Prague

Central Prague consists of five quarters: Hrad any (near the castle), Little Quarter (the hills leading up to the castle on the west bank of the Vltava River), Josefov (the old Jewish Quarter), Old Town (with most of the popular Gothic sights like the Old Clock), and New Town. Most of the classic cafés are in the Old Town and New Town sections.

As in Budapest, die-hard dessert lovers will sometimes prefer the café’s atmosphere and architectural appointments to the pastry. Make a careful selection from what looks good in the dessert case, and don’t blindly order your favorite, as Czech bakers need a little more time to get back on their feet after decades of Communist suppression. What the cafés lack in culinary finesse, they make up for in architectural splendor.