Simmering (11th district)

The 11th district (Simmering) lies in the southeast and has historically been an industrial district. Two places make it interesting for visitors, and both are unusual.

The Funeral Museum at the Vienna Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof) is one of the most revealing museums in the city. It explains the Viennese relationship with death – the “schöne Leich” (the elaborate, dignified funeral), the coffin trumpet to guard against being buried alive, the ornate hearses. That sounds morbid and is actually entertaining. The Central Cemetery itself, with its graves of honor, is a city of its own.

The Gasometers are four former gas holders from the 19th century that were converted into apartments, shops and an event hall in the 1990s – one of the best-known conversion projects in Europe.

The district also has a surprisingly green side: the Simmeringer Haide and the land along the Danube Canal are among the largest contiguous vegetable-growing areas within a major European city. A good share of what is sold as local produce at the Naschmarkt grows here. If you ride tram 71 out of town, you'll see the city give way to fields within a few minutes.

Getting there: U3 (Gasometer, Simmering), trams 6 and 71 to the Central Cemetery.