13 Best Sights in District 5/Margareten, Vienna

The MQ—as many call it—is a sprawling collection of galleries housed in what was once the Imperial Court Stables, the 260-year-old Baroque complex designed by Fischer von Erlach. Where once 900 cavalry horses were housed, now thousands of masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries are exhibited, all in a complex that is architecturally an expert and subtle blending of historic and cutting-edge: the original structure (adorned with pastry-white stuccoed ceilings and Rococo flourishes) was retained, while ultramodern wings were added to house five museums, most of which showcase modern art at its best.

The Architekturzentrum, Kunsthalle, Leopold Museum, mumok (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig), and ZOOM Kindermuseum are all part of the MuseumsQuartier complex. In addition, the Quartier21 showcases up-and-coming artists and musicians in the huge Fischer von Erlach Wing facing the Museumsplatz. Lovers of modern art will find it easy to spend at least an entire day at MuseumsQuartier, and with several cafés, a lovely inner courtyard perfect for lounging and people-watching, restaurants, gift shops, and bookstores, you won't even need to venture outside.

Besides the permanent show of Austrian architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries, an Encyclopaedia of Architects featuring more than 1000 master builders, urban planners, and theorists who did work in Vienna from 1770 to 1945 and an impressive image archive of photographs tracing Austrian architecture from 1980 to 2005, the center holds major exhibitions presenting the breadth of architecture history and visions of what is to come.

Close to the Naschmarkt, this shrine for film-noir aficionados offers an extensive private collection of memorabilia dedicated to the classic film, The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed and shot entirely on location in Vienna. Authentic exhibits include cinema programs, autographed cards, movie and sound recordings, and first editions of Graham Greene's novel, which was the basis of the screenplay. Also here is the original zither used by Anton Karas to record the film's music, which started a zither boom in the '50s. In the reading corner, you can browse through historic newspaper articles about the film. Note that the museum is only open on Saturday, from 2 to 6.

In the days of the Hapsburg Empire, palaces remained practically empty if the ruling family was not in residence. Cavalcades laden with enough furniture to fill a palace would set out in anticipation of a change of scene, while another caravan accompanied the royal party, carrying everything from traveling thrones to velvet-lined portable toilets. Much of this furniture is on display here, allowing a glimpse into everyday court life. The upper floors contain re-created rooms from the Biedermeier to the Jugendstil periods, and document the tradition of furniture making in Vienna. Explanations are in German and English.

The gigantic rooms here are used for temporary exhibitions of avant-garde art, including photography, video, film, and new-media projects. The museum prides itself on finding artists who break down the borders between art genres and explore the connection between art and social change.

Filled with pieces amassed by Rudolf and Elizabeth Leopold, the Leopold contains one of the world's greatest collections of Austrian painter Egon Schiele, as well as impressive works by Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. Other artists worth noting are Josef Dobrowsky, Anton Faistauer, and Richard Gerstl. Center stage is held by Schiele (1890–1918), who died young, along with his wife and young baby, in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. His colorful, appealing landscapes are here, but all eyes are invariably drawn to the artist's tortured depictions of nude mistresses, orgiastic self-portraits, and provocatively sexual couples, all elbows and organs.

In a sleek edifice constructed of dark stone, the Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (mumok) houses the national collection of 20th-century art. Spread over eight floors, the collection is largely a bequest of Peter Ludwig, a billionaire industrialist who collected top-notch modern art. The top works here are of the American pop-art school, but all the trends of the last century, from Nouveau Réalisme to Viennese Actionism, vie for your attention. Names include René Magritte, Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly, and Nam June Paik, to name a few.

The area between Linke and Rechte Wienzeile is home to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest and most famous outdoor produce market. It's certainly one of Europe's great open-air markets, where packed rows of polished and stacked fruits and vegetables compete for visual appeal against stacks fragrant spices, redolent of Asia or the Middle East. Come for the atmosphere and the exotic prices, but note that the prices for meats, fruits, vegetables and cheeses here tend to be higher than other places in the city. Wine stores and gourmet food shops round out the offerings. In winter, many stalls shorten their hours. On Saturday, a lively flea market takes place at the tail end of the market. Be sure you get the correct change and watch the scales when your goods are weighed.

