Vienna/Outer South

Outer South is in Vienna, and includes the districts of Favoriten (10), Simmering (11), Meidling (12), and Liesing (23).

Understand

Favoriten (10), Simmering (11) and Meidling (12) are traditional worker-oriented districts in the south of Vienna.

Get in

Hauptbahnhof (i.e., the central railway station) is just northeast of this district.

By subway (U-bahn),  U6  goes in the north-south direction through the western part of the Outer South.  U1  goes in the north-south direction through the eastern part.  U4  goes east-west at the northern border of the district.

There are more alternatives if coming by tram. Line O connects Praterstern and the Inner East with the eastern parts of this district. Line 6 brings you in from Neubau and Westbahnhof, and continues as a west-east line through this district. Lines 1 and 62 connect most of the central parts of Vienna to the Outer South.

See

Grave of Johannes Brahms in the Zentralfriedhof

Karl-Borromäus-Kirche in the Zentralfriedhof

Wotrubakirche

Gasometer

• 1 Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), Simmeringer Hauptstrasse 234, Simmering (tram 71 from Schwarzenbergplatz; or U3 to Simmering, then tram 71 or 6), ☏ +43 1 534 69-28405, fax: +43 1 534 69-28410. Nov-Feb: 08:00-17:00; Mar-Apr Sep-Oct: 07:00-18:00; May-Aug: 07:00-19:00. With nearly 3 million graves and covering an area of almost 2.5 km², this is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe. It has an interdominational character, being subdivided into Catholic, Protestant, and two Jewish sections (one of which is still in use); newer divisions include Russian Orthodox, Buddhist, Muslim, and Mormon. The cemetery has served as a giant park for weekend ramblings since its creation in 1874, and though it is some distance from the city centre (25-30 min from Stephansplatz), it is worth the trip. The tram stops are named after the cemetery gate next to it: Zentralfriedhof 1. Tor is the entrance to the old Jewish section; Zentralfriedhof 2. Tor is the main gate. A public bus 106 (€0.60 or regular ticket) runs in the cemetery connecting all of the gates and areas. Free.  
  • Straßenbahnlinie 71 (Streetcar 71). Beginning in 1918 with the outbreak of the Spanish Flu, the tram was used to transport corpses, mostly at night. The practice was halted until the outbreak of World War II, when it resumed with three specially retrofitted streetcars; the practice was finally halted following the close of the war. Still today the Viennese use the euphemistic expression: 'Er hat den 71er genommen' (he took the 71). 
  • 2 Ehrengräber (Graves of honor), Section 32C (near the main road from the church). Graves of famous composers including Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss, and Schönberg are all here, as are the graves of other luminaries. Mozart's gravestone however is just a memorial, as he was buried in a mass grave in St. Marx Cemetery. A list of all Ehrengräber can be downloaded here.  
  • 3 Karl-Borromäus-Kirche (Dr. Karl-Lueger-Gedächtniskirche). After the Kirche am Steinhof (see listing in Vienna/Outer West), this is second-most well-known example of Jugendstil sacral architecture, designed by Max Hegele and built in 1911. In front of the church is the Präsidentengruft (Presidential Crypt), housing the remains of Austrian presidents from the Second Republic (since World War II).  
  • Bestattungsmuseum. In Aufbahrungshalle 2, adjacent to Tor 2. M-F 09:00 - 16:30, also Sa 10:00 - 17:30 in March-October. Standard price €6, concessions and Vienna Card holders €5, under 18 free. The Vienna Funeral Museum is not a tourist trap "chamber of horrors", but an extremely interesting museum of social history, covering the complex etiquette and meanings of the Viennese funeral tradition.
• 4 OstLicht Gallery of Photography (OstLicht Galerie für Fotografie), Absberggasse 27, Favoriten (in the former Ankerbrot Factory), ☏ +43 1 996 20 66, fax: +43 1 996 20 66-66, info@ostlicht.at. Gallery and library: W-Sa 12:00-18:00. Hosts group and solor exhibits of contemporary photography, with an onsite library, bookshop, and bar.  
• 5 Neugebäude Palace (Schloss Neugebäude), Otmar-Brix-Gasse 1, Simmering, ☏ +43 664 5745210 (for guided tours - registration required), kvs@kv-elf.com. This 16th-century palace is said to have been built on the spot where Sultan Süleyman camped during the first Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529. After the 17th century the complex fell into disrepair, with parts reused for other building projects, and after 1945 it was converted to a storage facility and factory. Since the 1970s it has been protected, and some portions of the remaining structures have been restored. Visitors can gain access to the palace during one of the events and festivals frequently hosted here, or alternatively can participate in a regularly-scheduled tour. The palace gardens have been newly redesigned on the original garden beds, and are freely open to the public.  
• 6 Spinnerin am Kreuz (literally: "Spinner at the Cross"), Triester Straße (Favoriten). A 16-m-high stone Gothic column, erected by the Master Michael Knab at the end of the 14th century. According to medieval legend the column was erected in thanks for the safe return of a husband from the crusades. The pillar marked the southern limit of Viennese jurisdiction, and was used as public execution site until well into the 19th century; in 1927 during construction numerous skeletons of the executed were unearthed.  

