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Guide · Printable
The cafe hopping checklist, ready to print.
Our cafe hopping guide explains the day out. This page is the paper version of it: what to pack, a route sheet to fill in, a scorecard for every café, things to order, and a bingo card for the moments that make the day.
Free on iPhone and Android. No account, and it works with no signal.
In short
A cafe hopping checklist covers four things: what to bring, the route (cafés in order, with closing times), what to order at each stop, and how to remember which café was best. This printable has 60+ boxes to tick, a four-stop route sheet and a scorecard to fill in as you go.
Checked
How to use it
One sheet per day out.
- Print the night before.Portrait, background graphics off. Fill in the route sheet at home while you can still check closing times.
- Tick as you pack.Group 1 is everything worth having in your bag.
- Score each café before you leave it.One minute at the table beats trying to remember four cafés on the train home.
- Play the bingo.It gives a slow day a few little missions, and a reason to look up from your phone.
Group 1
Pack the bag.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | Phone charged to 100% |
| ☐ | Power bank and a short cable |
| ☐ | A book, sketchbook or journal for the sit-down stop |
| ☐ | A pen that works |
| ☐ | A tote for the beans or loaf you will buy |
| ☐ | Reusable cup, if you will take one to go |
| ☐ | A card and a little cash — some stalls are one or the other |
| ☐ | Water bottle |
| ☐ | A light layer: café air-con is unpredictable |
| ☐ | Someone to halve every pastry with |
Group 2
Plan the route.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | Pick one neighbourhood |
| ☐ | Choose three or four cafés, plus one backup |
| ☐ | Check each café’s closing time and day off |
| ☐ | Put the earliest-closing café first |
| ☐ | Map a walking loop, about ten minutes between stops |
| ☐ | Give each café a job: coffee, pastry, lunch, sit and read |
| ☐ | Plan one stop without coffee |
| ☐ | Leave an hour unplanned for the café you walk past |
Fill in
The route sheet.
| Stop | Café | Closes | Its job | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ____________________ | ______ | __________ | ____________________ |
| 2 | ____________________ | ______ | __________ | ____________________ |
| 3 | ____________________ | ______ | __________ | ____________________ |
| 4 | ____________________ | ______ | __________ | ____________________ |
Group 3
At every café.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | Water before the coffee |
| ☐ | Ask what the barista would order |
| ☐ | Ask for a smaller size or a single shot |
| ☐ | One pastry between two |
| ☐ | Photograph the cup before the first sip |
| ☐ | Find the best seat and sit in it for ten minutes |
| ☐ | Note one thing the next café should copy |
| ☐ | Score it before you leave (scorecard below) |
Fill in
The café scorecard.
Circle a number from 1 to 5 for each café. The last row settles the argument on the way home.
| Café 1 | Café 2 | Café 3 | Café 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The drink | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| The bake | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| The seat | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| Light and noise | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| The people behind the counter | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| Would come back | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
Group 4
Drinks to try, one per café.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | A filter coffee, brewed by hand |
| ☐ | A flat white |
| ☐ | A cortado or a piccolo |
| ☐ | An espresso, drunk standing at the bar |
| ☐ | Cold brew on a warm afternoon |
| ☐ | An iced latte with a syrup you would never pick |
| ☐ | A dirty chai |
| ☐ | Matcha latte |
| ☐ | Hojicha latte |
| ☐ | A single-origin espresso, side by side with the house one |
| ☐ | Hot chocolate with the good chocolate |
| ☐ | A sparkling coffee or espresso tonic |
| ☐ | Tea in a pot, not a bag in a cup |
| ☐ | Whatever is on the specials board |
Group 5
Bakes to try, one to share.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | A plain croissant — the honest test |
| ☐ | Pain au chocolat |
| ☐ | Cinnamon bun or cardamom knot |
| ☐ | Banana bread with butter |
| ☐ | A cookie as big as your hand |
| ☐ | Basque cheesecake |
| ☐ | A financier or a madeleine |
| ☐ | An egg tart |
| ☐ | A savoury bake: a sausage roll or a cheese scone |
| ☐ | Something with matcha or ube in it |
| ☐ | A croffle |
| ☐ | The bake the café is known for |
Group 6
Café bingo.
| Done | Item |
|---|---|
| ☐ | A café cat or dog |
| ☐ | A record playing |
| ☐ | Latte art that looks like something |
| ☐ | A window seat |
| ☐ | A café with no wifi on purpose |
| ☐ | A queue that was worth it |
| ☐ | A barista who remembers your order by the second stop |
| ☐ | A plant taller than you |
| ☐ | Someone working on a laptop for hours |
| ☐ | A café you found by accident |
Keep it
Let the app keep the scorecard’s memory.
Paper scores the day; PlateDiary keeps it. Snap the cup and the pastry together and each one becomes its own save, filed with the café and the time. Every café gets a place page with your usual order and every visit, the map pins each one you tried, and a collection like “Saturday cafe hop” holds the whole day in one album.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Is there a printable cafe hopping checklist?
Yes — this page prints as a sheet with 60+ boxes: what to pack, how to plan, what to do at each café, drinks and bakes to try, and a café bingo card, plus a route sheet and a scorecard to fill in.
What do you need for a cafe hopping day?
A charged phone and power bank, a book or journal for the sit-down stop, a tote bag, water, a card and a little cash, and a route with each café’s closing time.
How do you plan a cafe hopping route?
Pick one neighbourhood, choose three or four cafés with one backup, put the earliest-closing one first, and keep each walk to about ten minutes.
How do you rate cafés on a cafe hop?
Score each one before you leave — the drink, the bake, the seat, light and noise, the staff, and whether you would come back — so the comparison is fair.
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