The World’s Most Essential Streets For A Stroll Have Been Named By The Telegraph, Canada Reviews

At our very core, strives to bring you all the best local knowledge from cities across the planet. That’s why each year we call on our international network of local editors and writers to help us compile authentic and original guides of the world’s best cities, neighbourhoods, and the coolest streets. Who’s better to ask about the top spots to dine, drink, shop and browse than our people on the ground, right?

For 2025, our list of the world’s coolest streets includes everything from bohemian alleys in Rio de Janeiro to culture-packed roads in Montreal, each accompanied by a bar, restaurant and landmark recommendation.

However, we’re not the only ones scouring the world for all the top spots for a stroll – in fact, The Telegraph has just published its own collection of the very best places to do exactly that, so let’s take a look.

Chris Moss, The Telegraph’s destination expert, has ranked 20 different streets which he says feature ‘a combination of open-air museums, with a handy supply of bars or cafés, restaurants or rest areas to make the experience of walking (or riding) joyous and memorable’.

Photograph: Shutterstock

It’s in no particular order, but topping Moss’s list is the Strand. Connecting the West End and Westminster with the Royal Courts of Justice, Trafalgar Square and Fleet Street, it’s a street integral to London’s history, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that.

Hidden away in the area are spots like Gordon’s Wine Bar, The Courtauld Gallery and Ikoyi Restaurant Temple, but an exciting re-opening for 2026 is Simpson’s in the Strand, an institution which has been serving diners (including luminaries Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) since 1828, and was one of the first British restaurants to ever receive a Michelin star back in 1974.

Elsewhere on the list are Stroget in Copenhagen, Straight Street in Damascus, Khao San Road in Bangkok and Malecón in Havana, but scroll on for the full, 20-strong roundup.