{"id":54085,"date":"2022-12-31T06:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=54085"},"modified":"2025-12-14T19:38:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T18:38:03","slug":"cafe-diglas-schottenstift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/cafe-diglas-schottenstift\/","title":{"rendered":"Caf\u00e9 Diglas at Schottenstift"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift2.jpg\" alt=\"Cafe Diglas sign\" class=\"wp-image-54175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift2.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift2-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For most of the last 900 years, Schottengasse echoed to the sound of religious debate among local monks. But gossip has largely replaced the gospels as a topic of conversation in at least one locality: Caf\u00e9 Diglas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Classically traditional coffee house<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We&#8217;ve always encountered friendly staff<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quiet outdoor courtyard with shade, too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Notably historical monastery surrounds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_Coffee\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* for your Vienna trip<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/coffee-houses\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7689\">Coffee houses in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/schottenkirche\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"27651\">The Schottenkirche church<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A local&#8217;s perspective<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift.jpg\" alt=\"Front of Cafe Diglas\" class=\"wp-image-54173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The front fa\u00e7ade)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Caf\u00e9 Diglas occupies an outer part of what is still the Schottenstift monastery. Most of the latter&#8217;s buildings date back to the 18th and 19th century, though it was founded in the 12th century (long before coffee reached Europe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lower floor inside the caf\u00e9 has a suitably vaulted ceiling for the location, with black and white art photos decorating the thick supporting columns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Expect all the little touches that make a traditional Viennese coffee house: marble tables and bentwood chairs, upholstered sofas in windowed niches, cakes from an in-house patisserie, <s>itinerant philosophers working on their next misunderstood treatise<\/s>. Though upstairs has a more rustic library-like d\u00e9cor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Schottengasse road outside leads off the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/freyung-2\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"29646\">Freyung square<\/a>, so forms part of the historical old town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the Vienna of aristocratic townhouses, churches and ye olde apothecary, but with a local feel given its location at the edge of the more popular visitor routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp205287,exp205280\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_CityWalk\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, we take our occasional Saturday morning breakfasts there mainly among fellow Vienna dwellers, from the elderly to a group of young friends to an exiled Englishman scribbling furiously in a notebook (that would be me).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One side of the caf\u00e9 looks out onto the road itself, a relatively busy street that takes people from the Schottentor transport hub into the old town. Horse-drawn carriages sometimes pass by, adding a 19th-century touch to proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other side of the caf\u00e9 leads out to a courtyard, where (when open) you can enjoy your coffee or meals outdoors: a particularly pleasant prospect on cloudless summer days when the surrounding trees offer plenty of shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A composer connection&#8230;<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lehar1906.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of a man with a mustache in 1906\" class=\"wp-image-87488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lehar1906.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/lehar1906-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Franz Leh\u00e1r sometimes stayed in the same building complex. Photograph by Ludwig Gutmann from 1906; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 103217\/3; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you do sit outside, close your eyes and imagine a piano refrain wafting over the treetops, with slight changes each time it plays\u2026as if the pianist tinkered in search of the perfect tune; the composer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/franz-lehar\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"39818\">Franz Leh\u00e1r<\/a> used to stay in one of the apartments that overlooks your table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On our last visit (and we&#8217;ve been back many times), the breakfast menu offered plenty of choice, and small touches helped it stand out from some of the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the orange juice was the proper stuff (served in a wine glass, no less), and the jam and butter came in their own glass with no plastic or paper in sight. All introduced a touch of noble flair, but without the noble prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only downside is how busy it can get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our waiting staff are always friendly and efficient, but we sometimes have to be patient. Mind you, where better than a Viennese coffee house when it comes to cultivating that particular characteristic?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift1.jpg\" alt=\"Coffee house sign and lamp\" class=\"wp-image-54174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cafediglasschottenstift1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(&#8220;Im Schottenstift&#8221; means &#8220;In the Schottenstift abbey&#8221;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The outside courtyard in particular proves very popular with locals in the warmer seasons, though this can mean more space on the inside. On a previous visit on a bright June afternoon, the outdoor area had people queueing to get in, while plenty of tables remained free inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Caf\u00e9 Diglas also has a wider restaurant menu, with (at the time of writing) traditional Viennese meals complemented by specials and weekday fixed menus that veer off into vegetarian and other territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Incidentally, the people behind the coffee house are associated with a couple of other city centre locations. For example, locations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/cafe-diglas\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"43560\">on the Wollzeile<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/diglas-fleischmarkt\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"55798\">am Fleischmarkt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to Diglas im Schottenstift<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The caf\u00e9 is within walking distance of the major central sights and my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/transport\/walking-tour\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"50322\">self-guided walking tour suggestion<\/a> takes you past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearby Schottentor has the U2 subway, plus a host of tram lines (1, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, D, 71). Another close subway station is Herrengasse on the U3 line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1A bus through the old town also stops nearby (Teinfaltstra\u00dfe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Schottengasse 2 | <a href=\"https:\/\/cafeimschottenstift.at\/\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1qxMhuM31vUOcHvWtm9QzWRPeiURPKwCX\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For most of the last 900 years, Schottengasse echoed to the sound of religious debate among local monks. But gossip has largely replaced the gospels as a topic of conversation in at least one locality: Caf\u00e9 Diglas. A local&#8217;s perspective (The front fa\u00e7ade) Caf\u00e9 Diglas occupies an outer part of what is still the Schottenstift [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-54085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cafespubsbars","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54085"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87489,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54085\/revisions\/87489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}