World's coolest towns, ship around Aus, and why Melb is so hot right now

TimeOut.com has named Notre-Dame-du-Mont in Marseille, France No. 1 in its list of the world's 38 coolest neighbourhoods. No. 2 is Mers Sultan in Casablanca, Morocco, and in third place is Pererenan in Bali, Indonesia. Aussie neighbourhoods rated a mention: Sydney's Chippendale (No. 7) for its quirky art galleries and Asian food market, Northbridge in Perth (No. 21), Windsor in Melbourne (No. 10) and Norwood in Adelaide (No. 35). Friedrichshain in Berlin, Germany came in at No. 18 for its "contemporary cosmopolitan" crowd, and Osu in Accra, Ghana came 36^th for its night life and pop-ups.

Viking's Venus cruise ship will debut in Australia and New Zealand this summer, arriving in Darwin on December 11 for the 17-day Komodo & the Australian Coast tour. The "small" 930-guest Venus, launched in early 2021, offers 456 staterooms and is Viking's seventh ship. Bookings are now open for her Grand Australian Circumnavigation, a 32-day roundtrip from Sydney which also visits Indonesia. Also in the South Pacific, luxury small ship cruise line Windstar Cruises will begin visiting Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands in 2026, in addition to existing sailings in Tahiti and the Society Islands, the Tuamotus and the Marquesas.

Cruise operator Celestyal has an exciting Arabian Gulf shore excursion program, with Celestyal Journey porting in Doha from November and Celestyal Discovery porting in Abu Dhabi from 2025. There will be 80 tours available across the Gulf, including small group experiences with local people and attractions. October is cruise month, marking the start of the summer cruise season in Australia and New Zealand. viking.com.au; www.windstarcruises.com; celestyal.com

For those in the market for a last-minute Melbourne fix (or put it on your calendar for next year), October is one of the most exciting times to travel to the Vic capital, because arts festival Melbourne Fringe is on. There are more than 450 events scheduled across the city, until October 20, including Circus Oz Hub, offering circus acts for the family as well as late-night entertainment in Collingwood.

Two of these acts have been recognised overseas: award winning narrative comedy show GODZ, and Escalate, which reportedly does for juggling what Tap Dogs did for tap dancing. Other Fringe highlights include Club Fringe, featuring high-concept art parties until late; Deadly Fringe, showcasing First Nations talent; feminist events; and the Festival Hub at Trades Hall which is one of the main Fringe performance venues. melbournefringe.com.au

We love a city break in Sydney - and the rest of the world is partial to the Harbour City, too, according to a prestigious traveller poll released this week. Sydney was named the best city on the planet to visit - followed by Valencia in Spain and Singapore - as well as the world's second-friendliest city - after Singapore and followed by Las Vegas - by Conde Nast Traveller. Its Readers' Choice Awards 2024 had more than 125,000 UK readers vote for the prestigious gong. Readers also voted Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island No. 29 in the Best Hotels in the World - the only Aussie hotel on the list - and the Fullerton Hotel Sydney was No. 1 in the Best Hotels in Australasia.