parklandmarket

Leopoldstadt: the Augarten and the Karmeliterviertel

The oldest baroque garden, two vast flak towers, and the market quarter that came back.

Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3 km

Time

~ 80 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Taborstraße (U2)

End

Taborstraße (U2)

Best at

morning

Right now

22°C· Partly cloudy

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Leopoldstadt has two faces and this walk takes both: the working market quarter and the great baroque garden a few streets north. Three kilometres, best on a Saturday morning when the Karmelitermarkt is full and the Augarten is still cool.

Start at Taborstraße. The Karmelitermarkt is the obvious first move — on Saturdays the farmers' stalls come out and the square's cafés do their best trade; eat breakfast on your feet. Around the Karmeliterkirche is the Karmeliterviertel proper, the heart of Vienna's pre-war Jewish district and now its quiet revival, with small galleries and bookshops folded between the apartment blocks.

Then north to the Augarten. The Porzellanmanufaktur has been making porcelain on the site since 1718; look in before you walk the garden itself — Vienna's oldest, opened to the public in 1775, all long symmetrical avenues. The thing that stops you is the pair of flak towers, two colossal concrete blocks left standing in the green because nothing could bring them down. They're the oh-my-god: baroque order and a hundred-thousand tonnes of war in the same field of view. Loop back to Taborstraße.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 45 m·↓ 50 m·156–174 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Taborstraße
The U2 stop and the spine of the *Karmeliterviertel*. Start here whichever way you do the loop; the market is a few minutes one way, the garden a few minutes the other.
01
Taborstraße
The U2 stop and the spine of the *Karmeliterviertel*. Start here whichever way you do the loop; the market is a few minutes one way, the garden a few minutes the other.
02
2
Karmelitermarkt
On Saturdays the *Markt* (the market) fills out with farmers' stalls and the cafés spill onto the square; midweek it's quieter, mostly the permanent traders. Come for the morning and eat as you go.
02
Karmelitermarkt
On Saturdays the *Markt* (the market) fills out with farmers' stalls and the cafés spill onto the square; midweek it's quieter, mostly the permanent traders. Come for the morning and eat as you go.
03
3
Karmeliterkirche
The Carmelite church that gives the quarter its name, on *Taborstraße*. This was the heart of Vienna's Jewish district before 1938; the area's slow return is the quarter's real story, and the small galleries and bookshops nearby are part of it.
03
Karmeliterkirche
The Carmelite church that gives the quarter its name, on *Taborstraße*. This was the heart of Vienna's Jewish district before 1938; the area's slow return is the quarter's real story, and the small galleries and bookshops nearby are part of it.
04
4
Augarten — the porcelain manufactory
*Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten*, working since 1718, sits inside the park near the upper palace. You can tour the workshop or just look in at the shop; either way it sets the tone for the garden beyond.
04
Augarten — the porcelain manufactory
*Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten*, working since 1718, sits inside the park near the upper palace. You can tour the workshop or just look in at the shop; either way it sets the tone for the garden beyond.
05
5
The Augarten baroque garden
Vienna's oldest baroque garden, laid out symmetrically and thrown open to the public in 1775. Walk the long central avenue; it's the kind of formal green that rewards a slow, aimless morning.
05
The Augarten baroque garden
Vienna's oldest baroque garden, laid out symmetrically and thrown open to the public in 1775. Walk the long central avenue; it's the kind of formal green that rewards a slow, aimless morning.
06
6
The Augarten flak towers
Two of the war's concrete anti-aircraft towers still stand in the park — too solid to demolish, left exactly where they were. They're a jolt against the baroque symmetry; you don't go in, you just stand under them.
06
The Augarten flak towers
Two of the war's concrete anti-aircraft towers still stand in the park — too solid to demolish, left exactly where they were. They're a jolt against the baroque symmetry; you don't go in, you just stand under them.

Leopoldstadt: the Augarten and the Karmeliterviertel

On the map.

Things to notice.

Taborstraße

Taborstraße

Karmelitermarkt

Karmelitermarkt

Karmeliterkirche

Karmeliterkirche

Augarten — the porcelain manufactory

Augarten — the porcelain manufactory

The Augarten baroque garden

The Augarten baroque garden

The Augarten flak towers

The Augarten flak towers

Two more, on similar days.

The Prater: the giant wheel and the long avenue

Landstraße: Hundertwasser and the Stadtpark