In case you were wondering, cat cafés are spaces designed for cats and people to interact with one another. The first cat café was created in Taiwan in 1998. Most all of them offer coffee, tea, and pastries too. Cat cafés are said to be calming places geared towards enhancing their patrons’ well-being. So check out this list to find the best cat café near you.
This cat café is located in Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Asociación Benéfica por el Rescate e Inserción de Gatos en Adopción, a nonprofit aimed at helping cats get adopted and promoting understanding of proper cat care. This means that La Gatoteca’s 11 felines are up for adoption. They also offer courses for best practices in feline care. This café is supported entirely by donation. In addition to serving caffeinated beverages, La Gatoteca also offers craft workshops, live music, and even yoga classes all in the company of cats. Because La Gatoteca aims to educate and promote relationships with the cats, patrons are charged not by drink but by amount of time spent with the cats. Who knows, maybe you’ll pay a visit and end up leaving with a new feline friend in tow.
Pee Pees Katzencafé is in Berlin’s trendy district of Neukölln. The owner is a pleasantly eccentric woman with a platinum blond crew cut and large glasses. She makes excellent cupcakes and other confections. The owner clearly cares deeply for the cats in her café, with Pelle perhaps being the most well known. Vegan fare and a hearty ‘hangover’ breakfast are also on offer. The café has many handmade merchandise items, all of which are cat-themed of course. This is the best place to get your cat fix in Berlin. Maybe you’ll even make a few likeminded friends in the process.
Le Café Des Chats is located in Paris, France. Their aim is to give cats a new home and another chance at life as members of Le Café Des Chats. The café prides itself on allowing its 12 cats to roam freely 24 hours a day. They protect their cats’ well-being with various rules in place in order to keep the cats from being disturbed. The café itself is a cozy one with exposed stonewalls and ceilings, antique furniture and comfortable, plush seating. There are two locations in the city, and each serves a variety of seasonal dishes throughout the day. A portion of the profits goes to organizations in place to protect cats’ welfare.
KitTea is the first cat teahouse established in San Francisco. KitTea is home to a whopping 15 cats. These felines are all adoptable and offered high quality care in the interim. The philosophy behind this setup is that it allows cats to be adopted by the right people at the right pace for that particular animal, a luxury many cats are not afforded in traditional adoption facilities. The interior is styled like a traditional teahouse with minimalist, wooden feline-friendly structures installed throughout. KitTea also hosts yoga classes, and you can come to Mewvie Night, which includes cake and tea.
Bar, Bistro, Restaurant, Cat and Dog Cafe, Vegan, Vegetarian, $$$
This cat bar and bistro can be found in Turin, Italy. It serves a multitude of vegan and vegetarian fare. The restaurant’s cats are named Sissi, Gin, Silvestrino, Valentino, Tweety, Titti and Tango. There are readings and other activities centered around educating children about animals and wildlife. You are also likely to find an abundance of other English speakers at this place. On the first Saturday of every month, the café invites shelter animals to come in the hopes of increasing adoptions. Miagola Caffé also serves as a co-working space in the company of cats. It is recommended that you book ahead on Saturdays and Sundays.
Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium is located in London, England. It invites customers to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Of the 11 cats at Lady Dinah’s, Mue is mother to seven. All of the cats have very unique and dynamic personalities. You’ll find yourself wanting to come back so that you get to know all of them. The cat emporium offers 90-minute sessions of peace and quiet with the cats. This is a great place for special occasions as the café is accommodating to those who are looking to plan their visits in advance.
Located in Osaka, Neko No Jikan claims the title of the first-ever cat café in Japan. Its name means ‘cat time’ in Japanese. It is set up like a traditional Japanese teahouse, where patrons sit on mats on the floor at large, communal tables. The interior is forest themed with earthy green and brown tones and lots of tree-like structures for the cats to climb. There are three options for time spent at this café, including one hour with cats, one hour with cats plus a drink, and one hour with cats plus a drink and cake. The cats here are largely abandoned strays, and adoptions from the café do take place occasionally.
Catmosphere Cat Café, Chiang Mai | Courtesy of Catmosphere Cat Café Chiang Mai
This cat café is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. There is no cover fee for entrance here provided that you order something off the menu. It is a kid-friendly space that refers to its cats as ‘catstronauts.’ Catmosphere Cat Café has 17 cats in total. This cuddly brood of beautiful cats consists of many varieties of adopted and pet cats. The café also shows daily movies from genres including action, horror classics, sci-fi, and cats. There is also a branch of this café in Sydney, Australia.
Amsterdam, Netherlands is a unique city to begin with, so it comes as no surprise that it might also have its own cat café, Kattencafé Kopjes. This place is wonderfully trendy and its interior combines minimalist design with elements of vintage décor. It is a clean and spacious café. The menu offers a variety of snacks, drinks, and desserts. You can buy yourself a Café Kopjes cup, tote, sweater, or t-shirt as a souvenir as well. The cats are adorable and well cared for in this very hipster setting.
Cat Café Budapest is located in the center of the city, which makes it accessible to travelers. The menu offers typical café-bar items, including the quintessential coffee drinks, teas, and beers with the additional option of ordering a snack for the cats. If you choose to do so, you can be sure that several will come running to your table. Additionally, Cat Café Budapest serves cakes and paninis. The goal of this café is to cultivate a relaxed atmosphere aimed at offering a therapeutic space for guests through interacting positively with animals. There are 10 cats and kittens in the café. On select days, there are also lectures and opportunities to adopt the cats.
If you were wondering which was the café on our list with the most cats, it’s Cats Republic, which is home to 20 felines. There is even a hairless cat. Cats Republic is the café part of the Cats Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The café is even equipped with a cat therapy area. The premise of this café is that it acts as a mini country, a ‘republic’ of cats whose borders are open to anyone interested in adopting a cat or for people whose living situations do not permit them to have a cat and would like to spend quality time with some.
