Cafés Near the Hofburg
Updated September 18, 2026
The three most famous coffee addresses in Vienna are all within five minutes of the Hofburg's main gate, and two of them have a queue outside for most of the day. This page says what each one is, which is worth waiting for, and where to go when you would rather not — plus the etiquette, which is the part that catches visitors out.
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1. Café Central
Herrengasse
At Herrengasse 14, on the ground floor of the Palais Ferstel, and the most famous coffee house in the city. Opened in 1876, it became the meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene: Altenberg, Herzl, Adler, Hofmannsthal, Loos, Musil, Zweig, Polgar and Trotsky were regulars, and in January 1913 alone Tito, Freud and Stalin were all patrons. It was known as the Schachhochschule — the chess school — because of the players who used the first floor. It closed at the end of the Second World War and reopened in 1975 in a different part of the building, after the Palais Ferstel was renovated. Expect a queue, particularly late morning.
Herrengasse 14, 1010 Wien
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2. Demel
Kohlmarkt
At Kohlmarkt 14, two minutes from Michaelerplatz, and a confectioner rather than a coffee house in the strict sense. Founded in 1786 and granted the status of Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court as K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker — the court's confectioner, which is the imperial connection people come for. The business actually began on Michaelerplatz, under Ludwig Dehne, and passed to his journeyman Christoph Demel in 1857. The white-aproned waitresses, the Demelinerinnen, traditionally address customers in a formal third person. The interior was designed by Portois and Fix in a neo-baroque style.
Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Wien
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3. Palmenhaus
Burggarten
In the Hofburg's own art nouveau glasshouse at Burggarten 1, and the only one of the three actually inside the palace gardens. A brasserie rather than a coffee house: open 10:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 09:00 at weekends, with breakfast until noon and the kitchen running to 21:30. The terrace is the draw in warm weather, and daytime terrace tables cannot be reserved. It shares the building with the Butterfly House.
Burggarten 1, 1010 Wien
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4. A street away
First district
The first district is full of coffee houses that nobody queues for, and they serve the same thing. Walk two or three minutes off the Kohlmarkt or the Graben in any direction and you will find one with free tables, a newspaper rack and a waiter in a dinner jacket. The Vienna coffee house is a protected cultural form, not a brand — the experience is standardised by tradition rather than by ownership, so the unfamous ones deliver it just as well and cost less.
Innere Stadt, 1010 Wien
Which is worth the queue
Café Central, once, if the literary history means something to you. You are sitting in the room where Trotsky played chess and the Vienna Circle met, and that is not nothing. The coffee is fine and the prices are what you would expect of the most famous café in a capital city. Go at eight in the morning or after four in the afternoon and the queue is short. Demel, if you want the cakes and the counter rather than a table. The confectionery is the actual product and the window display is worth two minutes on its own. It is also the closest of the three to the palace gate. Palmenhaus, if you are already in the Burggarten and want to sit somewhere bright. It is the least historic and the most comfortable. And if you have one coffee to spend in Vienna and no patience for a line: walk a street away from the Graben and take the first place with a free table.
What a Viennese coffee house actually charges
More than you expect for the coffee and less than you fear for the afternoon. None of these three publishes a full price list we can quote, so we are not going to invent numbers. What is reliably true of the form: a coffee in a first-district house costs several times what it would from a stand, and it buys you the table for as long as you want it. Nobody will move you on, nobody will bring a bill you did not ask for, and the newspapers on wooden racks are free to read. That is the bargain. You are renting a chair in a warm room, and the coffee is the ticket.
The etiquette, briefly
Four things that save a visitor from feeling foreign. Wait to be seated in the older houses, and do not push tables together. Order by name, not by size. A Melange is the standard coffee with milk; a Kleiner Brauner is a small black coffee with a jug of cream; an Einspänner is a strong black coffee under whipped cream in a glass. "A coffee" will get you a puzzled look and probably a Melange. The glass of water is not a mistake. It comes with the coffee, it is free, and refills are normal. Ask for the bill when you want it — Zahlen, bitte — and expect to settle with the waiter who served you rather than at a till. Rounding up is the usual tip.
Where they sit relative to the palace
All four entries above are inside a five-minute walk of the Michaelerplatz gate, and they suit different points in a visit. Demel is on the Kohlmarkt, the street that runs from Michaelerplatz to the Graben — so it is the obvious stop as you walk out of the palace towards St Stephen's. Café Central is on Herrengasse, a couple of minutes north and next to the U3 station you probably arrived at. The Palmenhaus is on the opposite side, in the Burggarten, which makes it the lunch stop between the imperial rooms and the Albertina. Planning a whole day around the palace? Our [things to do near the Hofburg](/best/things-to-do-near-the-hofburg) page sets out the half-day route these sit on.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I have coffee near the Hofburg?
Café Central on Herrengasse for the literary history, Demel on the Kohlmarkt for the cakes, or the Palmenhaus in the Burggarten for a bright room and a terrace. All are within five minutes of the palace gate.
Is Café Central worth the queue?
Once, if the history matters to you — it is the room where Trotsky played chess and the Vienna Circle met. Go before nine or after four and the queue is short.
What is the difference between Demel and a coffee house?
Demel is a confectioner, a K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker founded in 1786, so the cakes are the product. A Kaffeehaus sells you a table for the afternoon and the coffee is the ticket.
How long can I sit in a Viennese coffee house?
As long as you like. Nobody will move you on or bring a bill you did not ask for, and the newspapers are free to read.
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