Coffee shops come in many shapes and sizes: urbane and cozy, large and small, new and old. But any coffee shop can be a good place to relax, discover flavours you never knew you enjoyed, and spend the evening. Associated with warm lighting, good music, and shelter from the rain, there's enough reason to look for coffee shops that you might be surprised by how easy it is to overlook them. This article discusses ways to find them.
There's an obvious first choice for coffee shops near wherever you happen to live: chain coffee shops. If a local coffee shop has not opened, and you live in a small town, a franchise probably has, or will soon. While you're probably also aware of it, in this case, it's worth double-checking to see if there's an easy to reach place to buy, and drink, coffee.
Google Maps has become popular throughout the world for GPS-style navigation, as well as for finding businesses. However, in the case of coffee shops where some may not have a Google Businesses page, let alone a web page, Google Maps is an imperfect solution. Most of the time, a given coffee shop will be mentioned at least once online (such as on Yelp), but this is not always the case.
Looking for coffee shops near you is a good rationale for taking walks, within reason. Since this is as good for you as finding time to relax, it's worth exploring your neighbourhood for a local coffee shop that might not otherwise attract many customers.
You might even find one at a shopping centre, with or without its own seating. Such coffee shops might appeal to those of us who enjoy the ambience of people rather than music - or those who have noise-cancelling headphones.
This article's title is "finding coffee shops near me". That in mind, this next suggestion can seem odd: a lot of smaller coffee shops can be found on the edges of a town, and the best coffee in a county might be hard to reach. When you want to find a coffee shop, it's worth seeing what you can easily get to with the help of the bus, train, or tram as appropriate.
Not every place that sells coffee is a coffee shop, but some are similar. High-class restaurants, or inspired local places to eat, might also offer fine-blend coffee. A department store or a book store may be attached to a chain coffee shop. When all else fails, it's eminently possible to replicate the coffee shop experience with somewhere that's close.
Depending on where you live, finding anything nearby might be difficult. But with the tips discussed in this article, you're not likely to ever think, "I can't find any coffee shops near me". Other businesses might be easier to find keeping them in mind, too, such as speciality stores - but if you read this article, it's probably good coffee that you want. So, go out and have some!