Neubau (7th district)

The 7th district (Neubau) is where Vienna feels youngest. The MuseumsQuartier (MQ) marks the border with the city center and is a whole complex, not a single museum: in good weather, half of Vienna sits in its courtyard on the colorful “Enzis” (the MQ's oversized lounge furniture), no ticket needed.

The MQ is home to the mumok, with modern and contemporary art in its dark basalt cube, and the ZOOM Children's Museum, which you should definitely reserve in advance. Right next door is the Volkstheater, one of the country's major drama theaters.

Behind the big institutions, the real Neubau begins: the lanes around Spittelberg, small shops, bars and restaurants, hardly any through traffic. If you don't want to move on right after a museum visit, this is the place to wind down.

Neubau also has the highest density of small shops in Vienna. Around Neubaugasse and Kirchengasse, concept stores, record shops, secondhand stores and bookstores line up – a counterpoint to Mariahilfer Straße right next door. For an afternoon without a fixed plan, this is the district where you can go least wrong in Vienna.

Getting there: U2 and U3 (Volkstheater), U3 (Neubaugasse), tram 49.