Vienna is one of the classic 21st century European cities: one which has found the ideal balance between its place as a modern capital and its rich history at the centre of an empire. The best example of this balance is in that most Viennese of institutions – the café.

For those wanting a taste of the past, a visit to the Café Sperl is highly recommended. Just outside the city centre and five minutes’ walk from the museums quarter, it is the perfect place in which to take refuge after a hard day’s sight-seeing and shopping. Coming in from the cold, you are hit by the warmth of the atmosphere, in a beautifully decorated setting. Taking in the brass lights, the rich mahogany and marble fixtures and fittings and the ornately embroidered furniture, you feel swept back to the late nineteenth century. Indeed, the café has been open since 1880, attracting the artists of the area including, it is rumoured, Johann Strauss the younger, and the management seem to have taken the view that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Once seated you are served by friendly staff, in traditionally smart dress, who are helpful and even happy to tolerate poor attempts to order in German. The menu includes traditional food, such as wienerschnitzel, but the café has made its name through its coffee and cakes. The strong, rich coffee is even available for internet order, such is its popularity! Traditional Viennese hot chocolate with cream is available for the more indulgent. And the cakes do not disappoint: although the apple strudel is deserving of all of its good press,  no trip to Vienna is complete without trying a sachertorte, a mouthwatering chocolate cake with jam running through its soft centre.

However small your order, you are free to sit and take in the atmosphere for as long as you wish, picking up one of the several international newspapers available or even trying a stint on one of the billiard tables.

Fully refreshed, you are ready to venture back outside to the present day.

www.cafesperl.at