Architecture

• 7 Wotrubakirche (Wotruba Church), Rysergasse, Liesing (tram 60 to the Maurer Lange Gasse stop; follow Maurer Lange Gasse up the hill until you see the green signs which point the way to the church, about a 10-min walk). Sa 14:00-20:00, Su and holidays 09:00-16:30. This beautiful cubist church on the top of a hill overlooking the woods was designed by noted Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba and completed in 1976 after his death. There is also an open air planetarium next to the church. (updated May 2016)
• 8 Gasometer, Guglgasse 6, Simmering (directly at subway stop U3 Gasometer). To see the combination of new modern with old historic architecture, visit the gasometers that have been revitalized from gas-tanks to new multi-functional buildings. The gasometers are four former gas tanks, built as part of the Vienna municipal gas works Gaswerk Simmering in 1896-1899, and used from 1899 to 1984 as gas storage tanks. After the changeover from town gas to natural gas they were no longer used and were shut down. From 1984-1997 the structures were used as a film location (James Bond: The Living Daylights) and as the location for raves known as Gazometer-Raves. They were revitalized from 1999 to 2001 by the architects Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelblau, Manfred Wehdorn, and Wilhelm Holzbauer. Each gasometer was divided into several zones for living, shopping and entertainment, while conserving the historic outside wall. Other facilities including a music hall, cinema, student accommodation, municipal archive, etc. are located inside the Gasometers. There are special guided tours with experts available for visitors.  

Do

• 1 Bohemian Prater (Böhmischer Prater / Familienprater), Laaer Wald 30c, Simmering (68A from Reumannplatz until Urselbrunnengasse), ☏ +43 1 6899191. Apr-Oct: Sa Su and holidays 08:00-21:00; May-Sep: also on weekdays 09:00-12:00, 14:00-19:00. A small historic amusement park dating back to the second half of the 19th century. Some of the rides are more than 100 years old. There is also a 21-m-high ferris wheel. It is a lovely place to go for a longer walk. There is a BMX dirt circular track, plus a running checkpoint meet.  
• 2 Amalienbad, Reumannplatz 23, Favoriten (U1 Reumannplatz), ☏ +43 1 607 47 47. Entry times vary according to season, check website. The big swimming pool was built between 1923 and 1926 with an interior decoration in Art-Déco style. Expect the pool to be crowded and hence it is hard to swim in straight lines. There are also different kinds of saunas (Finish, vapour, etc.)  
• Football: FK Austria Wien play soccer in the Austrian Bundesliga, the country's top tier. Their home ground is Generali or Viola Arena, capacity 15,000, just east of Altes Landgut U-bahn station.

Buy

• 1 Favoritenstraße, Favoriten (U1 Keplerplatz or Reumannplatz). The pedestrian zone with international clothing store chains as well as lots of cafes and restaurants in the area around Keplerplatz (U1) and becomes an immigrant shopping area after the busy Reumanplatz (U1) station. Adjacent to the street is the big fruits and vegetable market Viktor-Adler-Markt.  
• 2 Gasometer, Guglgasse, Simmering (U3 Gasometer), ☏ +43 1 743 643 0, fax: +43 1 743 643 0 30, office@gasometer.at. Moderate-sized mall in former coal gas brick towers that were no longer needed after the city converted to natural gas. It is unfortunately largely empty. It also houses a megaplex and concert venue. 
• 3 Columbus Center, Kepplerplatz, Favoriten (Kepplerplatz U1), ☏ +43 1 600 67 40, fax: +43 1 615 07 49, office@columbuscenter.at. M-F 09:00-19:00, Sa 09:00-18:00. Small mall. 
• 4 Shopping City Süd, SCS-Straße (WLB to Vösendorf-SCS w/additional ticket needed, or IKEA bus from Oper), ☏ +43 1 699 39 69 0, scs.centermanagement@unibail-rodamco.com. M-W 09:30-19:00, Th 09:30-21:00, F 09:30-19:00, Sa 09:00-18:00. The biggest shopping mall in Europe (by number of visitors) just outside of Vienna, housing a very wide range of stores and brands.  

