The world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore include everywhere from off the beaten track quarters such as the Dorsoduro, Cannaregio and Castello in Venice.
Our decision to not spend our time on our grand tour ticking off top ten tourist sights, saw us happily, and often aimlessly, exploring off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods – 100% guilt-free. These are the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods we found on our world tour.
We spent a lot of hours ambling around backstreets, taking in the atmosphere of places and seeing how people live their lives, continually delighting in the extraordinary contrasts and nuanced differences in the ebb and flow and rhythm of life of communities around the world.
The world is not the same. People lively differently to each other from country to country, city to village, street to street, and from house to house. Rush through a place in a few days and you probably won’t notice but settle in for a while, and you’ll appreciate the subtle differences that make everyday neighbourhoods such fascinating places to explore. These are my favourites:
The World’s Most Fascinating City Neighbourhoods to Explore
New York City
New York City boasts many of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore but our favourites are the East Village and the Lower East Side for the colourful characters, arty eccentrics, and committed activists who keep the gritty neighbourhoods real; for the urban oases that are the neighbourhoods’ secret community gardens and the passionate locals who tend to them; and for the immigrant history of the Lower East Side that has made this area one of the New York City’s most compelling.
Paris
Paris is undoubtedly home to some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to discover, such as the arty, bohemian ‘village’ of Montmartre, one of the city’s most widely misrepresented and misunderstood quarters. We also love the city’s nearby multicultural neighbourhoods, just over the hill, with their exotic Middle Eastern and North African vibe, and we love the area for the ordinary Parisians who come here to continue to enjoy their city in simple ways – reading books, going for strolls, picnics in the parks – despite it being overran with tourists.
Venice
Easily home to some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore Venice is so much more than San Marco. We love Venice for the ease with which it’s possible to still get off the beaten track in areas like the Dorsoduro, Cannaregio and Castello in one of the world’s most touristy cities; for the exquisite architectural details and artistic beauty that are everywhere, even in places you don’t expect them to be; for the local markets where the Venetians shop (including the city’s chefs and restaurant owners) for fresh produce every morning; and because it’s possible to live in an everyday neighbourhood even on an extraordinary waterway such as the Grand Canal. Locals have bought seafood, sipped a spritz, met their friends and gone home before most tourists have finished their hotel breakfast.
Tokyo
Some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore can be found in Tokyo. We love For the neon lights of its village-like neighbourhoods successfully masquerading as big city suburbs; for the atmospheric alleyways of yakitori eateries in Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) in Shinjuku; for the gritty lanes lined with teensy late night bars in the Golden Gai; and for the quaint ‘shitamachi’ quarter with its antique wooden houses and little old ladies in aprons watering plants in leafy Asakusa.
Marrakech
Marrakech has some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore. We love: the fact that we can still get wonderfully lost in the old medina’s dusty lanes, even after countless visits; the frenetic market street of Rue Bab Doukkala and the surrounding neighbourhood that was our home for two weeks on our last trip; and the main square, the Djemaa al Fna, with its smoky food stalls, storytellers, and snake-charmers, that is the locals’ nightly amusement park.
Istanbul
Istanbul is home to some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore but we love the quarters between Taksim and Galata the most, particularly those on and around Beyoğlu’s Iskiklal Cadessi, Istanbul’s entertainment, shopping and cultural centre. We asore it for the hundreds of pedestrian lanes that lead off it, lined with shops, markets, restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, clubs, music venues, theatres, and galleries, and for the backstreets that come alive after dark when backgammon boards are packed away, Turkish coffees are replaced with beers, the tables outside the bars fill with friends, and the narghile guy starts to really earn his living.
Buenos Aires
Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires boasts many of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore, but we adore the barrios of Palermo, Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood their bohemian-chic vibe; for the vibrant street art that enlivens drab walls; and for their abundance of parks and gardens across the city that get the locals outside and on the grass, picnicking, sunbathing and snoozing the moment the sun comes out. We love the fascinating markets across the city in cobblestoned quarters neighbourhoods like Palermo Soho and San Telmo; and for the civilised local lifestyle that involves plenty of lingering in cafés and bars, late dinners, and long nights out right across Buenos Aires.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro boasts some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to linger in, the highlight of which for us is the laidback beachside suburb of Ipanema, where locals spend their days on the sand, sipping coconuts and working on their tans and evenings in the classic botecos, everyday neighbourhood bars, snacking on tasty, affordable food, chatting to friendly staff and listening to low key live music. Then there are surprises such as the small neighbourhood street festivals (though they’re no Carnival) that spring up unexpectedly. In Rio, there is always something going on, you just have to know where to find it.
