Spittelberg's cobbled lanes

Spittelberg is a pocket of the seventh district that the nineteenth century forgot to rebuild: Spittelberggasse, Gutenberggasse and Schrankgasse, three cobbled lanes of two-storey Biedermeier houses in ochre, rose and pale green, with iron lanterns, courtyard passages and cafés that put their tables out on the stones. It is two minutes behind the MuseumsQuartier and a world away from the Ring's formality — the frame that says Vienna without a palace in it.

The lanes are narrow enough that direct sun rarely reaches the ground, so the light is soft from morning to evening, and the colours of the façades do the work. Weekday mornings before eleven are empty; from late afternoon the cafés and the Amerlingbeisl's courtyard fill up, which is its own kind of picture, and on summer weekends there is a craft market along the gasse.

From mid-November until Christmas the Spittelberg market strings lights across the lanes and lines them with stalls — the most photogenic of Vienna's smaller markets, and the busiest hour is after dark. It works for a session at dusk when the lights come on and the crowd has not yet arrived.

Everything here is a public street and needs no permit; the courtyards are private and the cafés are businesses, so ask before setting up in either. Pair it with the MuseumsQuarter's courtyards next door or with the Volksgarten rose beds ten minutes away for a session that moves from lane to park.