Eat

Budget

Eismarillenknödel at Tichy

• 1 Purple Eat, Meidlinger Markt 83-88 (U6 Niederhofstraße), office@purplesheep.at. M–Sa 11:00–22:00. The social project integrates people without official working permits. The menu changes daily and is based on local organic food. €4 lunch. 
• 2 Tichy, Reumannplatz 13, Favoriten (U1 Reumannplatz), ☏ +43 1 6044446. Mar-Sep: daily 10:00-23:00; closed in winter. A famous Viennese place for ice cream. Famous for its Eismarillenknödel (small dumplings of vanilla ice cream with an apricot core) and Himbeereisknödel (raspberry core, vanilla ice cream, coating of ground poppy seeds). Get the big ice cream coups with waiter service or take an ice cream cone to go and sit in the park. The café has an atmosphere of the 1970s, as it was widely unchanged since. 

Mid-range

• 3 Gasthaus Stafler, Ehrenfelsgasse 4, Meidling (U4 Meidling), ☏ +43 1 815 62 35, gasthaus@stafler.at. Tu-Sa 10:00-15:00, 17:30-23:00; first Su 10:00-15:00. The tavern serves specialities from southern Tirol including Trentiner Salsicce, Südtiroler Roggenteig-Schlutzkrapfen and Graukäse. 
• 4 Giersterbräu, Gierstergasse 10 (U4 Längenfeldgasse (Exit Gierstergasse)), ☏ +43 664 143 33 74, giersterbraeu@giersterbraeu.com. Daily 10:00-00:00 (kitchen closes 22:00). 

Wiener Schnitzel of veal at Der Ringsmuth

• 5 Der Ringsmuth, Johannitergasse 1, ☏ +43 1 6031835, restaurant@der-ringsmuth.at. 11:30 AM to 11 PM, closed Su-Mo. Der Ringsmuth serves traditional Austrian cuisine (including tasty Wiener Schnitzel of both pork and veal) among other dishes. Spacious, with pleasant minimalistic decor. Easily accessible as it's pretty much right next to the Wien Hauptbahnhof railway station. Mains about €20. (updated Dec 2023)

Sleep

Budget

• 1 Meininger Hotel Vienna City Center, Columbusgasse 16, Favoriten (U1 Keplerplatz), ☏ +43 720 881453, welcome@meininger-hotels.com. Entertainingly neither a hotel nor in the city centre, very institutional and practical but pleasant (it's a German chain). Dorms from €11, doubles from €38. 
• 2 Vienna City Hostel, Dampfgasse 8, Favoriten (three minutes from Südbahnhof), ☏ +43 1 505 88 43, fax: +43 1 505 88 83, office@viennacityhostel.at. 
• 3 Actilingua Apartment-Hotel, Schneidergasse 7, Simmering (near U3 Zippererstrasse), ☏ +43 1 749 5112-0, fax: +43 1 749 5112-19, info@apartment-hotel-wien.at. Friendly apartment-hotel with free wifi. Spacious rooms and fully equipped kitchens. 

Mid-range

• 4 Hilton Garden Inn Vienna South, Hertha-Firnberg-Straße 5, ☏ +43 1 605 30522. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Overlooking a vast green park, the Hilton Inn is quite tired and rather remote. It makes that up by offering very competitive rates for a hotel of that standard, with nonsmoking rooms. Has a fitness centre, garden, and free Wi-Fi. Airport shuttle available (surcharge), private parking €20/day. From €87. 
• 5 Hotel Schani Vienna, Karl-Popper Straße 22 (Behind the main train station), ☏ +43 1 955 0715, reservation@hotelschani.com. Check-in: 15:00, check-out: 12:00. Vienna's first smart hotel with co-working space with Viennese charm conveniently located at the new main train station (Hauptbahnhof). (updated Aug 2015)
• 6 Roomz Vienna, Paragonstrasse 1 (Simmering), ☏ +43 1 7431 777, fax: +43 1 7431 888, welcome@roomz-vienna.com. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Billing itself as a "budget design hotel", it gives a truthful and complete introduction. This is a full-fledged hotel, much more than just rooms, it has been contemporarily designed inside and out, and its prices and standards can be described as "budget". The Gasometer neighbourhood fits the design theme, but you may want to reconsider the open bathrooms if you care for more privacy. Onsite restaurant, pets permitted on request, public parking €5/day. €93. 
• 7 Simm's Hotel, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 55-57 (U3/tram 71 - Zippererstrasse), ☏ +43 1 743 44110, reservierung@simmshotel.at. Check-in: 14:00-00:00, check-out: 06:30-11:00. The modern hotel is easily discernible by its unusual lime green facade and is suitably modern and striking inside as well, even if not quite luxurious. Paying a little extra gets you a Comfort Plus room or a suite with a generously-glazed wall of windows with views over the rooftops (arguably not that interesting given the hotel's location). While remote, the hotel enjoys great transportation links with U-Bahn and tram stops right next to the hotel and a location on one of the main streets, important to those arriving by car. All rooms are nonsmoking, and pets are permitted on request (€10/day). Private parking €18/day. Doubles from €99. 

