A large selection of quaint cafés offering the newest bizarrely coloured beverage? Intimate listening bars where the vinyl collection costs more than a house deposit? Is this really what makes a neighbourhood cool? Well… yes. But it takes more than a purple tarot latte to top ‘s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods.
’s global network of local experts were tasked with the rather large challenge of finding the neighbourhood we all want to be in right now, exploring every corner of their hometowns to pinpoint the best spots for eating, drinking, shopping and hanging out. To lock in the final ranking, a panel of editors vetted each contender against strict criteria, measuring everything from nightlife and independent businesses to overall liveability and community soul.
So which neighbourhood should we all be visiting? Turns out it is Seoul’s trendy labyrinth of Jongno 3-ga, with the area of Ikseon-dong receiving a lot of love. It’s been doing the rounds on social media for years for the beautiful, century-old traditional wooden houses, also known as hanoks. But this slice of the city hasn’t captured attention just for its photogenic history. It’s actually the booming obsession with late-night food stalls called pochas, short for pojangmacha, that is driving the neighbourhood’s current renaissance.
Decades ago, these orange-tented stalls were purely functional, cheap, fast food for labourers and office workers grabbing something on their way home. That practical reputation has since flipped, as it’s now young locals filling the plastic stools, chasing the low prices and no-frills charm. On the menu, expect pajeon (savoury kimchi and seafood pancakes), grilled eel, charred squid, and the notorious live octopus dish sannakji, for anyone brave enough.
In autumn, parts of Jongno 3-ga become dotted with towering ginkgo trees that turn a fiery gold and drop a heavy carpet of bright yellow leaves over the concrete. The crisp autumn air also provides the perfect excuse to spend hours huddled under the plastic tarps of, you guessed it, a pocha, drinking ice-cold beer and eating steaming bowls of street food.
Nearby, Seosulla-gil is where things slow down. The lane is tucked beside the stone walls of the royal Jongmyo Shrine and is filled up with craft workshops, jewellery studios and low-key wine bars. It’s also become the unofficial centre of Seoul’s wholesale jewellery trade, with young independent designers setting up shop right against those centuries-old walls.
The neighbourhood’s talent for blending retro with new-wave trends culminates just down the road at the Nagwon Musical Instrument Arcade. This 1960s mega-complex rises above the streets like a spaceship and stands as the world’s largest specialised music market, packed with hundreds of shops selling everything from vintage electric guitars to traditional Korean harps. Back down at street level, the arcade’s perimeter has become a hotspot for drinking makgeolli, a cloudy, effervescent traditional Korean rice wine. Once considered an old farmer’s drink, it has been reinvented by a new generation of brewers who serve it alongside local craft beers.
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