Find the central city bustling throughout the week as students, professionals, travellers, young families and retirees come to make the most of the bright, modern and top-quality café scene. There’s no doubting the European twist on a place like Dunedin, as the architecture and town layout point straight to the English folk who visited and decided it was a place worth settling in. But don’t go thinking Dunedin cafes are dated places to settle in with a coffee - instead the influx of youth and energy to the city ensure that any new hospitality joints are fresh, modern and edgy. A place of great fashion and art, don’t be surprised to find Dunedin cafes are home to some enviously cool baristas and huge murals or artworks. 

With no real sense of rush to be anywhere quickly, cafes in Dunedin make for the perfect place to perch up for an hour or two, catch up on emails, read your lecture notes or write a postcard to family back home - but bear in mind the lunch menu starts to look more and more appealing the longer you’re there. While the South Island may be famous for their love of pies and cheese rolls, Dunedin cafes are not ones to be boxed in by expectations (although whatever you do, make sure you try some cheese rolls with soup while you’re there). Instead, they offer plenty of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free varieties of meals, so no one at the table feels left out. The kind of cafes that you can visit once and immediately have as your favourite, we’d encourage you to not settle too soon - there’s always more to look out, drink and eat at Dunedin cafes, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, you’ll spot a sandwich board down a nondescript alleyway and suddenly it’s back to the drawing board.

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