Stay safe

The outer south area is safe, but it may look rather shady at night. Liesing is very safe, though some subway stops (Such as Siebenhirten) and train stations may still be a bit shady at night, but in general all of Liesing should be perfectly fine and safe to walk in at night.

Meidling is also a bit shady at night. Be very careful at Meidling train station, especially at night - Pickpockets are quite common here, so watch your wallet and bag!

Simmering is safe during the day, but some areas are shady at night.

Favoriten may look rather shady at night, but it is still a very nice area to visit (especially Oberlaa!). Reumannplatz looks very shady at night and may intimidate you, but as long as you have basic common sense (i.e. you don't cause trouble) then nothing will happen to you. Matzleinsdorferplatz can also be shady.

Connect

Public Wi-Fi

wien.at Public WLAN is the free Wi-Fi service of the city of Vienna. The transmissions stations are spread across the city. They have a range of about 100 metres and the transmission rate is between 1 and 54 Mbit per second. You don’t have to register if you want to use them, just accept the terms of use. In addition, there are lots of private providers of free Wi-Fi. The following selection concentrates on the free Wi-Fi transmission stations of the city of Vienna which are located at the major shopping streets.

• 1 Public Wi-Fi Enkplatz, Simmeringer Hauptstraße, Simmering. (updated Dec 2016)
• 2 Public Wi-Fi Favoritenstraße (Columbusplatz), Favoritenstraße, Favoriten. (updated Dec 2016)
• 3 Public Wi-Fi Favoritenstraße (Viktor-Adler-Platz), Favoritenstraße, Favoriten. (updated Dec 2016)
• 4 Public Wi-Fi Johann-Hatzl-Platz, Simmeringer Hauptstraße, Simmering. (updated Dec 2016)
• 5 Public Wi-Fi Maurer Hauptplatz, Mauer, Liesing. (updated Dec 2016)
• 6 Public Wi-Fi Meidlinger Hauptstraße, Meidlinger Hauptstraße, Meidling. (updated Dec 2016)
• 7 Public Wi-Fi Meidlinger Platzl, Meidlinger Hauptstraße, Meidling. (updated Dec 2016)
• 8 Public Wi-Fi Simmeringer Hauptstraße / Grillgasse, Simmeringer Hauptstraße, Simmering. (updated Dec 2016)
• 9 Public Wi-Fi Simmeringer Platz, Simmeringer Hauptstraße, Simmering. (updated Dec 2016)

Post offices

There are twelve post offices in Favoriten, seven in Liesing, six in Meidling and four in Simmering. The following list contains some of the most important ones.

• 10 1103 post office, Am Hauptbahnhof 1, Favoriten. M-F 08:00-19:00, Sa 09:00-15:00; closed Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 11 1106 post office, Favoritenstraße 132, Favoriten. M-F 08:00-18:00; closed Sa Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 12 1115 post office, Exenbergerweg 4/2, Simmering. M-F 08:00-18:00, Sa 09:00-12:00; closed Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 13 1122 post office, Meidlinger Hauptstraße 43, Meidling. M-F 08:00-18:00, Sa 09:00-12.00; closed Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 14 1235 post office, Liesinger Platz 2, Liesing. M-F 08:00-18:00; closed Sa Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 15 1238 post office, Endresstraße 121, Liesing. M-F 08:00-18:00; closed Sa Su. (updated Dec 2016)
• 16 1810 post office, Favoritenstraße 98, Favoriten. M-F 08:00-18:00; closed Sa Su. (updated Dec 2016)

Go next

• Hietzing is the outer Vienna district to the west.
• Landstraße is the 3rd inner district to the north.
• Wieden is the 4th inner district to the north.
• Margareten is the 5th inner district to the north.