The best cafes in the world in 2026 are not just the ones serving the best coffee. They are the ones where the room, the bar, and the cup all line up, where you walk in and have to recalibrate what you thought a cafe was for. Some are specialty roasters that win awards. Some are historic European rooms older than most countries. Here are ten I would honestly plan a trip around, what to order at each, and one London pick I keep going back to.
How I picked
Two filters: real coffee, real reason to visit. The list mixes specialty roasters that have earned a place on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list (the Onyx, Wendelboe, Apartment Coffee crowd) with historic and beautiful rooms that earn their fame on atmosphere as much as the cup. I have skipped places I have not researched or visited, and I have called out the ones I have spent real time at.
The ten cafes
1. Onyx Coffee Lab, Rogers, Arkansas
Onyx Coffee Lab was named the World's Best Coffee Shop for 2026 by the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list, the first US shop to top the ranking. They run multiple locations across Northwest Arkansas, with Rogers as the flagship, and have built a reputation on meticulous micro-roasting and innovation, including their baristas winning national and international championships. Order: the daily pour-over flight if you have an hour, or whatever the barista has on for cupping that day.
2. Tim Wendelboe, Oslo
Tim Wendelboe is the Norwegian micro-roastery that more or less wrote the modern light-roast playbook. Wendelboe himself is a former World Barista Champion, and the small bar in Grunerlokka pulls some of the most precise espresso you can find. Order: an espresso, then a hand-brewed Kenyan if they have one. Drink it standing if you have to.
3. Apartment Coffee, Singapore
Apartment Coffee in Singapore is the quiet end of the world's-best list, a minimalist space focused on letting each origin speak. It earned a place on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops by treating coffee like a tasting menu rather than a quick caffeine stop. Order: the filter flight, slowly. Apartment is the cafe you save for an afternoon, not a transit between meetings.
4. Hermanos Coffee Roasters, London
Hermanos is the Colombian-roaster chain by brothers Victor and Santiago Gamboa with their friend Adnan Millwala. Nine London locations as of 2026, with Portobello Road as the flagship I keep going back to. Their batch brew rotates daily across single-origin Colombian micro-lots, and the cortado is the milk drink to order if filter is not your thing. I have written about why Hermanos is my number one cafe in London in more detail.
5. New York Cafe, Budapest
New York Cafe in Budapest is often described as the most beautiful cafe in the world, and the room earns the line. Italian Renaissance ceiling, marble columns, frescoes, chandeliers. Opened in 1894, it was the gathering place for Hungarian writers and intellectuals for decades. Go for the room, not the coffee, and pair it with a pastry.
6. Toby's Estate Coffee Roasters, Sydney
Toby's Estate is a long-running Sydney specialty institution, with a flagship in Chippendale and several other locations. They were among the first wave of Australian specialty roasters to build a global reputation, and they remain a consistent World's 100 entry. Order: a flat white if you want the canonical Sydney version, or filter for the bean of the day.
7. The Barn, Berlin
The Barn is a Berlin specialty roastery with multiple locations across the city, founded by Ralf Ruller in 2010. It built its name on a strict no-milk-at-the-bar policy at the original Mitte location and an obsessive focus on origin. The policy has softened across the chain, but the philosophy and the cup quality remain. Order: a hand-brew of the lightest roast they have.
8. Coffee Collective, Copenhagen
Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, founded by former World Barista Champions and a green-buyer, is the Danish lodestar of the third-wave scene. Their roastery cafe in Norrebro is the spot to drink at the source. The whole operation is built on direct-trade relationships, with the farms named on the bag and the menu. Order: an espresso served as a long shot, or pour-over of a Wendelboe-style Kenyan.
9. Workshop Coffee, London
Workshop Coffee, founded in 2011, is one of the long-standing London specialty roasters worth crossing town for. The Marylebone branch is the calm flagship, with seasonal rotating filter and espresso. Workshop has been a quiet influence on London's specialty scene for over a decade. Order: a filter of whatever they have on, drunk in.
10. Cafe Central, Vienna
Cafe Central is a Viennese coffeehouse institution opened in 1876, frequented historically by writers, philosophers, and the chess players of the Cafe Central chess scene. It still pulls a long queue for the room and the Sachertorte. The coffee is fine rather than great. Go for the room, the soaring ceiling, and the strudel.
If you are caffeine-hopping the UK
If you are doing the cafe-tour version of a UK trip, the London picks above (Hermanos, Workshop) are starting points. For everything beyond London (Edinburgh, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester), the UK cafe directory at Not Another Sunday is the most current map I know, sorted by city and by what each place is actually good at, not generic Google reviews. Pair a couple of those with the European stops above and you have a fortnight of caffeine planned.
FAQ
What is the best cafe in the world in 2026?
Onyx Coffee Lab in Rogers, Arkansas, was named the World's Best Coffee Shop for 2026 by the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list, the first US shop to top the ranking. Other consistent top-of-the-list names include Tim Wendelboe in Oslo, Apartment Coffee in Singapore, and Toby's Estate in Sydney.
What is the most beautiful cafe in the world?
New York Cafe in Budapest is regularly named the most beautiful cafe in the world, with its Italian Renaissance ceiling, marble columns, chandeliers, and frescoes. Opened in 1894, it was a meeting place for Hungarian writers and intellectuals. Go for the room rather than the coffee.
Which country has the best cafes?
If you mean specialty coffee, the strongest concentration runs through the Nordics (Norway, Denmark), Australia, and pockets of the US, Singapore, and northern Europe. If you mean historic, atmospheric cafes, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and France lead, with Vienna and Budapest setting the bar. The honest answer depends on what you mean by best.
What are the best cafes in London?
My personal pick is Hermanos Coffee Roasters, the Colombian roaster with nine London locations, covered in detail in our Hermanos review. Workshop Coffee is a quieter, longer-running specialty favourite. For the wider London and UK scene, Not Another Sunday keeps an updated directory by city.
The honest summary: the best cafes in the world in 2026 split into two lists, the specialty roasters where the cup is the point, and the historic rooms where the cup is fine but the experience is the point. Either is a worthy reason for a trip. Plan the route by which kind of day you want, and let the rest follow.