Mariahilf: the shopping mile and the calm behind it
The great pedestrian street, then the quiet café streets and a flak tower full of fish. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Mariahilfer Straße (lower end)
Start where the U2 meets the street. The lower stretch is now part-pedestrian — walk the middle of the road, which is the whole point of what they changed here.

2. Mariahilfer Kirche
The baroque parish church the street is named for, set back behind a small forecourt. Step in off the shopping noise; the contrast is the reason to bother.

3. Gumpendorfer Straße & Café Jelinek
Drop a block south into the calm *Grätzl* (a small neighbourhood). *Café Jelinek* is the unrenovated *Kaffeehaus* (a Viennese coffee house) — worn, warm, exactly right. Sit; don't rush the coffee.

4. Haus des Meeres
A WWII flak tower turned aquarium, ten storeys of raw concrete you can't miss on the skyline. Go up for the rooftop view even if the fish aren't your thing.

5. Raimund Theater
The 1893 theatre on *Wallgasse*, a musical house for over a century. Worth the small detour for the facade alone before the last push west.

6. Westbahnhof (U3/U6)
The top of the mile and the end of the walk. The station building is the landing; U3 or U6 takes you on from here.

Mariahilf: the shopping mile and the calm behind it