Cafeography
Prague · Staré Město & Josefov

Cafés in Staré Město & Josefov

Slavia by the river, Obecní dům and the cubist Orient, and espresso bars in Josefov’s side streets.

Photo: Lajos Kristóf Kántor, Pexels License

Staré Město (Old Town) grew from a marketplace by the Vltava, and its medieval moat and wall survive only as a curve of streets: Revoluční, Na Příkopě and Národní.1 The district covers 1.29 km² and is part of the Historic Centre of Prague, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992.1 Josefov, the former Jewish ghetto, lies inside it; it was named Josefstadt in 1850 after Joseph II, and most of its buildings were pulled down between 1893 and 1913.2

Three of the city’s grand cafés stand on the district’s edges: Kavárna Slavia by the river, Kavárna Obecní dům in the Municipal House, and the Grand Café Orient in a cubist building off Celetná. In between, the lanes around Old Town Square are thick with trdelník (rolled, sugared pastry) kiosks, while a few small espresso bars hide on Železná, Haštalská and Bartolomějská. Almost every café here opens on Sundays, and over two in five stay open to 22:00 or later.

Local tip: Kavárna Slavia opens at 09:00 every day; arrive soon after for a window table facing the National Theatre.11

At a glance

135Cafés listed
67With opening hours
00:00Earliest opening
02:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Kavárna Ponrepo, from 00:00 (Mon–Fri 00:00–01:00, 09:00–00:00 · Sat–Sun 00:00–01:00, 14:00–00:00).
  • Closes latest: Frame, until 02:00 (Tue–Sun 18:00–02:00).
  • Most common features: open late (21%), indoor seating (20%), wi-fi (16%).

Kavárna Kočičí

Cat Cafe

  • Michalská 430/3
  • Mon–Thu 11:00–20:00 · Fri–Sat 11:00–21:00 · Sun 11:00–20:00
  • +420 223 008 284
  • Partial wheelchair access
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Prague.

Coffee chains in Staré Město & Josefov

Slavia, opposite the National Theatre

Kavárna Slavia opened in August 1884 on the ground floor of the Lažanský Palace, at the corner of Národní and Smetanovo nábřeží, facing the National Theatre.3 The room you sit in dates from 1931–1932: marble and wood paneling, leather booths, big mirrors, tall windows and Viktor Oliva’s painting The Absinthe Drinker.3

Rainer Maria Rilke and Marina Tsvetaeva were regulars, and in the normalization years Václav Havel and the poet Jiří Kolář met there.3 The café closed in 1992 over a legal dispute and reopened in 1997.3 In October 2026 its menu priced a Café de Absinthe, espresso with absinthe liqueur and milk, at 158 Kč, and a vídeňská káva at 140 Kč.8

Obecní dům and the cubist Orient

The Municipal House (Obecní dům), next to the Powder Gate on náměstí Republiky, was built from 1905 to 1912 to designs by Osvald Polívka and Antonín Balšánek, and Czechoslovak independence was declared there in 1918.4 Its Art Nouveau café is on the ground floor, to the left of the lobby, with a summer terrace on the square.45 An espresso there cost 99 Kč and a cappuccino 120 Kč in October 2026.5

Josef Gočár designed the House of the Black Madonna in 1911–1912; it is the earliest cubist building in Prague.6 The Grand Café Orient on its first floor lasted only about ten years and closed in the 1920s, once cubism had gone out of fashion. It reopened some 80 years later, with replicas of the café furniture and brass chandeliers.76 The café’s address is Ovocný trh 19.7

Josefov and Old Town Square

Josefov keeps six synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Old Jewish Town Hall, all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague, as well as Franz Kafka’s birthplace.2 Café Golem on Maiselova and Kafka Hummus Café on Široká sit in the quarter’s streets, and the Crêperie at U Starého hřbitova 2, by the cemetery, opens daily 09:00–19:00.

Metro line A stops at Staroměstská, and line B at Náměstí Republiky and Národní třída, at the district’s edges.910 On Old Town Square, the Skautský institut café at No. 4 serves until 23:00 on weekdays, and Týnská literární kavárna, on Týnská, keeps the same closing time every day.

Espresso bars, early starts and late nights

The specialty rooms are small. onesip coffee is at Haštalská 15, The Miners at Železná 12 (daily 09:00–19:30), Pauseteria at U Radnice and Ebel Coffee Farm at Bartolomějská 3. Republica Coffee on Martinská opens at 08:00 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends.

Café Milani at Kaprova 16 opens earliest, at 07:00 every day; Kafe & Houska on Kaprova and Cukrárna Astra, a cukrárna (cake shop) on Perlová, follow at 07:30. Late, Frame on Rámová runs until 02:00 from Tuesday to Sunday, and Meeples & Coffee, a board-game café on Michalská, and Kavárna Ponrepo on Bartolomějská serve until 01:00.

Sources

  1. Old Town (Prague), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Josefov, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Café Slavia, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Municipal House, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. Kavárna Obecní dům, Kavárna Obecní dům, accessed October 2026
  6. House of the Black Madonna, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Historie, Grand Café Orient, accessed October 2026
  8. Nápoje, Kavárna Slavia, accessed October 2026
  9. Prague Metro, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  10. Line B (Prague Metro), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  11. Kavárna Slavia, Kavárna Slavia, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Prague

Malá Strana & Hradčany

96 cafés

Nové Město

236 cafés

Vinohrady

148 cafés

Žižkov

77 cafés

Karlín

47 cafés

Holešovice & Letná

82 cafés

Vršovice

50 cafés

In Staré Město & Josefov, also browse: Outdoor seating Cukrárny & bakeries Wi-Fi Breakfast & brunch Open late

FAQ

Staré Město & Josefov cafés: questions

When did Kavárna Slavia in Prague’s Old Town open?

Kavárna Slavia opened in August 1884 in the Lažanský Palace, at the corner of Národní and Smetanovo nábřeží, facing the National Theatre. Its marble-and-wood interior and Viktor Oliva’s painting The Absinthe Drinker date from 1931–1932. The café closed in 1992 over a legal dispute and reopened in 1997.

What is the Grand Café Orient in Prague’s Old Town?

The Grand Café Orient is on the first floor of the House of the Black Madonna, which Josef Gočár designed in 1911–1912 as Prague’s first cubist building. The original café closed in the 1920s after about ten years and reopened some 80 years later with replica furniture and brass chandeliers. Its address is Ovocný trh 19.

How much is a coffee at Kavárna Obecní dům in Prague’s Old Town?

In October 2026 an espresso at Kavárna Obecní dům cost 99 Kč and a cappuccino 120 Kč. The Art Nouveau café is on the ground floor of the Municipal House on náměstí Republiky, to the left of the lobby, with a summer terrace on the square.

For café owners

Own a café in Staré Město & Josefov?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design