Vienna Districts – Plan Your Route Vienna

For a well-planned trip to Vienna, it helps to know a bit about its neighbourhoods and where to stay in Vienna. Each has its own character, and its own attractions, which will appeal to different visitors. Although there are far too many to provide a comprehensive guide, below you can find out more about the key districts in the Austrian capital, and what you can expect to find there.

The capital has a total of 23 districts that roughly spiral out from the centre. The central group of districts are where many of the famous tourist spots are, and they’re numbered from 1 to 9. Almost all of these lie within the Gürtel (Belt Road).

Vienna District Map

Vienna District 1, Innere Stadt

For years, this area was Vienna, but now it’s known as the first district. The large number of historic buildings has received recognition from UNESCO’s in its inclusion on their World Heritage List. St. Stephen’s cathedral is the literal centre of Vienna, and from here you can walk around or get a tour in a horse-drawn carriage to see the sights.

Things to see

• Hofburg Palace,
• the State Opera House,
• Rathaus (City Hall),
• the Austrian Parliament,
• the Burgtheater,
• the Natural History Museum,
• the Museum of Art History.

Places to shop: Kärnterstrasse and Graben

Places to eat: Figlmüller (for their famous schnitzel), Café Central (a traditional coffee house), and the two most famous places to eat sachertorte, Café Sacher and Demel.

Vienna District 2, Leopoldstadt

Found between the Danube and the Danube Canal, Vienna’s second district is dominated by the Prater, an enormous park. Here you can enjoy long walks and bicycle rides, eat at the restaurant or visit the planetarium or Madame Tussaud’s. There’s also an amusement park, which contains the iconic Riesenrad Ferris Wheel, a long-standing symbol of the city. In winter, the Prater is host to a market with live music, hot punch and delicious food.

Things to see

• Karmeliterviertel,
• a former Jewish ghetto which now contains many synagogues and kosher bakeries;
• and Augarten, which contains a flak tower from WW2.

Vienna District 3, Landstraße

This area is often one of the first that foreign visitors will see, as it connects by rail to Vienna International Airport.

Things to see:

• the Botanical Garden, which is next to the Belvedere Palace;
• the Soviet Memorial at Schwarzenbergplatz

Places to shop

• Landerstraßer Haupstraße

Vienna District 4, Wieden

Wieden is a very trendy part of Vienna, boasting chic stores, cafes, and art galleries.

Things to see

• Vienna’s miniature Chinatown
• Belvedere Palace

Places to shop

• Freihausviertel,
• south of Naschmarkt

Vienna District 5, Margareten

Although lacking in tourist sights, there’s some beautiful architecture in the Art Noveau style (that Austrians call Jugendstil).

Vienna District 6, Mariahilf

Places to shop

• Naschmarkt,
• Mariahilferstraße

Nightlife

There are many gay-friendly bars in the area north of Naschmarkt

Vienna District 7, Neubau

The location of Westbahnhof, the Western Railway Station, Neubau borders Mariahilf via Mariahilferstraße. It combines hip with history; you can find gorgeous boutiques, eclectic street art and multiple museums here.

Things to see

• MuseumsQuartier (known as MQ by the locals)

Places to eat

• Café Leopold, especially the breakfasts

Vienna District 8, Josefstadt

This is the capital’s smallest district, a mostly residential area where you can see a large number of former palaces from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Nightlife

The red-light district used to be found near this area, but it’s now a popular spot to spend a night out, featuring a high concentration of clubs and bars

Vienna District 9, Alsergrund

This affluent district is home to the main parts of the University of Vienna, and many businesses.

Things to see

• the Sigmund Freud Museum, his former flat and workspace

Places to eat

• Café Weimar, a traditional coffee house with fewer crowds

Other places of note:

Vienna District 10, Favoriten

Here you can find the city’s thermal spa and the new train station

Vienna District 11, Simmering

Also known as the “Industrial District,” Simmering is the 11^th district located in southeast Vienna. It borders the Danube Channel on the southeast and the wooded area of Simmeringer Haide on the northwest.

An interesting attractions in Simmering include its popular landmark, the Gasometers, four industrial gas tanks that were used to supply the country with gas from 1899 to 1984.

Things to see

• A unique architecture – the Hundertwasser House.
• Schloss Neugebaude
• Schloss Concordia
• Schloss Thurnholf.

