Charlie's Coffee & Company

Head down London Road towards the station and you'll find yourself in one of St Albans' most reliably excellent coffee spots. Charlie's does that increasingly rare thing: it takes its coffee seriously without being insufferable about it. The kind of place where regulars genuinely seem happy to be there, where the staff know their stuff, and where you can tell they're fussed about sourcing decent beans and pulling consistent shots. It's the sort of café that makes you want to linger over a cappuccino and a pastry, whether you're catching up with a friend or settling in with a laptop for a couple of hours.