For most of us, this time of year means work, study, exams and assignments. It’s important to have those cafes to escape to where you can work and study amidst the buzz for hours on end.
And what makes a ideal study/work cafe? Comfortable seating attached to big tables, quick wifi, waiting staff that will leave you alone for hours, good coffee, a bright and inspiring atmosphere, and, on occasion, power sockets to charge your laptop. We’ve rounded up a list of 14 inspiring and comfortable cafes for work, or study in Vienna.
Opening times MON–FRI: 11am–8pm SAT: 11am–6pm SUN: closed
Torn, broken and mismatched furniture paired with a shabby chic charm and the crackling flames of a fire place – this is the lulling bubble of calm at the café attached to the vintage clothes boutique, Burggasse 24. The quiet living room set up, with a street lamp randomly propped in the middle of it, is the perfect setting for some hardcore studying or quiet work hours. They make a mean coffee and also have a cake typically on offer which can prove useful if a sugar hit is needed to get you focused. Even if you set fire to a pot plant (ok, maybe we’re exaggerating), the staff will leave you alone for hours. But they are very chilled, indeed.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: from open until close
The sight of hungry and thirsty student’s faces litup by laptop screens is common amidst WerkzeugH chaotic charm, which looks something like a garden workshop of some eccentric do-it-yourself-er (hence the name which originates from the places past life as a tool shop).The big windows will remind you when tangled up in some deep economic theory, or trying to get that assignment done, that the world extends beyond your present mental constipation. The best window for work here is between 4-7pm, before studious students morph into their drinking and swearing selves (wink, wink).
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 4pm–7p
While the Viennese bakery chain, Ströck, is seen on every third corner, its fancy bakery-restaurant-bar hybrid, Feierabend, on Landstraße offers more room, a wider selection of food and a neat kind of busy calmness. You can stay here for hours, use the free WLAN, sip on your Kleiner Brauner and munch on a Pain au chocolat. The 7am open is very convenient if you’re an early-starter, and while there are a lot of people walking in and out around the clock, you’ll always find a free seat (excluding dinnertime, which can be busy).
Tip: avoid the evenings for working here when people turn up for a fancy dinner Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for powering up your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: MON–FRI, 7am–12pm
Phil is pretty much the poster boy of Vienna’s café/store hybrids. It offers up a cosy atmosphere amidst shelves full of books and records for purchase (or for inspiration), and comfy couches to drown in and study for hours. They serve breakfast into the afternoon, as well as warm food for lunch and dinner. It can get busy and loud here from around 5pm onwards, which isn’t ideal for study or work purposes, so aim to be finished by then, so you can join in on the fun.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for powering up your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 9am–5pm
Opening times MON–WED: 9am–12am THU–FRI: 9am–1am SAT: 10am–1am SUN: 10am–11pm
Not only will your adopted work/study station at Das Möbel be big, but also beautiful. This old favourite, Das Möbel, is furnished by tables and chairs created by local designers, and they all make a great spot to open up a laptop, or study old school with paper, pens and stuff.
The big windows and the fresh and light interior design will ensure you won’t get weighed down under that workload. There’s plenty of space as well, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a table to yourself in the quiet hours from 2pm until about 6pm.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 2pm–6pm during the week
Everything about Coffee Pirates screams – ‘sit down, sip your skilfully made coffee and study!’ This vast, bright public living room atmosphere offers a colourful mix of different seating areas (festive wooden table vs. window bar vs. cosy lounge area). It fills up often, but if you score a seat, you can work your way through dozens of quality coffees while working away on your laptop.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: Whenever you can get a seat, all day long.
Opening times MON–FRI: 8:30am–12am SAT–SUN: 9am–12am
It couldn’t be closer to the university, and thanks to its free WIFI internet, and comfy atmosphere (especially in the pillow ridden setup at the back), the Welt Café has garnered a reputation as a student café par excellence.
One can study over a typically fantastic Verlängerten, or mix it up with the more adventurous variations of coffee on the menu, like the Mexican coffee, or the brew out of Senegal, or Ethiopia. There’s also a raft of hot chocolate options.
