A Montreal street ranks among the top 5 coolest on Earth & it's not St. Laurent or Wellington

If you had to guess which Montreal street would make a global list of the coolest on Earth, you would probably throw out Saint-Laurent, Notre-Dame, maybe even Wellington. But according to a brand new Time Out ranking, the real standout right now is Sherbrooke Street West.

The international outlet just released its 2025 list of the 31 coolest streets in the world, and Montreal landed in the top five, ranking higher than New York, Berlin and Brisbane.

For context, Time Out builds its annual list by asking its global network of editors and contributors to nominate the one street that best represents their city at this moment. This year's lineup stretches from samba-soaked strips in Rio to legendary NYC blocks and nighttime food avenues in Ho Chi Minh City. But sitting near the very top – in fifth place worldwide – is Sherbrooke Street West, the only Canadian street to crack the top 10.

In fact, it's one of only two Canadian streets to make the list at all, with Cambie Street in Vancouver landing in 20th place.

Sherbrooke West may not be the first place Montrealers think of when they hear the word "cool," but Time Out argues it absolutely deserves the spotlight. In the magazine's words, the street's western stretch "really shines in Montreal's Golden Square Mile," thanks to its mix of historic architecture, major cultural institutions and some of the city's best museums and galleries.

They point to spots like the McCord Stewart Museum and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, noting that the area is "still good as gold" thanks to its renovated hotels, indie shops, and a serious concentration of culture.

It also helps that Sherbrooke West sits steps from McGill, multiple CEGEPs and some of downtown's busiest cultural festivals. Time Out highlights everything from courtyard dining at Il Cortile to the vintage bookshops, small designer boutiques and cocktail bars that fill out the strip.

The magazine calls the area "unassuming yet iconic," describing it as a 300-year-old east-west artery that most locals take for granted simply because it has always been there.

According to Time Out, it's "a slice of the city that brings everything together." And this year, the world finally noticed.

Here's how the entire global ranking rounded out.

You can explore the entire Time Out list here.