Cheder in Kraków's Kazimierz is the cafe run by the Jewish Culture Festival in a former prayer house at Józefa 36 since 2008. Hebrew library, Turkish coffee.
Tip: Turkish coffee in copper jezve is the order; the back room runs hummus plates after 17:00.
Address: ul. Józefa 36, 31-056 Kraków
Cafe Lisboa on Dolnych Młynów in Kraków's Old Town has baked pastéis de nata by hand since 2017, the first Polish cafe to do so. Espresso, cortado, custard tarts.
Signature drink: Pastel de nata
Tip: The pastéis de nata are baked through the morning; weekend afternoons sell out by mid-afternoon.
Europejska on Kraków's Rynek Główny pours coffee inside the historic Krzysztofory Palace. Three rooms, marble tables, a torte counter, older-Krakow regulars on the terrace.
Signature drink: Viennese melange
Tip: The cherry torte and a melange make the Habsburg-cafe order. Terrace on Rynek Główny.
Cafe Camelot off Kraków's Świętego Tomasza is the wood-panelled folk-art cafe that ran the city's coffee tradition through the 1990s. Apple pie and a laptop crowd.
Signature drink: Cafe latte
Tip: The apple pie is the dish; the back-room library has tables for laptops.
Noworolski inside the Cloth Hall on Kraków's Rynek Główny pours coffee in Józef Mehoffer's art-nouveau rooms since 1910. Krakow artists, Habsburg-era trade.
Signature drink: Viennese coffee
Tip: The art-nouveau rooms are the photograph; the terrace on Rynek Główny is the better summer seat.
Jama Michalika on Kraków's Floriańska opened in 1895 as Cukiernia Lwowska. From 1905 hosted the Zielony Balonik cabaret; the Mloda Polska meeting room.
Signature drink: Hot chocolate
Tip: The hot chocolate is the order. The art-nouveau rooms at the back are the photograph; the terrace is the daytime spot.
Cafe Szafé on Kraków's Felicjanek is the bohemian living-room cafe west of the Planty: mismatched chairs, daily cakes, third-wave filter on the menu since 2007.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: The carrot cake is the dish. Quietest before 11:00 if you want a workspace.
