Cafe Frauenhuber, Vienna

Vienna's oldest café, which has been going since 1824, is, as you'd likely expect, unchanged and traditional: vaulted ceiling, huge chandeliers, deep burgundy upholstery, newspapers on racks, classically attired waitstaff and no recorded music. One little change is that these days they have an outside terrace, but there is still one other good reason to come: the café's storied history, including performances by Mozart and Beethoven. The former gave his last concert in public here on March 4th, 1791 (the famous Piano Concerto No. 27), while the latter was a regular as patron and pianist, having usually sat in the back room which is easily visible from the front.

The waiters expect you to walk in and seat yourself – something that is unexpected to foreign visitors who think that such beautiful "period restaurant" must require that they be seated. No, no, go ahead and take the menu, sit down and try the usual fine Viennese fare of schnitzel, beef goulash, and either Kaiserschmarr or Haustorte for dessert. As well as these, they serve good breakfast and a range of vegetarian dishes.