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What makes a street cool? Bags of history and culture? Hot topic bars and restaurants? Pretty shops and aesthetic shopfronts? A properly cool street can have all that and much, much more – and, needless to say, London is crammed full of those sorts of places.
We at Time Out have just released the 2024 edition of our annual ranking of the coolest streets in the world. The list is chosen with the help of our global network of experts and contributors, who each made a case for their city’s most happening street.
As expected, a London street made the cut. None other than Gerrard Street in Chinatown was named one of the world’s coolest roads, coming 17th in the overall ranking.
Commenting on Gerrard Street’s trendy prowess, Time Out London editor Joe Mackertich said:
‘Today, Gerrard Street (Chinatown’s main lantern-festooned drag) is maybe the most bustling, lively bit of London. TikTok has made social media stars of nearly every single food stall and eatery in the area. New restaurants have opened up, a few of which are competing with the likes of Four Seasons, Leong’s Legend and Wong Kei for the coveted ‘best place in Chinatown’ crown.
‘Meanwhile, Gen Z-friendly shops and boutiques have replaced the manky tat stores. Will all the people filming in the middle of the street get annoying at some point? Undoubtedly! But right now it’s great to see such an important area rise once more.’
Joe highlighted Real Beijing Food House as Gerrard Street’s culinary highlight, the trendy Devonshire as its choice drinking hole and Loon Fung supermarket as the finest shopping spot.
Gerrard Street was the only UK street to make the cut in this year’s list of the coolest streets. Previous London addresses to make the cut include the South Bank and Deptford High Street.
Top spot was taken in the 2024 ranking by Melbourne’s northern High Street, while second place went to Hollywood Road in Hong Kong and third was East Eleventh in Austin, USA. You can check out the full ranking on Time Out here.
Time Out Chinatown
Itching to explore Gerrard Street and Chinatown? Check out Time Out’s guide to all the best things to do in Chinatown, as well as our definitive ranking of the area’s best restaurants.
Did you see that we also named King’s Cross one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world?
Listen to Time Out’s brilliant podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’: the newest episode with AJ Odudu in Regent’s Park is out now.
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