Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Lonely Planet names Commercial Drive one of world's coolest neighbourhoods

Vancouver's Commercial Drive was the lone Canadian selection.
commercial-drive-car-free
Vancouver: July 8, 2018: Car Free Day Vancouver on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. People walking around to visit tents and enjoy street food. / Shutterstock

Lonely Planet includes Vancouver's Commercial Drive in its latest collection of the world's coolest neighbourhoods.

The famous travel guide has compiled a list of what it calls 'little-known' enclaves in 50 cities around the world in its "Secret City from Lonely Planet: The insider's guide to the world's coolest neighbourhoods."

Lonely Planet notes that the guide allows travellers to discover, "out-of-the-ordinary recommendations for eating, drinking, partying and where to delve into local culture," from its team of travel experts. 

Commerical Drive is the lone Canadian selection, while the United Sates has four. 

With this in mind, you won't be able to visit any of these places anytime soon, so the only kind of travel possible right now is the virtual and wishful thinking kind.

In the meantime, "Secret City" offers readers new insight into cities they may think they already know. For each neighborhood, experts provide recommendations on the best places for eating, drinking and shopping which are accompanied by maps.

Here are some of the cities and neighborhoods profiled:

Africa & the Middle East:

  • Woodstock, Cape Town,
  • Kasbah & Mellah, Marrakesh, Morrocco
  • Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv

Asia:

  • Dadar, Mumbai,
  • Siam, Bangkok,
  • Changi Village, Singapore,
  • Tai Po, Hong Kong,
  • Tomigaya, Tokyo

Europe:

  • Madragoa, Lisbon,
  • Rathmines, Dublin,
  • El Raval, Barcelona,
  • Noord, Amsterdam,
  • Vesterbro, Copenhagen,
  • Bethnal Green, London,
  • Highgate, London

North America:

  • Hawthorne, Portland,
  • Commercial Drive, Vancouver,
  • Ballard, Seattle,
  • French Quarter, New Orleans
  • Bridgeport, Chicago 

Oceania:

  • Fitzroy, Melbourne,
  • Surry Hills, Sydney,
  • Thorndon, Wellington,
  • Ponsonby, Auckland 

South America & the Caribbean:

  • Miraflores, Lima,
  • Palermo, Buenos Aires,
  • Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

- With files from Relax News.