The food is nothing that will inspire ground-breaking essays, but is reasonably priced and wholesome. Welt Café has a definite hippy milieu mixed with a student vibe so you won’t feel out of place here. Well, unless you’re an Economics or business student. Oh, and if you get stuck with a certain problem with your work, you can ask the Buddha above the bar for answers.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: morning until lunch and then anytime during the afternoon
For us, Café Europa feels like a second living room, and we assume we’re not alone. This Viennese institution has been around for 33 years and has always been open to all kinds of people, which is why you might end up sitting between a business man in a suit and a dread-locked punk. If you find your way to the Café Europa to finally get started on your studying session, you probably won’t be the only (desperate) student in this retro café. It’s big, so you’re almost always guaranteed a table, and the waiting staff will leave you be, without throwing you any evil eyes for occupying space for hours on end.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 9am–6pm during the week.
Opening times MON–FRI: 7:30am–10pm SAT: 9:30am–10pm SUN: 10:30am–6pm
We’d estimate that 80% of people perched at a table at Jonas Reindl have got a laptop open during daylight hours. Seeing as it’s neighbouring the main university campus, this comes as no surprise. Lots of students find their way here in a break between classes at the nearby university. It’s not a huge place (translation = it’s about the size of your living room) but if you are lucky enough to score a table, you’ve hit the jackpot in terms of study / work cafes – the coffee in here is consitently superb.
Word of warning though – you’ll need to be one of those that can block out the world and focus when need be, as between the squeal of the coffee machine, and the hundreds of conversations going on around you, it does get loud in here.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 9am–6pm during the week.
Opening times MON–SAT: 8am–8pm SAT–SUN & public holidays: 9am–7pm
The beloved 4rth district cafe, Vollpension, where you’ll have cake baked and served up to you by grandmas and grandpas, have opened up a second location and it’s primed for students, or those wanting to get to work.
They’ve now got a beautiful looking cafe hidden away in the Music and Arts University of Vienna. Similar to their first location, you’ll be filled with that warm and homey feeling only an Oma, so it will kind of feel like you’re studying, or working at your grandparent’s place. Oh, and there’s plenty of delicious cake to keep you going.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: 8am–8pm during the week, or if you have some work to catch up on, on Sunday, it’s one of the few cafes open
The Austrian coffee bean roaster’s flagship cafe is churning out some wickedly good cups of coffee on a daily basis and it just so happens to be the right kind of bright, and big for somebody to get down to work without feeling like they’re in the way, or will be disturbed. It opens early and the staff are known for greeting coffee craving guests with a smile. Their WIFI is solid, and there’s a big table which is perfect to prop your laptop on and get focus in on some coffee-buzz-fuelled work hours.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? the community table has plenty of power outlets, and also by the windows you’ll find a few. Best study/work hours: 8am–7pm during the week, or if you have some work to catch up on, on Sunday, it’s one of the few cafes open
Opening times MON–FRI: 7am–8pm SAT: 9am–3pm SUN: closed
What cafe is better for work and study than one that’s actually been designed around these two activities. Cocoquadrat is a hybrid of a shared work space and a coffee shop. The airy and high-ceilinged cafe is in a L-shape and you can rent desk space in the back leg of the ‘L’. If that makes sense… which we just realised may be a little hard to visualise. Anyway, you can rent desk space here, or you can just grab a coffee (it’s decent), or a cake, or a sandwich, and catch a few hours of work in the front.
If need be, you can actually rent fully-equipped meeting rooms upstairs.
Wi-Fi: Yes. High speed if you rent a desk space. Power outlet for powering up your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: anytime of the day
This place is has been a legend amongst those backpack-wearing laptop nomads since…well, the day it opened. It’s got a vintage, individualistic charm that’s aged well, and it’s comfy. The service is casual and friendly, and the place has plenty of table space to fit anybody looking to setup office, or study space, for a couple of hours.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? Yes Best study/work hours: during the afternoon after the lunch rush
It’s got the fresh and young vibe that makes its atmosphere optimal for feeling inspired to get some study, or work done. Its menu is also packed with healthy bites, which can help keep you focused. Also, you can just grab one of the art and design books on the wall if you get in the mood for some procrastinating, or are in need of some inspiration.
Wi-Fi: Yes Power outlet for charging your laptop? not that we could find Best study/work hours: anytime during work hours (keep in mind, it gets busy around lunch)
