Cafés in Madrid

Madrid has a fantastic café culture. Here are some of the most memorable:

Café los Austrias, Plaza de Ramales Métro: Opera. Relaxing café with marble table-tops and dark-wood interior; a good stop after a visit to the Palacio Real.

Café Barbieri, c/Ave María 45 Métro: Lavapiés. Well-known café with a vaguely intellectual reputation. It's a relaxed place with unobtrusive music, lots of wooden tables, old-style decor, newspapers, and a wide selection of coffees.

Café El Botánico, c/Espalter/Plaza Murillo Métro: Atocha. A quiet place to sit with a drink, opposite the south entrance of the Prado.

Café Central, Plaza del Ángel 10 Métro: Sol. A jazz club by night but a regular café by day, again with newspapers supplied.

Café Comercial, Glorieta de Bilbao Métro: Bilbao. One of the city's most popular meeting points - a lovely traditional café, well poised for the Chueca/Santa Bárbara area.

Café del Espejo, Paseo de Recoletos 31 Métro: Colón. Opened in 1991 but you wouldn't guess it - mirrors, gilt, and a wonderful glass pavilion, plus a leafy outside terraza.

Café Gijón, Paseo de Recoletos 21 Métro: Banco de España. Famous literary café - and a center of the intellectual/arty movida in the 1980s - decked out in Cuban mahogany and mirrors. Has a summer terraza.

Café Manuela Malasaña, c/San Vicente Ferrer 29 Métro: Tribunal. Wonderful mirrors and fittings and a very civilized atmosphere, with live piano music and tertulias , in different languages, most nights.

Café de Oriente, Plaza de Oriente 2 Métro: Ópera. Elegant, traditional-style café founded a decade or so ago by a priest, as part of a charity rehab program for ex-convicts. Has a popular terraza.

Círculo de Bellas Artes, c/Alcalá 42 Métro: Banco de España. Day membership to the Círculo is ?0.60, which gives you access to exhibitions, and to a most luxurious bar, where you can loll on sofas and have drinks at normal prices. Outside, in summer, there's a comfortable terraza.

Croissantería, c/Corredera Alta de San Pablo - just off Plaza San Ildefonso Métro: Tribunal. Some of the best stuffed croissants in the city, plus ice cream and coffee.

La Mallorquina, Puerta del Sol 2 Métro: Sol. Good for breakfast or snacks - try one of their napolitanas (cream slices) in the sunny upstairs salon.

Yenes, c/Mayor 1 Métro: Sol. Wedge yourself on to a bar stool and enjoy a fine array of cakes and croissants; less bustling than La Mallorquina opposite.

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