in Vienna. It has a pavement terrace in summer.
Café Jelinek
Otto-Bauer-Gasse 5, 1060 · daily 09:00 to 22:00 · cafejelinek.steman.at
A small café just off Mariahilfer Straße with a wrought-iron woodburner and free newspapers, according to the Tourist Board. Breakfast and small dishes are served daily from 09:00 to 22:00. The Tourist Board suggests it as an escape from the shopping.
Cake and a tour
The Original Sacher-Torte is €11.50 at Café Sacher, and Demel sells its own Sachertorte, so you can compare the two in one afternoon: they are a short walk apart. For a sweet stop that takes 20 minutes, Vienna: Gerstner K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker Baking Show & Tastingad is from €20 for a live apple-strudel demonstration with a tasting at the Gerstner confectioner’s, for up to 25 people.
Coffee house tours
From €36 to €109 · 1 to 3½ hours
Coffee House Culture Tour with Tastingsad is from €36 for 1 to 2½ hours, visiting several coffee houses from classic to modern. Guided Viennese Coffee-House Tourad is from €72 for 3 hours and covers coffee-making from roasting beans to serving styles. Viennese Coffee, Cake, and Chocolate Tourad is from €70 for 2½ hours. Coffeehouse Tour with Pastries, Bites & Storiesad is from €109 for 3½ hours, in neighbourhood coffee houses away from the centre.
Which one
- The original Sacher-Torte: Café Sacher, with a reservation.
- A café where you cannot book: Demel, which takes no reservations, or the terrace at Prückel, where tables cannot be reserved.
- A late coffee: Hawelka, open to 01:00 on Friday and Saturday, or Landtmann, to midnight Monday to Saturday.
- Billiards and a piano: Sperl, with the piano on Sunday afternoons.
- On the Ringstrasse: Landtmann, Schwarzenberg or Prückel, the cafés of the Ring.
- A hot meal: Demel and Landtmann serve Viennese dishes; for a full meal see where to eat in Vienna.
Coffee houses are not shops, so they open on Sundays and holidays. For wine in the evening, see Heurigen and wine taverns, and for guided tastings, Vienna food tours. To fit a café into a plan, see 3 days in Vienna and what to book before you go to Vienna. The weather decides how long you stay: best time to visit Vienna. Ball season has its own coffee house event: the Kaffeesiederball, the coffee-house owners’ ball in the Hofburg, is on 22 January 2027: see Vienna ball season.
Common questions
Is Café Central in Vienna open?
No. Café Central has been closed since 16 March 2026 for a general renovation and says it will reopen in winter 2026. Its pop-up, DECENTRAL, is at Freyung 3/1 in Palais Harrach and is open daily from 07:30 to 22:00.
How much is a Sachertorte at Café Sacher?
The Original Sacher-Torte with whipped cream is €11.50, and a Melange, cappuccino or Einspänner is €7.50, according to the café's own menu. The café is open daily 07:00 to 23:00 and asks guests to reserve.
Does Demel take reservations?
No. The café says it does not take reservations. It is open daily 10:00 to 19:00, and a street-side stand sells Kaiserschmarrn in the same hours.
What is a Melange?
The Viennese coffee most like a cappuccino: a slightly lengthened espresso with hot milk and a layer of milk foam, milder than a cappuccino according to the Vienna Tourist Board. An Einspänner is a double espresso in a glass under whipped cream, and a Verlängerter is a lengthened espresso with or without milk.
Do Vienna coffee houses serve a glass of water?
Yes, with the coffee. The Vienna Tourist Board says the glass of water is a seal of quality, a tradition that dates from the World Expo of 1873.
Which coffee houses are on the Ringstrasse?
Café Landtmann, which opened in 1873 opposite the City Hall, Café Schwarzenberg at Kärntner Ring 17, which says it is Vienna's oldest Ringstrasse café, and Café Prückel at Stubenring 24. Landtmann and Schwarzenberg are two of the handful left of the original 27 Ringstrasse cafés.
