Please sign in to post.

Best small neighborhoods in Cities Worldwide

As per a recent timeout article. They look at "51 coolest neighborhoods..." but they do the World. I've stripped off the ones in Europe.
https://www.timeout.com/travel/coolest-neighbourhoods-in-the-world

Agree? Disagree? Favorites they didn't mention?

The ones for Europe are:
(RS site strips off the leading number and assigns it's own in order)

  1. Cais do Sodré Lisbon, Portugal

  2. Cliftonville Margate, UK

  3. Cours Julien Marseille, France

  4. Shawlands Glasgow, UK

  5. Neukölln Berlin, Germany

  6. Walthamstow London, UK

  7. Sants Barcelona, Spain

  8. Rione Sanità Naples, Italy

  9. Barrio de las Letras Madrid, Spain

  10. Vesterbro Copenhagen, Denmark

  11. Northern Quarter Manchester, UK

  12. Letná Prague, Czech Republic

  13. Noord Amsterdam, Netherlands

  14. Kelham Island Sheffield, UK

  15. Pagrati Athens, Greece

  16. Haut-Marais Paris, France

  17. Moda Istanbul, Turkey

  18. Stoneybatter Dublin, Ireland

Posted by
292 posts

For someone who has no idea what you're talking about, would you care to elaborate? I'm hoping to pick up pointers for future travel.

Posted by
11608 posts

It sounds as if the neighborhood listed for Berlin is too Bohemian for the poster, a valid remark when considering whether you’d want to stay there.

Posted by
2267 posts

Las Letras in Madrid is great. It’s central and hopping, but doesn’t feel overly tourist. The epicenter of contemporary gastronomy in town. And home to one of my favorite shops in Madrid—making bespoke wool capes. (no stranger to impulsive spending, I still can’t bring myself to drop nearly a grand on a calf-length cape.)

Posted by
15020 posts

I had better see that district in Berlin, good reason to check it out. Twenty-five years ago or so, I had heard other things about Neukoellin.

Posted by
292 posts

Sorry. I just haven't had something called "Bohemian" in a long time. But it did finally click.

Posted by
33994 posts

your title is best small neighbourhoods, the link is "coolest". Big difference. Eye of the beholder. My eye disagrees with several. But then I avoid cool.

Posted by
292 posts

"bohemian"

Not caustic, just ignorant. No idea what it meant. And yes, they said "cool" in their article. I don't know what they meant by that either. The descriptions of the places seem to be small neighborhoods so that's what I put, I don't use "cool" myself.

Posted by
8159 posts

A good friend of mine lived in the Haut-Marais neighborhood in Paris and loved it. In fact, when he retired and moved back to the US, he kept his apartment there so he could go back and visit. It really is a very cool neighborhood - I loved my visit there, although it was some time ago.

I stayed near the Vesterbro area in Copenhagen when I was there earlier this year, and while it was very nice, I don't know that I'd put it in the top 50 hoods. Same with Noord Amsterdam - I liked it but maybe not top 50?

That said, my criteria as a tourist is probably very different than the people who live there.

Posted by
8159 posts

Robert, it's possible your reply to periscope came off that way because of a typo? You said, "FOR
someone who has no idea what you're talking about..." but if you look at the entire phrase in context, did you possibly mean to say "FROM someone....?

Posted by
15020 posts

Prior to the Wall coming down, what was regarded as the bohemian, avant garde, cool district in western Berlin was Kreuzberg, which is featured among traditional Berliner chansons. If you wanted to go somewhere unconventional, different in Berlin, it was the Kreuzberg area.

I didn't make out to Kreuzberg until 30 years later in 2007, not so much to see the neighborhood but to get to the park, where a historical military monument was situated.

Posted by
292 posts

"...did you possibly mean to say "FROM someone....?"

Yes, from someone, meaning me. But For someone meaning me and possibly others who also didn't know.

I can't say I write all that well. But I am/was a techie and I (usually) didn't have to.

I haven't heard "Bohemian" used in... decades? Probably used more in Europe now that I think of it. Once it "clicked" I remembered I had a vague idea of that as "starving artist" types with some other Cultural context that I didn't remember.

Posted by
4115 posts

This term is popular again in circles talking about fashion, design and neighborhoods but usually referred as boho or boho chic.

Posted by
292 posts

Oh? I'd seen boho before but didn't know what it was. Thanks.

Posted by
1682 posts

I spent my childhood in the Dundas Street West neighbourhood, which is on the full list of coolest places. Maybe I should change my forum moniker, just like James E did. I'm thinking Steve McQueen or Virgil Hilts.

Posted by
33994 posts

When I hear "Bohemian" I usually think of people or products of or from the region of Bohemia, such as Bohemian glass.

Have a search, a nice place. Good music too.