One of the best things about a city break is when it starts to feel like a home away from home. Maybe you find a bar that becomes your local for the weekend, get a bunch of great recommendations from a family-owned hotel, or stumble upon a cozy bookstore filled with staff picks and local authors. If you’re trying to figure out where to go on your next city break to maximize this impossible-to-bottle feeling, Time Out has just announced its annual round-up of the “world’s coolest” neighbourhoods. Taking the top spot this year is Jongno 3-ga in Seoul, South Korea. A vibrant foodie hub that’s no stranger to Time Out’s list (the neighbourhood came in at number three in 2021) the area is known for its amazing street food and independent businesses. “Sometimes, formerly featured neighbourhoods have held their own and only become cooler,” Grace Beard, Time Out’s travel editor, told CNN. “Take Jongno 3-ga – this was our third-coolest neighbourhood in 2021, and has now risen to the top spot thanks to the rise in late-evening alfresco dining, indie businesses and shops.” Anna Barra, a Portuguese tourist, is among those drawn by what Jongno 3-ga has to offer, particularly its street market stalls. “You have a mix of culture and foods and you can taste different foods,” she told CNN. “It’s a mix of old and new and everything together, it’s very cool.” Coolest spot Time Out suggests the perfect day in Jongno 3-ga begins with fluffy steamed bread at Mil Toast, one of the district’s numerous cafes. Cafe employee Myung Guen said the area was great for history – and food, with long morning lines regularly forming outside Mil Toast. “There’s really good dessert in this neighbourhood,” he said. Number two on Time Out’s list is L’Ocean District in Rabat. This beachy district of Morocco’s capital city, is now home to a swanky Four Seasons, but is still full of independent businesses and local culture. The artsy Athens district of Neos Kosmos is third on the list, while Chinatown in Los Angeles is the highest-ranking US city in fourth. Time Out praises L.A.’s Chinatown for “honouring its history and consistently reinventing itself.” Rounding out the top five is Govanhill in Glasgow, Scotland. The neighbourhood is described by local business owner Aimée Ballinger as the “most welcoming and culturally rich place I have ever lived.” Ballinger owns Burning House Books with her partner, Benjamin. The indie book store is one of several stores transforming the area and namechecked by Time Out. “I’m so honoured to be part of the community in Govanhill, to be raising my kid here and bringing the most challenging, beautiful and inspiring books I can find into our neighbourhood,” she told CNN. Fellow Govanhill local and owner of LGBTQ2S+ bar Adrian’s Tommy Nicholls told CNN the area is a “real hub of community and culture in a way that’s so rare to find these days.” Reawakened city centres Time Out’s Grace Beard noted that, unlike past years, many of the neighbourhoods on this year’s list are central and downtown-based. “City centres have been reawakened, with new creative spaces, bars, brilliant places to eat, and everything in between,” she said, pointing out this shows how far we’ve come from the COVID era of city centre ghost towns. Time Out’s annual list is produced by its global network of writers and editors, who nominate their city’s coolest districts. “A lot of the time, there are neighbourhoods that have only just reached their moment and that only in-the-know locals are aware of — that sense of ‘nowness’ is really what we’re looking for on this list,” said Beard. Time Out’s Coolest Neighbourhoods for 2026 By Francesca Street and Gage Goulding, CNN