Vienna District 12, Meidling

Meidling is the 12th district of the capital city of Austria. It is situated in the southwest part of Vienna, a stone’s throw away from one of the city’s popular attractions, the Schloss Schonbrunn and on the southern banks of the Vienna River.

Things to see

• The neo-Romanesque Hetzendorfer Kirche
• The Altmannsdorfer Church
• The Schloss Hetzendorf

Parks

• the Haydn Park
• the Wilhelmsdorf Park
• the Theresianbadpark

Vienna District 13, Hietzing

Approximately three-quarters of this district is classified as greenspace. It’s the location of Schönbrunn Palace, park and zoo; Lainzer Tiergarten, a nature reserve which was formerly the Emperor’s private hunting grounds; and Hietzinger Cemetery (Hietzinger Friedhof), where the graves of many famous Viennese lie, such as Franz Grillparzer, Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner. Cafés Dommayer and Gloriette are worth a visit.

Vienna District 16, Ottakring

Ottakring is the 16th district of Vienna, a traditional working-class district located in the western area, bordering Hernals to the north and Penzing to the south. Named as a district in 1892, it is made up of two villages: Ottakring and Neulerchenfeld.

Diversity is a running theme in Ottakring – whilst the district has a lot of residential and industrial buildings, its surrounding environment calls up to mind a scenic rural landscape with the forests and hills of Wienerwald and Gallitzinberg.

Things to see:

• the Schloss Wilhelminenberg at the foot of Gallitzinberg
• the Kuffner Observatory which houses telescopes
• the 10er Marie which is a traditional wine tavern (Heuriger)

For those who can’t get enough of shopping, there is the Brunnenmarkt.

Vienna District 17, Hernals

Situated in northwest Vienna along the canals of the Als River is the 17th district of Vienna, Hernals. Considered as one of the greenest districts of the city (about 60% of its land area is made up of farms, parks, forests and meadows), it is comprised of Hernals, Dornbach and Neuwaldegg.

It has one big museum, the Hernals District Museum where visitors can also learn about two of its most popular local inhabitants, folk song composers Johann and Josef Schrammel.

The parks

• the Schwarzenberpark in Neuwaldegg
• the Josef-Kaderka-Park
• Alexander-Lernet-Holenia Park in Dornbach

Historical architecture

• the palace of Schloss Neuwaldegg
• the Kalvarienbergekirche (Calvary Mount Church)

Vienna District 18, Wahring

Wahring is the 18th district of Vienna, an area in the northwestern side that is generally known for its “up-market” residential homes and for its scenic parks. 

It is known for its many sequoia trees as well as other exotic plants. As it is on an elevated area, the park also offers a panoramic view of the city. Nearby is the famous Geymuller Schlossel which is being used as an outpost of the Museum for Applied Arts. 

Things to see

•  the Schubert Park
• the Turkenschanzpark
• the Universitat fur Bodenkultur (BOKU) which specializes on agricultural sciences and forestry.

Vienna District 19, Döbling

One of the outer western districts which stretch out towards the Wienerwald, a former imperial hunting ground. Its oldest neighbourhood, Grinzing, is famous for its Heurige wine taverns.

Vienna District 20, Brigittenau

Brigittenau borders Leopoldstadt in the south, the Donauinsel in the northwest and the left bank of the Danube Canal in the east. It has the distinction of being the home station of The Emperor Ferdinande-Nordbahn, the first steam train of Austria.

Churches and Museum

• the Sankt Johann Kapistran-Kirche
• the Brigitta Chapel and Church
• the Kirche Zum Gottlichen Erloser
• the Allerheiligenkirche
• the District Museum

Vienna District 21, Floridsdorf

If you are in Vienna and in search of traditional heurigens (wine taverns) and do not mind being away from the city centre then head out to Floridsdorf in the northwest. It is the 21st district of the capital city, bordered by the Danube River on the southwest.

Places to visit

• the Church Pfarrkirche Queen Mary
• the District Museum
• Countess Anna-Maria Erdody museum

Vienna District 22, Donaustadt

Land use is a mixture of suburban and rural; places to visit are the United Nations Headquarters and the Danube Tower (Donauturm).

A little bit of knowledge about the city goes a long way to creating a vacation that’s perfect for you. But wherever you are in Vienna, there’s always plenty to see and do.