Mexico City
Mexico City is home to some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore but I have to confess that my favourite isn’t some cool emerging hood, but rather its the city’s old heart and historic quarter. We love it because the old city’s main plaza, the Zocalo, always has something happening and hasn’t given way to tourists in the way that so many other main squares around the world have. We love the historic heart for the street food stalls, smelling of corn tortillas, that are located in the old centre and liberally sprinkled throughout the city. We adore Plaza Garibaldi, home to the city’s mariachis, that makes for one of the best night’s out. And we love that everywhere is off-the-beaten-track in a way in one of the world’s most underrated metropolises.
Berlin
Berlin easily boasts some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to but one of our favourites is laidback bohemian East Berlin ’burbs like Prenzlauer Berg with their vintage clothes stores and retro furniture stores, and the neighbourhood’s countless, speakeasy-style late night bars and clubs with their easygoing locals propping up the bars. We love Prenzlauer Berg’s lively Sunday fleamarket in the Mauerpark with its vinyl record stands, Soviet memorabilia, and, in the warmer months, karaoke concerts.
Marrakech
Marrakech has some of the world’s most fascinating city neighbourhoods to explore. We love: the fact that we can still get wonderfully lost in the old medina’s dusty lanes, even after countless visits; the frenetic market street of Rue Bab Doukkala and the surrounding neighbourhood that was our home for two weeks on our last trip; and the main square, the Djemaa al Fna, with its smoky food stalls, storytellers, and snake-charmers, that is the locals’ nightly amusement park.
What a list. What a collection of trips!
Thanks! It’s essentially been one long trip – and it’s been amazing. Thanks for dropping by!
Great compilation of the best of the best. You hit on a lot of my favorites, from the quiet canals in Cannaregio to Memory Lane in Tokyo, as well as the East Village and Montmartre. I’ll keep this bookmarked for my next trips.
Via one of my favorite Paris and travel blogs – Prêt à Voyager – I read three interviews (tnooz, traveling-savage, travelblather) that you gave about GranTourismo, how the project came about, how you secured funding for the year, etc. Kudos, the interviews were fantastic. You and your husband are very generous with your time and sharing detailed information that is a great help to your fellow travel-loving writers and photographers.
I have a day job and dream of making a living from my photos, while traveling, of course, but am very hesitant to pitch ideas and “take the leap” from part-time passion to full-time freelancer. I’m mortified of failure, but feel that – somehow, someday – I need to really give “it” a go.
You are a true inspiration. If I manage to achieve a soupçon of your success, I will be thrilled. Cheers.
Hi Jessica – thanks! Don’t hesitate to get back to us if you ever need more specific tips. Always happy to help!
Hi Risamay – merci for the kind words!
We always advise people not to give up their day jobs in the beginning. We both did other things for years while we wrote part-time, then one of us made the shift to full-time travel writing first (Terence), then, once we had a year’s worth of commissions lined up, I made the shift.
Maintain your steady income stream while you slowly start to pitch, then you have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. Then once you’ve established yourself, take the risk. Trust us, it’s worth it. Best of luck!
Thanks. And will do! My current plan definitely errs on the side of caution and is longer term … I’m 36 and have a happy, steady (and travel-related) day job and am angling (and saving) to travel for a year at 40. In the meantime, I continue to travel once or twice each year on shorter trips (don’t get me started on how brief American paid-leave packages are, even when “generous”).
Such a lovely post.
Totally my kind of experience…give me an afternoon lost in Montmartre over happy snaps at the Eiffel Tower any day.
A personal fave of mine is Hong Kong’s Mong Kok. It’s always “on” and an incredible, frantic assault on all the senses. I love the way you can be in the scented lobby of a sparkling, 21st-century high-tech hotel one minute, and in a pungent “wet market” amongst fish heads and bladders the next.
Brilliant.
Hey Ben, Hong Kong is a place we wished we could have included on the trip. We need to go back there!
T
Fascinating indeed. I’m surprised you didn’t include a city from Spain. Your posts on that country intrigued me.
