Falstaff Coffee Guide Nordics 2026: The Best Cafés in Finland

Red brick walls, high ceilings, and the steady hum of a working roaster next door define this specialty café inside a former horse stable. Voted Finland’s best café in 2018 and 2020, and Lehmus has won best roastery three times. Hand-pour options include V60 and AeroPress; cakes change weekly.

Roastery and café in the Malski cultural centre, revitalizing a former brewery from 1912. Joonas Reinikainen founded Kahiwa after visiting a coffee farm near his grandparents’ home in Kenya; F1 driver Valtteri Bottas joined as co-owner in 2020. Saturday brunch and house-baked bread complete the offer.

Finland’s oldest bakery is a proper institution with table service and chandeliers. It was opened by Fredrik Ekberg as a French-Russian confectionery in 1852 and is now run by descendant Otto Ekberg. The Napoleon cake follows an unchanged recipe; the Alexander Torte honours Czar Alexander I.

In a quiet neighbourhood, this small café functions as a roasting operation and a community hub. Founder Olli built his first roaster with a local metalsmith; barista Anna earned recognition as a young coffee influencer. Some blend is named after streets in Kirjala, where the roastery started.

Inspired by Tokyo, Paris, and Copenhagen, the seasonal pastries could include matcha tiramisu, Basque cheesecake, and cardamom buns with a twist. Andante doubles as a flower shop with three decades of history; the Japanese baristas pull espresso with precision. A favorite in the Design District.

Behind a narrow glass door on the main street Aleksanterinkatu, a staircase leads up to the café where this third-wave chain began in 2009. Jens Hampf runs the café while his brother Svante roasts the beans at Kaffa Roastery. Weekend brunch in the light-filled rooms is highly popular.

Cinnamon buns stack high in the display of this small café in the Art Nouveau district of Ullanlinna. The Romanian couple Cosmin and Cristina Tatosian bake everything in-house and pull espresso from top European roasters. The terrace catches afternoon sun by the park.

Miriam Laitinen has baked for Jyväskylä since 2011 and remains a rarity with her completely gluten-free patisserie. The cakes are so good most guests never notice the difference. Velvet sofa booths, bentwood chairs and table service complete the European-inspired setting.

Roaster Samuli Pääkkönen co-founded Frukt in 2018 after training in Copenhagen. Clean lines define this 2024 showroom, the first permanent café from one of Finland’s most respected micro-roasters. It offers hand-brew options, matcha from TeeMaa, and pastries from Bageri Å.

Founded by childhood friends Svante Hampf and Benjamin Andberg, Kaffa grew from a garage experiment to Finland’s largest artisan roastery. Guests can watch the roasting on a 50-year-old Probat through glass; the School of Coffee trains baristas next door. Voted Finland’s best coffee shop in 2017 and 2019.

Wicker chairs line the riverfront terrace of a yellow building from 1829, where baristas pull espresso from house-roasted beans. The family-owned roastery Turun Kahvipaahtimo has won Finland’s Barista of the Year six times. The homemade cakes and quiches change every day.

Single-origin beans from Helsinki’s Good Life roastery, ranking among the world’s top five percent, define this bohemian coffee bar. Pastries arrive from quality bakeries across the city, including croissants from Greenbake. All-day breakfast, seven days a week.

In 2018, four friends from fine-dining restaurant Grön, Good Life Coffee, and Let Me Wine joined forces for a common project: a bakery in a former dentist’s practice where sourdough is proofed for 48 hours. Not only the bread but also their reinvented cinnamon buns create queues.

Ornate ceilings, stained glass, and a fresco by Vilho Sjöström fill this 200-year-old Art Nouveau space on the Esplanade. This flagship café, run by Robert Paulig’s children, houses a gelato factory and a bakery known for its cinnamon rolls. A grand piano invites spontaneous performances.

