What time do Italy cafes open?
 

Being early risers (especially with the time change), we like our coffee before the sun rises.

Hotels can usually accommodate us. But on this trip we've booked apartments. I presume they'll have a coffee maker of some kind. But can someone tell us how early one can expect to find a cafe open? We'll be in Rome, Pienza and Castellina in Chianti.

Salud!

What time do cafes open in the US? It's the same thing -- there is no universal schedule. But I've never had a problem finding one open in italian cities or towns after 7 or 7:30. Earlier than that -- I wouldn't know. This trip in Rome I found a couple in my neighborhood that didn't open until 9, and one until 10 -- even though it seemed primarily a coffee type place. But there were others open however early I got up.

Thanks, NP. That's what I suspected...very similar to Paris. Although in Paris I've spotted a few "all nighters". Don't remember seeing any in Rome.

Guess we'll just have to master that unfamiliar coffee maker!

I've been to Rome several times and found several cafes opened as early as 6:30 AM. in various parts of the city.

Well, my morning coffee routine has been totally altered here in Amsterdam. The apartment has one of those "pad" type coffeemakers with a supply of single Perla coffee pads. You pull down the latch and it extracts a strong cup of coffee from the pad with the instantly heated water. It's not quite espresso, but really good and you make a cup in less that a minute. Since the first morning I haven't bothered going out at all to get my first cup of the morning -- which is good since it seems to be raining every morning -- this morning a virtual downpour.

In apartments you are likely to find an Italian style percolator and perhaps a drip style coffee maker.

Coffee is cheap at any market (~2-3Euro/250g at any market), so for those mornings you are up really early you can enjoy one at home.

We noticed that they open when they feel like it. The San Eustacio coffee shop was our 'neighborhood' shop in Rome last month and it opened after the proprieter swept the street in front and got things inside ready. Sometimes it was early, sometimes not so early.

We too stay in apartments in Rome. We have had coffee in a cafe as early as 7ish, so I don't think you will have too much trouble. There are so many cafes that if you don't see one in the immediate vicinity that is open you shouldn't have to walk far to find one that is.

Tracy

Patrick,
I think that is the same type of a cofee maker we mastered in Florence. In our apartment in Rome it was also a different kind.. Jeanne - just ask the person checking you into the apartment to show you how to make it?

We had trouble getting up early due to the time change... where are you traveling from?

We're on the Gulf Coast, leave out of Atlanta. I imagine there will be a way to make coffee at home. We have a Rome apartment with two lovely terraces where I can have my coffee and watch the sun rise over the Eternal City! Doesn't get much better than that!

Hi JB,

Actually it can better than that if your apartment faces the west and you get to see those glorious Roman sunsets.

barbmike, morning people like sunrises and night people like sunsets. To the OP, being able to have your coffee when you want it is one of the advantages of apartments. When you arrive, ask your contact person how to use the coffee maker.

Oh, believe me, that will be at the top of the list!

I like sunsets, too! But they're hard to see in Rome with all those narrow alley-streets.

Most apartments in Italy will have a "Moka Pot" style coffe maker.

You can buy them here in the US too if you want to try it and see if you like it...I even saw a little on at Target the other day (used to be difficult to find here!)...any housewares shop will have them. (and you can pick one up anywhere in Italy if, for some reason, your home doesn't have one! can't imagine that though)

They only make espresso (usually for 2-4 people)...you fill the little metal "filter" with coffee, fill the bottom part with water (up to where the "screw" is - that may be the only marking) and screw it on...put it on the stove burner and wait for it to boil and the coffee will start bubbling up; you will hear when it's done bubbling. For a nice "cafe latte", heat some milk and pour the milk in your mug and then the "shot" of coffee.

You also should be able to find "French Press" type coffe makers easily.

As for the first question :-) Commuters are the first up with a cup of coffee...like anywhere else! so...the places near commuter trains and business hotels are your best bet for REALLY early morning coffee...just like in any other city.

Also...usually any hotel will let you order and sit with coffee even if you are not a guest...if still stuck...just ask ANYONE out and about that early and they will know :-) Ask a Hotel doorman, etc. where HE had his morning coffee :-)

I'm not a morning person...so I can't give specifics! but...but husband didn't have a problem finding coffee in Venice at 5:30am.
-Nicole

p.s. the reason some places don't open up for coffee until 10am is becasue that is traditionaly the time for a "coffee break" in Italy :-) If you notice, the bars will be packed around 10am!!

Very helpful, thank you! I may try to find a Moka Pot. That would beat trying to figure it out while I'm groggy.

Jeanne - you do know that it's much later in Italy now than it is in US, so even if you get up early at home it may not be so early once you are in Italy...

here's what they look like:

http://www.bialettishop.com/MokaExpr...FRBPUAod2FfttQ

(I've seen them at Fortunoff, Williams Sonoma, etc.)

No, experience tells me I'll wake up around 4:30 in Italy. Sometimes I go walking while it's still dark and the cafe owners are washing down their sidewalks, setting up the tables. I love it.

Hi JeanneB!

"We have a Rome apartment with two lovely terraces where I can have my coffee and watch the sun rise over the Eternal City! Doesn't get much better than that!"

Well, I am completely jealous of you now! You're right, it doesn't get much better than that. Sounds like heaven. Say hi to Rome for me!

Your neighbor in Pensacola,
Johanna

Hi Mimar,

Actually I'm a morning person (read the newspaper at around 5:00AM) who also enjoys sunsets. I guess that gives me the best of all worlds.