The best cafés in Camden

Whether you want fresh bread to take home, a celebration cake, or a pitstop from shopping, Camden Bakery is a great destination. This long-standing family bakery and café has loaves of bread lining the shelves and units full of elaborate cakes and fresh sandwiches. Pastries and sweet treats are also all available.

Trippy patterns, vivid colours, and lush plants abound at this slice of Antipodean heaven. Part of the Daisy Green Collection, Beany Green is a modern coffee shop in Camden where you can enjoy coffee with classic Australian pastries, sandwiches, and other light bites. The outdoor area, with its loungers and artificial green, is particularly attractive during summer.

Blank Street Coffee's soothing green aesthetic is all over social media, but the stylish visuals are just part of the appeal. This fast-growing coffee chain pours a mean cup of top-notch coffee, with speciality drinks like matcha lattes available as well. The Camden coffee shop is a snug, trendy spot where you can grab a takeaway brew or, if you're lucky, snag one of the few seats.

Located within Camden Garden Centre, Pritchard & Ure is a homely café with views of the centre and a spacious terrace laden with plants for sunnier days. Relax in this cosy space with artisan coffee or tea, or enjoy a meal here. Breakfast and brunch dishes like shakshuka are served all day.

If you're looking for a friendly Camden café, try One Shot Coffee. It's a humble place for enjoying hot drinks and treats like cakes or pastries, with breakfast and lunch available as well. The menu includes light breakfasts such as scrambled eggs or tofu on toast, plus toasties and healthy bowls. Thanks to the early opening hours, the fresh coffee will be ready and waiting by the time you roll up.

Set into railway arches, The Fields Beneath is a cool spot for coffee and vegan cuisine. It has a charming look with exposed brickwork and a tiled counter. Wine is served and wine tasting events take place here too, but it's coffee where the team's true passions lie. The simple food menu includes pastries, cake, and a daily hot dish.

Think+ stands out because it's more than simply a café in Camden. On-site you'll also find a single-chair hair salon and a tattoo and piercing studio. The non-profit café's design is modern with distinctive lighting. The menu includes artisan coffee, house-made cakes and pastries, and breakfast and lunch dishes like burritos.

Enter My Village Hawraman Café and you'll find an eye-catching space where you can relax with a hot drink and some cake or enjoy a heftier Mediterranean meal. The entire menu at this Camden café is vegetarian, with plenty of vegan dishes too. There's a friendly and welcoming atmosphere here, with a peaceful garden terrace for a calming break from Camden's busy crowds.

Beginning life as a van serving coffee and crêpes, The Little One Coffee Shop now has a permanent base in Camden. Tucked into a corner between two buildings, it's a small and intimate place that nonetheless often attracts a crowd. Coffee is roasted on-site and the team bake their own muffins. You can also buy coffee beans and muffin mixes.

The focus is on cocktails, coffee, and brunch at Ripe Kitchen. This independent and family-run café in Camden does nutritious food in a comfortable environment with indoor and outdoor tables. Gourmet tea and coffee are served, and food is available for breakfast, brunch, and lunch – think breakfast baguettes or smoked salmon with scrambled eggs.

The Camden branch of Doppio Coffee Warehouse is a spacious espresso bar where you can sit on a pavement bench and enjoy an expertly poured cup of the good stuff as you watch the world go by. If you're into homebrewing, you can also purchase Doppio's coffee-making supplies or even undergo barista training. Repair work for the brand's equipment is also available here.

Head to Caffe 43 for a typical café experience in a timeless setting. The service here is friendly, and the food and drinks are available to have in or take away. As well as hot and cold drinks, alcoholic drinks are served, with a full food menu comprising cooked breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, omelettes, and more available too.

The Coffee Tree brings Australian and Italian coffee cultures together to create a unique experience. The hip Camden café prides itself on its gourmet coffee, with snacks like pastries and bakes going nicely with them. A more substantial food menu of sandwiches, wraps, and paninis is offered as well. You can sit at the window counter to do a spot of people-watching through the floor-to-ceiling windows as you sip your coffee.

The Coffee Jar is a cosy Camden café that's been around for more than a decade. Artisan coffee is available here and the cakes are baked in-house. Sandwiches with filling like chorizo, feta, and tomato, ham and cheese with salad, or chicken escalope are on the menu at lunchtime – have them toasted for some extra melty goodness.

At Fabler Bakery you can try classic bakery and café recipes in a bustling setting. This family-run café in Camden uses seasonal local ingredients for its menu, which ranges from full English breakfasts to salads, freshly-prepared sandwiches, and more. A varied range of hot drinks is served here, from a simple black coffee to a spirulina latte.

Quirky café Lumi has a bright and contemporary interior with bare brickwork. Food and drinks are available here, including fruity smoothies and a small choice of alcoholic drinks. Menu options feature the likes of fried breakfasts, scrambled eggs, chicken and waffles, burgers, and wraps, and meals for children are served here as well.

Glass Coffee uses technology so that customers can trace the origins of the beans in their cup – hence the “transparent” name. This compact coffee shop is part of Boxpark Camden, housed in a converted shipping container that's painted blue. Get a takeaway coffee, discover its origins, and enjoy it as you wander around the market.