Sept 26: While ticking famous landmarks off your bucket list is always a highlight of a city break, there’s also something special about randomly stumbling upon a local neighbourhood offering cosy coffee shops, dreamy bookstores and chic dining spots aplenty.

That’s the premise behind the global listing guide Time Out’s latest roundup of the “world’s coolest” neighbourhoods. While a city’s most famous spots tend to be chockablock with tourists, these lesser-known areas allow visitors to moonlight as locals for an afternoon.

The destinations on Time Out’s list might not be the most well-known parts of a city, but they’re worth a visit thanks to their “culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink,” as Time Out puts it.

To produce the 2024 rankings, the media company’s global network of editors and writers supplied their picks, which were then vetted against criteria including what Time Out calls the area’s “one-of-a-kind local flavour.”

Topping the list is the vibrant quarter of Notre-Dame du Mont in Marseille, France, famed for its street art and nightlife. It’s a place where “everyone knows and helps each other,” according to the owners of the local eatery Razzia.

“It constantly evolves. The shops are authentic, and so are the people who work and live here,” Razzia proprietors Axelle Poittevin and Thomas Benayoun told CNN Travel, adding “Long live Notre-Dame Du Mont!”

Razzia is one of several Notre-Dame Du Mont establishments highlighted by Time Out. Among the other businesses spotlighted is the bookstore Histoire de l’œil, a staple of the neighbourhood for almost two decades.

“Our bookshop is 19 years old and we have seen the neighbourhood change a lot and that’s so great,” owner Nadia Champesme told CNN Travel. “Notre-Dame du Mont is really a very cool place to live and shop.”

Marie Dijon, owner of Caterine restaurant – namechecked by Time Out for its “incredible octopus kebab” – grew up in the area.

“This is the neighbourhood where everything happens,” Dijon told CNN Travel, adding the cultural diversity of Notre Dame Du Mont helps make it special.

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Balancing the ‘real’ and the ‘trendy’

At number two on Time Out’s is Mers Sultan, in Casablanca, Morocco, praised by Time Out for its arty authenticity (“it’s still real, with nary a trendy coffee shop (or trendy anything, really) in sight,” is how Time Out puts it).

Meanwhile, Pererenan in Bali, Indonesia is spotlighted at number three, thanks to what Time Out describes as “pristine beaches, cosy cafés, eclectic shops, and a certain laidback cool, devoid of noise and traffic.”

The highest ranking US neighbourhood is Kerns, in Portland, Oregon – chosen for its small-town vibes and rounding out Time Out’s top five. Meanwhile, the Stokes Croft and St Paul’s neighbourhood in Bristol, in the southwest of England, comes in at number six.

Bristol resident Alex Egge told CNN Travel that Stokes Croft and St Paul’s “sum up the city’s distinctive and rebellious identity,” adding the thrift stores in the neighbourhood are also a highlight.

“It’s cool to see [Stokes Croft and St Paul’s] in the top 10 and glad St Paul’s got a mention since it has a huge Afro-Caribbean population and annual carnival which takes over the city,” Egge told CNN Travel.

Interestingly, Principe Real, in Lisbon appears on Time Out’s list at number 8, six years after appearing in the list in 2018.

“There’s no rule against a neighbourhood appearing multiple times,” Grace Beard, travel editor at Time Out, told CNN Travel. “This year’s list is a real mix of surprising, overlooked districts that have only just reached their moment and historically “cool” neighbourhoods experiencing a renaissance. Príncipe Real is a prime example of the latter, and a testament to how neighborhoods adapt and evolve without losing their identity.”

Time Out’s Top 10 Coolest Neighborhoods for 2024

1. Notre-Dame du Mont, Marseille, France

2. Mers Sultan, Casablanca, Morocco

3. Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia

4. Seongsu-dong, Seoul, South Korea

5. Kerns, Portland, USA

6. Stokes Croft & St Paul’s, Bristol, UK

7. Chippendale, Sydney, Australia

8. Principe Real, Lisbon, Portugal

9. Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

10. Windsor, Melbourne, Australia