Behind a climbing honey rose, a falu-red cottage from 1866 houses one of Mariehamn’s most beloved cafés. Bagarstugan bakes daily: the traditional Åland pancakes with prune cream, goat cheese pies, and layer cakes. Inside, the original wood-fired oven remains as a reminder of the building’s past as a bakehouse.

Bright and modern, this all-day spot above the Arctic Circle runs from lunch through päiväkahvi (afternoon coffee) until late-night cocktails. Opened in 2012, it shares ownership with Gustav Kitchen & Bar. Sweet and savory waffles (topped with salmon or goat cheese, for example) are the signature.

This family-owned café lies at the base of an observation tower from 1929 on the world’s largest gravel ridge. It is famous for its sugar-dusted doughnuts (munkki), baked from a recipe developed in the 1980s. Gluten-free versions are available; coffee from Kahwe Roastery.

The Helsinki outpost of the Swedish specialty roastery uses a brick warehouse from the 19th century that once served as the Russian tsar’s stables. Single-origin pour-overs, Chemex, and Aeropress share the menu with raw cakes from pastry maker Suvi Tikamo. Harbor views from the terrace.

This rustic bakery-café inside a boutique hotel serves house-baked pastries and sweet or savory waffles with views over the lake. Kaisa Kaihola restored this building from 1874 (thus the name: “a moment at the old vicarage”) and opened it in 2019. Nationally ranked among the most charming cafés.

The red wooden cottage sits on the shore of Taivallahti Bay, near the Sibelius Monument. Built in 1887 as a fishnet shed for the Paulig coffee family, it became a café in 2002 and won Best Café in Helsinki in 2014. Cinnamon buns, blueberry pie, and sausages grilled over an open fire.

Stone walls and mismatched antique furniture fill the rooms of this former Russian officers’ residence within the fortress ramparts. Kahvila Majurska (“the major’s café”) has baked its signature curd, apple, and berry tarts on-site since 1986. The summer veranda overlooks the lake.

High ceilings and tall windows make this station building from 1869 feel bright and spacious. Petra and Lasse Karjalainen run the café, roastery, interior shop, and B&B on the historic grounds. The name simply means Pulsa Station; the village sits 20 kilometres from lakeside Lappeenranta.

Third-wave coffee meets vinyl at this music and arts café, opened in 2024 by the team behind Boulangerie Marco. Browse the record bins, catch an art exhibition, then stay for evening cocktails and DJ sets. Bread comes from Marco’s bakery; the atmosphere is effortlessly cool.

Behind the granite walls of the former Kakola prison lies this organic sourdough bakery and mill. Croissants undergo a three-day fermentation in a dedicated, temperature-controlled room. Frukt Coffee Roasters supplies the espresso from right next door. Open Wednesday to Sunday.

Velvet sofas, curated fashion rails, and the scent of fresh baking fill the Relove flagship address, opened in 2016. Browse designer secondhand finds between bites of avocado toast or house-baked pastries. Vegan and gluten-free options are always available, as well as light breakfast and lunch dishes.

This seasonal café occupies a restored dairy barn from the 1850s on the historic Kokko homestead in Finland’s Lakeland. Owners Juhani and Maija bake seasonal pies and waffles using the farm’s own rhubarb and wild berries. The Jäähuone gallery hosts concerts. Open late June to mid-August.

The Fazer café, established by Karl Fazer in 1891 as a French-Russian confectionery, marks the starting point of Finland’s most famous chocolate company. Parts of the original interior remain; confectioners still work behind glass. The chocolate cake remains a house signature.

Airi Kallio opened this tea room in a historic timber building in 1983. Her sons now run the show: Otto-Ville bakes everything on-site, including Runeberg tarts, while Leo-Matti blends over 30 teas by hand. A visit pairs well with a wander through Old Porvoo, an easy day trip from Helsinki.

This café in the wooden house district offers some 50 different home-baked products: stone-oven bread, cream cakes, and the signature possumunkki (pig-shaped doughnuts with apple filling). Antin competed on Finland’s Best Bakery television series. Homemade ice cream in summer.

