Rome is known for its coffee culture, and Antico Caffè Greco is among the city's oldest and most famous landmark coffee shops. Over the past 250 years, artists, musicians, and writers such as Mendelssohn, Wagner, Ibsen, Keats, Byron, Liszt, Stendhal, Shelley, Casanova, and Goethe have all sat at its illustrious tables.
Often simply called Caffè Greco, this storied 18th-century coffee bar on the elegant Via dei Condotti just feet from the Spanish Steps was named for its Greek founder, Nicola della Maddalena.
A stop at Caffè Greco is a must for coffee lovers and a highlight of coffee or gelato tasting tours in the city center. However, while many visitors stop in for coffee, panini, or ice cream, most seek out the landmark because of its interesting history; the bar has several dining rooms, many of which double as art galleries showing paintings and drawings created by past patrons.
Caffè Greco is open from 9am to 9pm daily.
There's a surcharge to sit at a table rather than to stand at the bar, as is the case with most bars in Italy. Consider this a café that doubles as a museum.
This is a great place to linger over a cappuccino and soak in the historic atmosphere.
The café is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers.
Caffè Greco is just off Piazza di Spagna, not far from the famed Spanish Steps. Take metro line A to the Spagna stop or arrive on foot from most major attractions in Rome's city center.
Like most of Rome's coffee bars, Caffè Greco is especially crowded at breakfast time and after lunch and dinner, when Italians are getting their espresso shots. Time your visit outside those busy hours so you can find a free table.
While other nationalities may enjoy their coffee frothed, milky, and in a to-go cup, Italians prefer theirs strong and almost too hot to handle. In Italy, caffè (espresso) is typically enjoyed standing, at the bar, in under a minute. Lingering is just not the done thing at Italian coffee shops (or "bars," as they're known locally). And cappuccinos? Don't drink them past noon.
