Café Festival

Café Festival is one of the coffee houses on Stradun that locals actually use. In Your Pocket describes it as the place where the city's prominent figures and intellectuals gather, and it has long been a reference point on the main street, with a proper bar counter inside, vintage coffee advertisements on the walls and a terrace looking out over the flow of people on the polished limestone.

The menu runs through the day. Mornings bring coffee and breakfast; at lunchtime there are dishes of the day, which In Your Pocket singles out as a good-value midday meal for the Old Town; and in the afternoon the menu turns to home-made cakes, fruit frappés and frozen cappuccino, including a version with Baileys. In the evening it works as a bar, with cocktails and mixed drinks served late into the night.

The terrace is the main draw, and the best tables are those with a clear view of Stradun. It is an ideal place to sit with a coffee and watch the Old Town wake up early in the morning or wind down after dark. Families will find something for everyone, and it is a comfortable place to rest during a long day of sightseeing. Prices are higher than in cafés outside the walls, as you would expect on the main street, but the dish of the day is reasonable value.

Café Festival keeps long hours, from early morning until late at night, which makes it useful at almost any point in the day. Outside the summer season hours may be shorter, so check the café's website or social media if you are visiting in winter. It does not take bookings for coffee, so simply wait for a table if the terrace is full.

Allow 30 minutes for a coffee or an hour for lunch. The café is on Stradun itself, a short walk from the Franciscan Monastery and Luža Square, so it fits into almost any route through the Old Town. For the best experience, come for breakfast before the cruise passengers arrive, when Stradun is still quiet and the stone is freshly washed.