10 cafés in 2 citys. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
The 'Mermaid of Alexandria' is a Greek-era café that Lawrence Durrell and Cavafy both knew. Its gilded friezes, Greek motifs and sea views remain, even if the glory days have passed.
Order: Turkish coffee · Pastry
💡 Open 24 hours.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A café-patisserie near the Metropole and Cecil hotels, full of atmosphere and old posters. Most of the floor is the café, with the La Veranda restaurant at the back.
Order: Coffee and a French-style pastry
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Sofianopoulo started in 1908 in the heart of Alexandria on Saad Zaghloul Street as a coffee grinding house. It still sells espresso, Arabic coffee and Turkish coffee by the bag.
Order: Turkish coffee · Freshly ground beans
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
This café and patisserie dates from 1905, when Alexandria's high society, including Umm Kulthum and the poet Cavafy, used to gather here. It is still famous for what is said to be Egypt's best om ali.
Order: Coffee with om ali
💡 You pay for the ambience, so linger.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Café Riche opened in 1908 near Talaat Harb Square, and revolutionaries printed flyers in its basement during the 1919 revolution. Naguib Mahfouz held Friday meetings here and Gamal Abdel Nasser was a regular.
Order: Turkish coffee · Tea
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Noisy and crowded, El Horreya Café and Bar is a classic baladi bar, the Cairene take on a dive bar, and one of very few left in the city centre.
Order: Tea · Turkish coffee
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
El-Fishawy opened in 1797 in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar and has been run by the same family for at least seven generations. Naguib Mahfouz made it his meeting place, and it is open 24 hours a day.
Order: Turkish coffee (ahwa), mazbout · Mint tea · Sheesha
💡 Turkish coffee comes sada (no sugar), mazbout (medium) or helwa (very sweet); say which.
Founded in 1909 by the Swiss Groppi family, Groppi was once called 'the most celebrated tearoom this side of the Mediterranean' and supplied Egypt's royal family. It survived the Cairo fire of 1952, and its Talaat Harb Square tearoom keeps its old orientalist decor and large mosaics.
Order: Coffee · Ice cream · Chocolates
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A small, long-established café in Zamalek, popular with expats and students, where space is tight and many people drink standing at the bar. It is known for a very good cappuccino and a counter of sweets and pastries.
Order: Cappuccino · Pastry
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A specialty coffee shop in Zamalek with good cakes and a calm inside room. Stable Wi-Fi makes it a favourite for working.
Order: Pour-over · Flat white
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.