I have enjoyed your postings from around the world; I’ve learned a lot traveling along with you. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in the monthly competitions. Even though I didn’t win, it has made me a better writer (my opinion, of course).
Ah, gotta love the neighborhoods. Love Berlin especially.
I loved Palermo Soho, even though I stayed only for a weekend. It’s on my list of places to live (not visit – live!). I liked it’s mixture between classical argentinian and somewhat bohemian european style, the street art, the people, the cafes, the bars… everything.
Montmartre is very beautiful, too. But I wouldn’t really recommend it by night, as some parts of if aren’t that safe.
And what to say about East Village… it was my most recent adventure back in January, and loved it!
Thanks for the recap, I enjoyed traveling through these neighborhoods with your post!
Thank you! I almost included Barcelona’s neighbourhoods and the Gracia where we stayed, but something had to give… :(
Thank you for your kind words also. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the competitions and sorry you didn’t win, but who knows, the judges scores aren’t all in yet for the last competition, for which we expect to make an announcement tomorrow. We will continue to host competitions occasionally. More on that soon… :)
Yeah, we loved Berlin and Prenzlauer Berg – wonderful ‘hood!
Agree! We love Palermo Soho (and Hollywood – and good old Palermo too) – we’ve going for years and we’re torn between the Palermos and San Telmo.
The area we stayed in at Montmartre was safe, though you should take care around the strip clubs and the seedier part of Pigalle late at night for sure. The East Village also has its dangerous bits too of course, around the eastern edge of Alphabet City, but it’s our most favourite part of New York City.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! Thanks for dropping by!
Absolutely in love with Venice, Berlin and Paris, only been to NYC besides that. There is something so special about Venice though. It’s like once you get lost in the city streets, and you will, you get lost in time. Loved it there. Can’t wait to go back and explore some more.
Hi Bobbi – totally agree re Venice – just a magical place. Thanks for visiting!
Mmmm – not sure I agree that Montmartre is misrepresented. I still see it as a tourist rip-off area with lots of bad art and I’ve been going there for years. I love your blog, though and hope I get to see all the places you’ve visited.
Hi Julie – thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Re Montmartre, you’re probably thinking of that narrow area from Metro Anvers up the hill to Sacre Coeur and those tourist-heavy lanes nearby centred on and around Rue Rustique with the dreadful ‘art’ market on Place de Tertre. Also, during the day, Pl. Saint-Pere and Rue d’Orsel see quite a lot of tourists. As does Rue Lepic (from Metro Blanche near the Moulin Rouge) because they’re all going to see the cafe that the movie Amelie made famous.
But there’s a whole lot more to Montmartre than that. We had a Parisian friend who we used to stay with years ago who lived on the other side of the hill on Rue Joseph de Maistre, close to Metro Guy Moquet – that area *never* sees tourists. Nor does the area beyond the basilica, around Rue Caulaincourt and Custine, which is quite posh – white upper-middle class French – and then the area around the hill toward Barbes, which is very working class and multicultural, home to many North Africans.
In fact, on our last trip we were in a rental apartment on Rue des Abbesses for two weeks and after dark we’d rarely see tourists, even at restaurants on and around Rue des Abbesses – if they were foreign, they were most probably expats, speaking French and having dinner with their Parisian friends.
There’s some serious art there too. We did this wonderful walk with Context (see here: https://grantourismotravels.com/2010/04/22/an-amble-around-arty-montmartre/) with a local artist and she took us to her own studio as well as pointed out other art studios, so there is a real art scene there too. She says the same thing about Montmartre, which is also her home: https://grantourismotravels.com/2010/04/25/local-knowledge-marie-theres-from-montmartre/
Hopefully the next trip, you’ll discover these areas too :)
Great list! I think every city or town has something special to offer when you take the time to get to know the place. We all think of Venice as the Grand Canal, but it’s also about ordinary people living in an extraordinary part of our world. I love the fact that this what a person gets to see through slow travel. Always take quality over quantity! :)
Hi Nancie – totally agree with you. Good point about Venice. I often see people complain about Siem Reap being so touristy and think, well, that’s because you didn’t make an effort to get out of the tourist zone and explore the backstreets or get into the village-like neighbourhoods on the edge of town. It’s often not hard to do and those places can be the most rewarding to explore. Thanks for reading!