The south London borough of Camberwell has featured on the Time Out list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods which also includes Jimbōchō in Tokyo, Borgerhout in Antwerp and Barra Funda in São Paulo
Camberwell in London has been named the fourth coolest neighbourhood in the world.
In news that seems to be surprising even the most ardent fans and long-term residents of the south London borough, Camberwell got the nod in Time Out’s recent ranking.
The list features places that were nominated by Time Out’s global network of writers and editors, with those neighbourhoods then ranked according to categories like culture, community, liveability, nightlife, food and drink, street life and, essentially, their sense of ‘nowness’. This year is the eighth edition of the ranking.
“Making an appearance near the top of the list was south London’s very own Camberwell. The famously leafy, chilled-out neighbourhood came fourth in the global list, and was one of only two British areas in the ranking (Digbeth in Birmingham placed 13th),” writes Time Out’s news editor, Ed Cunningham.
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According to local Lauren O’Neill, Camberwell “is brilliant because it’s loads of things at once” and because it is an amalgamation of the best bits of southeast London. She particularly loves the independent spirit of the place, the multiculturalism and its eco-consciousness attitude.
Xinjiang restaurant Silk Road, gastropub The Camberwell Arms, Nandine’s Kurdish cuisine, Toad Bakery and sandwich shop Cafe Mondo were praised as establishments worthy of stopping in on.
In other years, different parts of the English capital have been listed in the top ten. They include Peckham (2018-19), Soho (2020), Dalston (2021), Walthamstow (2022), King’s Cross (2023) and Leyton (2024).
The inclusion of Camberwell on the list has caused eyebrows to be raised in some quarters.
“Camberwell is ‘cool’ because it’s just semi-gentrified. That’s it,” one person wrote bluntly on Reddit.
Some have questioned whether the list would serve to accelerate the forces of gentrification, which tend to see trendy shops and bars parachuted into once-shabby London boroughs, bringing with them newcomers with housing capital.
“It is just a list for predatory investors to get their hands on entire streets and price out all the residents, close all the markets and replace them with organic shops and barista coffee,” another Redditor wrote.
Others rode in to defend the borough, which has enjoyed actor Michael Caine, comedian Terry Jones of Monty Python, playwright and director Martin McDonagh, musician Florence Welch, model Erin O’Connor, footballer Tammy Abraham, and BBC journalist Jeremy Bowen as residents over the years. On the other hand, it was also home to Boris Johnson.
“Subjectively, I think Camberwell is really cool and has been my favourite place I’ve lived as a born and bred Londoner. But honestly, it seems really random that they had picked there of all places,” one Londoner wrote.
According to Time Out, this is how a perfect day in Camberwell can be spent: “We’d always recommend a stop at Toad to start off a day in Camberwell (for bonus sarnies and coffee, stick your head into Café Mondo next door too), before pootling across to South London Gallery (next door to Camberwell College of Art, which nurtures the next generation of design talent), to chin stroke around the latest exhibition. Then, head up towards Dash the Henge for top-tier record shopping (plus a toastie if you’re still hungry), before heading to The Clarendon for a well-deserved pint. Dinner options are, obviously, many, but we like FM Mangal for Turkish food that absolutely always hits the spot. Finish up with a dance at The Bear. A dream day if you ask us.”
Time Out’s Top 25 coolest neighbourhoods in the world for 2025
- Jimbōchō, Tokyo
- Borgerhout, Antwerp
- Barra Funda, São Paulo
- Camberwell, London
- Avondale, Chicago
- Mullae-dong, Seoul
- Ménilmontant, Paris
- Nakatsu, Osaka
- Vallila, Helsinki
- Labone, Accra
- Nguyen Thai Binh, Ho Chi Minh
- Anjos, Lisbon
- Digbeth, Birmingham
- Red Hook, New York
- Perpetuo Socorro, Medellín
- Burwood, Sydney
- Linden, Johannesburg
- Former French Concession, Shanghai
- Quartieri Spagnoli, Naples
- Bencoolen, Singapore
- Endoume, Marseille
- Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montréal
- The Liberties, Dublin
- North Melbourne, Melbourne
- Portales, Mexico City