The coffee houses of the Inner City
A chain of the great Viennese rooms, walked at café pace, one Melange at a time. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Café Central
Begin in the pillared hall under the vaulted ceiling — Trotsky read the papers here, and the marble Peter Altenberg still sits by the door. It's the grandest room on the walk and the most touristed, so come for the architecture and a single *Melange* (espresso under steamed milk), then move on before the queue forms.

2. Demel
The imperial confectioner on the *Kohlmarkt* — the *k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker* who supplied the court. Watch the bakers through the glass at the back, then take a slice of *Sachertorte* (dense chocolate cake with apricot) and stand your ground in the long-running argument about whose is the original. The window displays alone are worth the detour.

3. Café Hawelka
Down a narrow lane off the *Graben*, this is the dark, smoke-stained, family-run counterweight to Central's grandeur — small, scuffed, beloved. Order a *Melange* and the famous *Buchteln* (sweet baked dumplings) if it's evening, when they come out warm. Sit close; the tables are tight and that's the point.

4. Loos American Bar
A two-minute step off the route for one of the smallest, most perfect rooms in the city — Adolf Loos's 1908 bar, all marble, mahogany and mirrors that make the tiny space feel endless. No coffee here; this is the cocktail interruption. Duck in just to see the ceiling, even if you don't drink.

5. Café Sperl
South toward the *Naschmarkt* edge, Sperl is the *Kaffeehaus* the locals still claim — the worn velvet banquettes, the newspaper racks, and the billiard tables in the back room that have been in play since 1880. Take a paper from the rack, order, and stay an hour. This is the one to linger in.

The coffee houses of the Inner City