The best espresso in Rome

Talk of the town: Casanova, Goethe, Wagner, Baudelaire, Shelley and Byron have all stopped by for a beverage in the past 250 years.

As the oldest coffee shop in Rome, situated on Via Condotti near the Spanish Steps, Antico Caffe Greco is naturally tourist central. They squish onto sofas, necks craned, to ogle the 18th century interiors and gilded walls bedecked in art. But locals still come, too - sticking to the foyer, where prices are lower - because this stunning cafe serves some of the best espresso in Rome.