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Choosing a travel destination and booking the flights is the easy part of planning a trip.

What to do and where to stay when you reach your destination can be a little tougher.

The advent of Airbnb means that hotels, hostels, and guest houses aren’t the only places to lay your head when travelling.

You can immerse yourself in the local goings-on by settling into an apartment or house in a neighbourhood, and where you stay is becoming a major part of the experience.

Each year, travel guide Time Out surveys thousands of people around the globe to uncover the world’s coolest neighbourhoods.

As ever, our shortlist of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world is based on the opinions of locals: the 38,000-plus city-dwellers who answered our annual Time Out Index survey, telling us which bits of their city they loved.

And once again, we’ve consulted our global network of Time Out editors and experts to weigh up the candidates and make the call on their city’s number one hotspot.

Most things look a little different this year due to the pandemic, and neighbourhoods, as I’m sure you can imagine, have been heavily impacted by lockdowns and the countries in which they are situated.

Keep that in mind as we take a look at the top five:

1. Esquerra de l’Eixample, Barcelona

Barcelona’s Eixample district is split into two distinct sections, with the left getting most of the attention.

Residential and down-to-earth, this left side of the Eixample has a characteristic architecture where each block of flats features its own interior courtyard. During Barcelona’s strict lockdown, these spaces became focal points for the city’s energy – as in the pop-up Hidrogel Sessions, in which residents dressed up in costumes and organised mass dance parties from their balconies.

You had me at ‘mass dance parties from balconies’.

2. Downtown, Los Angeles

Travelling to America right now, with its appalling response to the pandemic, is quite low on the list of things I’d want to do.

This became the most painful year in L.A.’s recent history – and in a city with no single, central gathering place, Downtown became its supportive soul. Following the shocking death of Kobe Bryant, wreaths, candles and a quiet togetherness swallowed the L.A. Live plaza.

When the pandemic kept us doomscrolling at home, the Broad museumbrought us a bit of virtual Infinity Room calm, while the now-shuttered Broken Spanish restaurant vacuum-sealed tamales and fed undocumented restaurant workers.

It has become the place for Los Angeles locals to speak up, speak out, and mourn.

‘Cool’ doesn’t really apply. This is more about uncovering the soul of a city.

3. Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

One of the oldest districts in Hong Kong, known for its textiles industry, Sham Shui Po has taken on new life as young creatives take up residence there.

Traditional street-vendors, historical buildings and fabric shops – frequented by international designers like Versace and Calvin Klein – still stand, alongside Michelin-recommended eateries like Kung Wo Tofu Factory and third-generation family-run noodle shop Lau Sum Kee Noodle. The neighbourhood gets busy during the weekends as Hongkongers flock here to eat, drink and check out the art scene.

Sounds like a vibe.

4. Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York

New York’s Bedford-Stuyvesant has kept to itself during the pandemic, creating what Time Out calls “and incubator of the future”.

Local businesses have opened their doors to the streets, melding private and public space and building bonds of togetherness in a new urban social compact. Peaches HotHouse serves hot fried chicken in an outdoor dining area on Tompkins. Harold and Maude Vintage sells vibrant clothing for all genders off a rack on Lafayette.

The Billie Holiday Theatre stages brilliant, socially-distanced theatrical productions for masked crowds, keeping art alive during a pandemic. The brownstones of Bed-Stuy may be from the past, but their doors all open to tomorrow.

Add in conversations between neighbours on stoops, and a lively sense of community, and you have the perfect setting.

5. Yarraville, Melbourne

Move aside, Sydney. Melbourne is arguably the cultural capital of Australia.

Melbourne’s community spirit has never been stronger, and the neighbourhood that best embodies that is the westside suburb of Yarraville. Two lockdown stories sum it up. Firstly, Yarraville local Lee Smith-Moir started adding adorable ‘happy signs’ on walking tracks in the area to cheer up locals during the state’s second lockdown.

Then there was skater Belle Hadiwidjaja, who has been roller-skating through the streets in rotating costumes to keep families entertained on their daily walk.

It’s a nice reminder that no matter how bad things get, people can still surprise you.

The full list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods covers 40 from across the globe.

You can check that out here.

[source:timeout]