Best Cat Cafés In Europe: Feline Favorites From Paris And London To Budapest

A fast search for "cat cafés" on the Internet shows that the once-bizarre trend of elevating domestic felines into a principal draw for cafes and bars is going mainstream - and just keeps growing.

These establishments are, in fact, flourishing all over the world.
The idea is to have tea, coffee or a complete meal while stroking one or more of the many cats that roam free at the establishment.
Along with the cat-cafés, which are the most prominent, the trend includes other animals as the central attraction of bars, hotels and restaurants worldwide. One of the most exotic and publicized is a popular hotel in Kenya that features giraffes sharing their customers’ breakfast, sliding their long necks through the windows of the dining room.
In London, customers can make a toast with owls at a pop-up bar in Soho that includes six owls supplied by professional falconers and trained to be comfortable around people.

A café at the botanical garden in London offers micro-pigs, which are highly popular, for two hours during lunch time.

You can also take tea surrounded by rabbits, or have a cappuccino while cuddling a hedgehog

The cat café concept began in Taiwan - scene of the first, in 1998 - and became so popular with Japanese tourists that the idea was exported to Japan, where the famous neko cafés mushroomed. The country now boasts dozens. Their proliferation is attributed to the fact that many people live in small apartments where pets are forbidden.
The cat cafés become a means to relieve the stress of urban life.

Expanding from cats to various animal-themed cafés, hotels and bars, was a logical step. Now the menagerie of cafés and restaurants inspired by animals includes, among others, snakes, penguins, parrots, other tropical birds, goats, ferrets, chameleons and turtles - so many that animal advocates warn the craze is not a plus for wildlife.

But cat cafés are undoubtedly the most ubiquitous, likely a reflection of the immense popularity of anything related to cats and cat-lovers on the Internet. Consider that there exist “catfluencers” with social media followings in the multiple hundreds of thousands.

Cats have, in fact, been unofficially declared the Internet mascot.

From Japan, the phenomenon spread across the globe, including in a number of European countries. Many attribute its growth to tourists, particularly among families traveling with children.

“We knew that cat cafés were a thing, but we didn’t know they were this much of a thing,” writes InStyle UK, which has created a map of the best cat cafés around the world.

It seems that there are also therapeutic reasons to go to cat cafés if you believe the explanation in an article under the headline "Purr Therapy" in Bonjour Paris:

“It refers to the therapeutic effects resulting from the purring of a cat. When a person strokes or pets it, a cat most often elicits a purr, the vibrations of which fall within a range of about 40-120 Hertz. These low-frequency vibrations have been linked to impressive health benefits including lowering blood pressure; promoting bone strength; healing muscles, tendons and ligament injuries and providing stress relief.”
There are different models of cat cafés. Many are linked to cat shelters and other animal charities that care for abandoned pets, and in some cases customers can adopt the cats. Some cafés charge an entrance fee, although most do not. Often, on their way out patrons are offered a souvenir of their time among the felines.

Cats and other animal cafés must adhere to strict sanitary and welfare rules, including time limits on contact with humans, banning photos with flash, frequent breaks, regular veterinary checks and complete separation between the cats and the cooking area.

For cat-loving travelers of all ages, here's a list of some popular cat cafés and bars around Europe:

In France:

Café des Chats in Paris, a tea room and restaurant with housecats adopted from animal shelters. It opened in 2013, first in Le Marais neighborhood and since moved to La Bastille. “Our cats have been chosen for their sociable character with other cats and with people,” the café’s website informs.

Le Chamourai in Lyon, styled on the Japanese neko cafés, offers ice cream, chocolate and brunch on Saturday and Sundays.

Also in Lyon, the tea room Au Bonheur des Chats will open in September with a vegetarian menu and cats that can be adopted through a charity.

As well for adoption are the cats at the ‘Ronron Café’ in Reims, and at the Cat and Cake and  Chatperlipopette in Strasbourg.
Bio products, along with shelter cats, are on offer at Au Chat Voir Vivre in Lille and at Le Chat l’Heureux in Nantes.

In Nice La Ronronnerie offers bagels, pastries and cats from exceptional breeds.

In London, there's the famous Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, named after the cat in Alice in Wonderland, offering tea in the most English style and, among other novelties, first-aid-for-pet courses and cat yoga sessions.

London Cat Village invites visitors to replace their shoes with slippers, charges £5 per hour with food and drinks billed separately.

Scotland offers the Maison de Mogi in Edinburgh, while northern England's Newcastle has the Mog on the Tyne.

As for the rest of Europe:

Café Neko in Vienna Austria, was the continent's first cat café. Cafe Miao in Copenhagen serves its food shaped like cats. Others: Le Chat Touille in Brussels, Crazy Cat Café in Milan, Kissakhvila Helkatti in Helsinki, Café Katzentempel in Munich, Kopjes Kattencafe in Amsterdam and Cat Café in Budapest.
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Source : https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/08/05/best-cat-cafes-in-europe-feline-favorites-from-paris-and-london-to-budapest/#280e133f7b57