After a day of intensive sightseeing or soaking in a mineral bath, do as Budapesters do and unwind over strong coffee and sweet cake in an old, cozy cafè.

There were more than 400 coffeehouses in Budapest at the turn of the 20th century, attracting everyone from soldiers and aristocrats to poets and actors, and some of the best are still in business today. 

Refinement is the operative word at Cafè Gerbeaud. This is one café where indulging one's sweet tooth is elevated to an art form. For here you'll find the finest range of pastries in the city. Desserts figured prominently from the outset, as one of the first owners was a Swiss confectioner. In fact, Emile Gerbeaud invented the Hungarian specialty known as “konyakos meggy”, dark chocolate with a cognac-soaked sour cherry in the center. Gerbeaud is big and always busy, so try to secure a table in the quieter vaulted section to the right of the long, central pastry counter.

Another must on the café trail is the elegant Cafè Mûvész whose location opposite the Opera House lends it a certain charged atmosphere. Pick a spot inside, where marble table tops and crystal chandeliers exude an Old World grandeur, or repair to the terrace for prime people-watching.

A different sort of setting awaits in the Zsolnay coffee house. Its interior of mint green and brass dates from the 1930s, and coffee is served in distinctive cups made by Zsolnay, one of Hungary's best known manufacturers of fine porcelain. 

Budapest's oldest café is the Ruszwurm in the Castle Hill district of Buda. This Baroque gem sports the same cherrywood paneling and quality service as when it first opened, in 1824. You can indulge in the same high quality treats. The Ruszwurm's confectionery is so fabulous that couriers were once sent from Vienna to retrieve it. Whatever you try - and we heartily recommend the Linzer torte or the ice cream - you can be assured that it's homemade.

The legendary Hauer Café, once a true competitor of Cafè Gerbeaud, has recently been reopened at Rákóczi Street. The beautifully restored rooms are in their old pomp again. The courtyard of the café was turned into an atrium. The National Salon serves as a gallery, as well. The adjacent room has become a club room. You can still enjoy a steaming hot Viener coffee accompanied by a Hauer cake, or a plate of “Somlói Galuska”.

Central Cafè was originally popular with writers for purely practical reasons: it offered a warm refuge from cold rented rooms that they could scarcely afford - and paper and ink were gratis. However, today you're likelier to rub shoulders with fellow tourists rather than struggling scribes.

The famous Cafè New York at the corner of Erzsébet Blvd. and Dohány street with its opulent interior has been recently opened.

Other stops on the Budapest café trail: Cafè Angelika with neo-Baroque furnishings, marble floors, and stained-glass windows, Cafè Pierrot, on the site of a onetime medieval bakery, and the nicely refurbished Lukács, former coffee house of the communist police.

No matter which café you settle into, remember that taking your time is what it's all about.