Wieden is the fourth district, and its design corner — the Freihausviertel — is where Vienna keeps its small galleries and independent shops. This walk threads them, then arrives at the Karlskirche the right way: from the back, where the crowd isn't.
Start at Kettenbrückengasse and walk the southern, Wieden edge of the Naschmarkt (market) — the calmer end, the stalls locals use. Turn into Schleifmühlgasse, the gallery street: contemporary spaces, design shops, the kind of Grätzl (a small neighbourhood) that rewards a slow look in every window. Carry on to where Margaretenstraße begins, then cut back via the Paulanerkirche for a quiet two minutes off the main road.
The landing is the Karlskirche. Don't approach it head-on with everyone else — come through the TU Wien courtyard and across the Resselpark pool, so the green dome and the two carved columns rise in front of you with no crowd in the frame. Karlsplatz station is right there when you've looked your fill.