The palatial 19th-century museum, twin of the celebrated Kunsthistorisches Museum, is the home of the Venus of Willendorf, a tiny statuette (actually, a replica—the original is in a vault) thought to be some 20,000 years old. This symbol of the Stone Age was originally unearthed in the Wachau Valley, not far from Melk. The reconstructed dinosaur skeletons draw the most attention, especially among kids. Also not to be missed is the Meteorite Room, which holds the largest and oldest collection of meteorites on the planet. A 3-D simulator allows you to stage a powerful meteor strike. The digital planetarium, with its state-of-the-art Fulldome technology, offers shows several times a day on biology, astronomy, prehistory, and the deep sea.

The apartment houses that line the Wienzeile are an attractive, if rather ordinary, lot, but two stand out: Linke Wienzeile 38 and 40—the latter better known as the "Majolica House"—designed (1898–1899) by the grand old man of Viennese fin-de-siècle architecture, Otto Wagner. A good example of what Wagner was rebelling against can be seen next door, at Linke Wienzeile 42, where decorative enthusiasm has blossomed into Baroque-revival hysteria. Wagner banished classical decoration and introduced a new architectural simplicity, with flat exterior walls and plain, regular window treatments meant to reflect the orderly layout of the apartments behind them. There the simplicity ended. For exterior decoration, he turned to his younger Secessionist cohorts Joseph Olbrich and Koloman Moser, who designed the ornate Jugendstil patterns of red-majolica-tile roses (No. 40) and gold stucco medallions (No. 38) that gloriously brighten the facades of the adjacent house—so much so that their Baroque-period neighbor is ignored. The houses are privately owned.

If the Academy of Fine Arts represents the conservative attitude toward the arts in the late 1800s, then its antithesis can be found in the building immediately behind it to the southeast: the Secession Pavilion, one of Vienna's preeminent symbols of artistic rebellion. Rather than looking to the architecture of the past, like the revivalist Ringstrasse, it looked to a new antihistoricist future. In its heyday, it was a riveting trumpet-blast of a building and is today considered by many to be Europe's first example of full-blown 20th-century architecture.

The Secession began in 1897, when 20 dissatisfied Viennese artists, headed by Gustav Klimt, "seceded" from the Künstlerhausgenossenschaft, the conservative artists' society associated with the Academy of Fine Arts. The movement promoted the radically new kind of art known as Jugendstil, which found its inspiration in both the organic, fluid designs of Art Nouveau and the related but more geometric designs of the English Arts and Crafts movement. The Secession building, designed by the architect Joseph Olbrich and completed in 1898, was the movement's exhibition hall. The lower story, crowned by the entrance motto Der Zeit Ihre Kunst, Der Kunst Ihre Freiheit ("To Every Age Its Art, To Art Its Freedom"), is classic Jugendstil: the restrained but assured decoration (by Koloman Moser) complements the facade's pristine flat expanses of cream-color wall. Above the entrance motto sits the building's most famous feature, the gilded openwork dome that the Viennese were quick to christen "the golden cabbage" (Olbrich wanted it to be seen as a dome of laurel, a subtle classical reference meant to celebrate the triumph of art). The plain white interior was also revolutionary; its most unusual feature was movable walls, allowing the galleries to be reshaped and redesigned for every show. One early show, in 1902, was a temporary exhibition devoted to art celebrating the genius of Beethoven; Klimt's Beethoven Frieze was painted for the occasion, and the fragments that survived can be admired in the basement. Guided tours are given daily 10 am to 1 pm.

The Spittelberg is like a slice of Old Vienna, a perfectly preserved little enclave that allows you to experience the 18th century by strolling along cobblestone pedestrian streets lined with pretty Baroque town houses. The quarter—one block northwest of Maria-Theresien-Platz off the Burggasse—offers a fair visual idea of the Vienna that existed outside the city walls a century ago. Most buildings have been replaced, but the engaging 18th-century survivors at Burggasse 11 and 13 are adorned with religious and secular decorative sculpture, the latter with a niche statue of St. Joseph, the former with cherubic work-and-play bas-reliefs. Around holidays, particularly Easter and Christmas, the Spittelberg quarter, known for arts and handicrafts, hosts seasonal markets offering unique and interesting wares. Promenaders will also find art galleries and lots of restaurants.

Kids of all ages enjoy this outstanding museum, where they can experience the fine line between the real and virtual worlds, making screenplays come to life by becoming directors, sound technicians, authors, and actors. For the little ones there's an "ocean" where kids and parents enter a play area inhabited by magical underwater creatures. The museum operates like little workshops, with the staff very hands-on and available to the children. You must book your tickets for a specific admission time, so reserve via the website before you go.