This café and cultural centre inside Finland’s largest wooden vicarage combines house-baked pastries with local produce from the Saimaa region. The ornate building with a Swiss-style veranda dates to 1869; the grounds include craft shops, gardens, and a summer pavilion by the lake.

Old apple trees shade the garden around a restored 1700s cottage in the wooden old town of Ekenäs. Four generations of one family bake fruit cakes and savoury pies, tend the grounds, and serve guests. Open seasonally: in summer (Troubadours perform on Tuesdays) and during Advent (with a well-stocked shop).

The 1925 Art Deco building in Töölö houses a roastery with Peruvian roots and a gelato lab that has won multiple national competitions. Head roaster Iván develops both the coffee profiles and the frozen flavors. Try the coffee gelato: it captures both crafts in one scoop.

Glass display cases stacked with layer cakes, berry tarts, and savory pies greet shoppers who venture one block away from the market square. Houkutus (“temptation”) has baked here since 1989; today, three locations serve the city. The Mokkahovi cake is a favorite among locals.

This roadside bakery-café (“kestikievari” means wayside inn) serves cakes, pizzas, and soups to travelers on Highway 4 between Lahti and Jyväskylä. The rustic-style maalaispizzas feature local toppings like moose and vendace. Make sure to leave room for the chocolate cake.

Inside a schoolhouse from 1903 in the historic Mustio ironworks village, Ninni Donner bakes pastries while her husband Rafael grows over 50 vegetable varieties using regenerative methods. The couple’s restoration was featured in a 2023 TV series on rural living. Sit beneath the oaks or in the old classroom.

Parisian-trained chef and Frenchman Marco Kaniecki landed in Tampere for a wedding and never left. His 2023 bakery won the city’s best café title in its first year. The team of 19 prepares croissants, baguettes, and fresh pasta from scratch, all without preservatives. Open with lunch service Tuesday to Saturday.

Vintage sofas and grandmother’s furnishings fill a sunny room on Vaasa’s pedestrian boulevard. Everything is baked in-house, with strong gluten-free, keto, and vegan options; iced lattes arrive in wine glasses. Wine and beer licences make this a popular stop for afternoon aperitivo.

Antique furniture, floral curtains, and old jazz records set the mood inside this townhouse café by the market square. Kahvila Kaneli bakes savoury pies and layer cakes. The pecan chocolate pie and apple tart cause queues on weekends. Look for notes from guests hidden in the dresser drawers.

Beneath century-old chestnut trees, a small cottage on the Krämars organic farm offers a rural retreat an hour from Helsinki. The homestead dates to the 1700s, and the café honours that heritage with old-fashioned service and house-baked treats. Open during the warm months only.

Board games, a small library, and summer concerts give this courtyard café in a century-old building a philosophical touch. The kitchen is fully vegan and gluten-free; signature waffles come sweet or savory. Arkikulta means “everyday gold,” a nod to the small pleasures. Open seasonally.

Through a glass wall, visitors watch chocolate being tempered and molded. Chef Peter Westerlund founded this workshop in 2005; bean-to-bar production followed a decade later. Espresso pairs with truffles and hot chocolate in local flavors like tar, licorice, and sea buckthorn.

Inside a busy shopping mall, the scent of freshly roasted coffee offers a break from the retail rush. Andre Sild and Perko Fagerberg started Espoo’s first micro-roastery in 2022 and won a national roasting competition months later. The house blend balances toffee and citrus notes.

A seasonal café since 2012, serving Finnish-style crêpes (lettu) and coffee from a local micro-roaster. The pink villa from the late 19th century sits on Sulosaari island, a short walk from the medieval castle and the opera house. Open daily from late May through mid-August.

Located in a forest near the northern tip of the Porkkala Peninsula, this summer spot serves filter coffee with house-baked pastries and savory pancakes. Warm doughnuts (munkki) with blueberry jam are a favorite. Open Tuesday to Sunday from late spring through early autumn.