Mariahilf, the 6th district, is built around Mariahilfer Straße — Vienna's busiest shopping street, a long pedestrian-friendly run of department stores, high-street chains and flagship shops stretching out from the Ring toward the Westbahnhof. It is the city's commercial workhorse, busy and unpretentious, and the obvious place to shop when the boutiques of Neubau next door feel too precious.
Away from the main drag the district softens. The Naschmarkt runs along its southern edge, Vienna's great food market spilling into weekend flea stalls. Gumpendorfer Straße has become a strip of characterful cafés and bars, anchored by the wonderfully time-warped Café Jelinek, while side streets hide small theatres and the Theater an der Wien.
Looming over it all is the Haus des Meeres, an aquarium improbably installed in a vast wartime flak tower, with a rooftop terrace that gives one of the best free-ish views over the rooftops of western Vienna.