Madrid for coffee lovers: historic cafés and speciality coffee shops

Coffee shops in Madrid offer two very different experiences. On the one hand, the historic cafés, such as the Café Gijón or the Café Comercial, where writers and talkers have gathered for generations and what you enjoy is the atmosphere. On the other, the speciality coffee shops, concentrated mainly in Malasaña, Lavapiés, Chamberí and Las Salesas, where the bean is the star: single-origin coffees, in-house roasting and filter methods. A good coffee plan in Madrid combines both worlds.

These are places to sit down unhurried. The coffee may be no more than decent, but the setting is beyond compare:

• Café Gijón, on the Paseo de Recoletos: Madrid's great literary café, linked to tertulias (discussion circles) of writers and artists throughout the 20th century.
• Café Comercial, on the glorieta de Bilbao: one of the oldest in the city, a classic meeting point between Malasaña and Chamberí.
• Café de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace: ideal for a break with a view during a visit to Habsburg Madrid.
• The café at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, on calle Alcalá: large windows, high ceilings and the atmosphere of a cultural salon.

In just a few years Madrid has gone from a culture of blended coffee to having one of the most active speciality scenes in Spain. You do not need a list of addresses, which change often: it is enough to know which neighbourhoods to look in.

Malasaña and Conde Duque

It was the birthplace of speciality coffee in the city, with pioneers such as Toma Café, and it is still the area with the highest density of independent coffee shops, many with their own roasting and brunch. Around Conde Duque the atmosphere is somewhat calmer. If you are staying there, the taxi in Malasaña page will help with your airport transfers.

Lavapiés and Antón Martín

Small neighbourhood coffee shops with lots of character, such as Hola Coffee or Pum Pum Café, plus the odd coffee stall in the Antón Martín market itself. It is a good area for combining coffee with galleries and independent shops; the area belongs to the Embajadores district.

Chamberí, Las Salesas and Austrias

In Chamberí, calle Ponzano and the streets around it mix speciality coffee shops with tapas bars. In Las Salesas, next to Chueca, design-led places with brunch abound. And in the Austrias area, Federal Café occupies a corner of the plaza del Conde de Barajas, a name that is easy to remember if you are coming from the airport.

In a speciality coffee shop you will find the international terms (espresso, flat white, filter, V60). In a traditional bar, on the other hand, it helps to know the local vocabulary:

A note: many traditional bars still use coffee that is partly torrefacto, roasted with sugar, which gives a more bitter, intense flavour. Speciality coffee shops work only with natural roasts.

Many transatlantic flights arrive at Barajas first thing, when you cannot check into your hotel yet. A simple plan: book a pickup at the terminal with your flight number, drop your suitcases at your accommodation and start the day with a good breakfast in a local coffee shop. If you are staying in the centre, inside the M-30, the journey has a fixed fare of €33.

From there, coffee fits well with other plans: the coffee shops of Malasaña and Lavapiés are at the heart of Madrid's most artistic neighbourhoods, and if you then fancy lunch, our food route for foodies suggests where to go next.