The Journal
Essays, guides and travel tips on choosing, visiting and understanding the world's best neighborhoods.
How to pick the right neighborhood before you book your hotel
The single most important decision on any city trip is where you sleep. Here is how to choose well.
The Neighborhood Brunch Rule: a 60-second test for a great district
There is one reliable shortcut for spotting the best neighborhood in any unfamiliar city. We call it the Brunch Rule.
Five underrated cities with extraordinary neighborhoods
Paris, Tokyo and London get the headlines. These five cities deserve far more attention than they get.
Why our rankings synthesize editorial sources (and do not scrape them)
A note on how we build our rankings, and why you will not find scraped article text on this site.
Where to stay for nightlife — and where to stay if you like sleeping
The two most common hotel mistakes in every major city, and how to avoid them.
The Walking City Test: why a 30-minute walk tells you everything
The single clearest test of whether a city is a great city is how far you can walk from your hotel without getting bored.
15 neighborhoods that are particularly welcoming to solo travelers
Some neighborhoods feel lonely when you travel alone. These fifteen feel like the opposite.
How to tell a real neighborhood from a tourist zone
A short checklist for recognizing when you have drifted into tourist-trap territory — and what to do about it.
The case for staying in the same neighborhood twice
There is a strong argument for revisiting neighborhoods you already know — and for most travelers, it is the wrong one.
The rise of the 15-minute city, and why it matters for travelers
Urbanists are talking about 15-minute cities. Travelers should be too.
Europe's ten most liveable neighborhoods, according to us
Our editorial picks for the ten European neighborhoods we would most want to live in for a year.
Asia's most walkable cities (and the neighborhoods inside them)
Asia's megacities are often called impossible to walk. That is half-true. Here are the exceptions.
The Coffee Test: what espresso tells you about a neighborhood
Every great neighborhood has great coffee. The reverse is almost always true too.
The case against central business districts
CBDs look central on the map. They are usually the worst place to stay.
The Neighborhood Dinner Rule: eat where you are, not where Google tells you
The best dinner in a new city is almost never the one with the most Google reviews.
Where to stay in Paris, by trip type
Paris is not one city — it is twenty. Here is how to pick the right arrondissement for the trip you are actually taking.
The return of the Mediterranean summer (and where to stay to enjoy it)
Climate change is rewriting the summer travel calendar. Here is how we are adapting.
The underrated art of the aimless city walk
The best way to understand a neighborhood is to walk it with no agenda whatsoever.
Neighborhood safety: the honest version
How to think about safety in an unfamiliar neighborhood, without falling for panic or complacency.
Why a neighborhood boutique hotel will always beat an international chain
You will pay the same and have a better trip. Here is the math.
The best neighborhoods for a rainy day
Some neighborhoods are made for sunshine. These are made for bad weather.
Latin America's next wave: six neighborhoods getting talked about in 2026
The Latin American neighborhoods our editors are visiting this year.
The Tiny Bar Rule: why the best drinks are always in the smallest rooms
Almost every great bar we have ever loved had fewer than 20 seats. Here is why.
What a good neighborhood market tells you about a city
Every great city has a great neighborhood market. Here is how to read one.
The case for slow travel, and the neighborhoods it needs
Three days in a city is tourism. Three weeks is travel. Here is where to spend the three weeks.
How we actually rank the neighborhoods on this site
A transparent look at the editorial process behind our rankings.
Neighborhood café culture, by city
Every great city has its own café ritual. Here is how to decode it.
Why Tokyo is secretly the best walking city in the world
Forget the megacity stereotypes. Tokyo has more walkable neighborhoods than Paris and Barcelona combined.
The Evening Walk Rule: how to know if your neighborhood is real
Tourist neighborhoods are dead at 7 PM. Real neighborhoods are alive at 7 PM. The test is that simple.
When to book an Airbnb and when to book a hotel — by neighborhood type
The choice between hotel and short-term rental is mostly a function of the neighborhood, not the city.
How to spend 48 hours in a city you have never visited
A short, opinionated framework for getting maximum value out of a two-day city trip.
The best neighborhoods for a first-time visitor vs a tenth-time visitor
Where to stay the first time you visit a city is almost never where to stay the tenth time.
The paradox of the Instagram neighborhood
The neighborhoods that photograph best are often the worst to actually visit.
The Middle Eastern cities you should be visiting in 2026
Beyond Dubai: the cities where the most interesting neighborhoods in the Middle East are quietly opening up.
Africa's most underrated city neighborhoods
African urban neighborhoods deserve far more attention than the global travel press gives them.
South America in southern-hemisphere summer: where to base yourself
When Europe is freezing, South America is at its peak. Here is where to stay.
North American cities, by season
When to visit which American city for the best version of itself.
On the perfect café
A short essay on what makes a café we keep coming back to.
Why we usually skip the monuments
A confession: most of our editors do not visit the famous monuments on most trips. Here is why.
Public transit as a feature, not a chore
The cities with the best public transit are also the cities with the best neighborhoods. There's a reason.
The 12 best neighborhoods in the world for food
Picking the best neighborhoods purely on what you can eat there.
Pre-dawn walks are underrated
The best hour to see any city is the hour before sunrise. Almost no one knows this.
The case for urban parks (and the cities that have the best ones)
A great park can save a neighborhood. A great neighborhood almost always has one.
A defense of the suburb (yes, really)
Some of the best urban neighborhoods in the world are technically suburbs.
The Second Bar Rule: how to find the best night out anywhere
The first bar of the night is usually a mistake. The second bar is where the trip happens.
The best European cities for an architecture-themed weekend
For travelers who want to organize a city trip around buildings rather than restaurants.
On taking the train instead of the plane (in Europe especially)
Within Europe, the train is almost always the better choice. Here is why we always recommend it.
Where great neighborhoods still come cheap (in 2026)
Travel is expensive. These neighborhoods are world-class and still affordable.
How to find the best independent bookshop in any city
A great bookshop is a window into a city. Here is how to find one in 30 minutes.
The art of saying no to tourist traps (without missing the good stuff)
How to avoid the bad parts of a famous neighborhood while still seeing the parts that matter.
Why the best countries have strong second-tier cities
Italy doesn't have one great city. It has thirty.
How many neighborhoods can you really know in a lifetime?
A short meditation on the limits of travel.