It is official, or at least Time Out says so: Crookes is one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the UK. The travel and listings magazine put it sixth in its 2026 list of the UK’s 11 coolest neighbourhoods, and it is the only place in Yorkshire to make the cut. Cue every local news site, estate agent and group chat in S10 losing it a bit.
Those of us who have spent a few too many evenings on Crookes Road are not hugely surprised. It is a hilltop suburb with its own high street, its own social club, its own park with one of the best views in the city, and a mix of students and long-standing locals that keeps it busy without ever feeling like the city centre.
What Time Out picked out
According to the coverage, Time Out described Crookes as having quietly turned into a self-contained neighbourhood and a go-to spot for food and drink. Its shout-outs included Proof bookshop, Pom Kitchen, pizza from Paesani, and drinks at Two Sheds and Tenaya Wine. It also sent readers up to the Bole Hills for the panoramic view across Sheffield towards the Peak District, and to Crookes Social Club, which it called one of the best music venues in Sheffield.
Our take: go for the Bole Hills, stay for the Social
The Bole Hills are the bit we would send anyone to first. Walk up Bole Hill Road on a clear evening and the whole of the Rivelin valley opens up below you, with Stannington and the moors beyond. It is free, it is a ten minute walk from the shops, and at sunset it is as good as anywhere in Sheffield.
Crookes Social Club is the other essential. It is a proper members’ club with a public programme: gigs, tribute nights, comedy, ceilidhs and the fancy-dress nights that sell out. This month alone it has a Gothic Masquerade Ceilidh on Sunday 25 October and a Halloween Spooktacular on Saturday 31.
A day in Crookes, done properly
If you want to see what Time Out saw, make a day of it. Start with a coffee and a browse on Crookes Road, then work your way along the high street, where the bakeries, delis, charity shops and independents still outnumber the chains. Stop at Proof for a book, have lunch, then walk it off up Bole Hill Road to the top of the hill. Come back down for an early drink at one of the bars, dinner somewhere small, and finish at Crookes Social Club if there is a gig on. Everything is within about fifteen minutes on foot, which is the whole point.
Why it works
Crookes started life as a village on the hill above the town, and it still feels like one. The steep terraced streets keep it compact, the high street gives it a centre, and the mix of students from the nearby universities, young families and people who have lived there for decades means it is busy on a Tuesday as well as a Saturday. It is close enough to the city centre to be easy and far enough up the hill to feel like its own place. That combination is rarer than it sounds, and it is why so many people who move to Crookes for a year end up staying for ten.
If you are getting there without a car, regular buses run up from the city centre along Crookes Road, and it is a steep but rewarding walk of around half an hour from the universities.
What is on in Crookes
Here is everything coming up in Crookes from our live listings. If you run something in the area and it is missing, add it for free.
Coming up in Crookes 35 events
More of Sheffield’s best neighbourhoods
Crookes is not the only part of Sheffield worth a fuss. Over the next few days we are publishing local guides to some of our other favourite areas, starting with Crookes and Walkley, Ecclesall Road and Hunters Bar, Nether Edge and Sharrow, Park Hill and Hillsborough. Or compare all 147 neighbourhoods with the area finder.
Sources: Time Out’s 2026 coolest neighbourhoods list, as reported by The Star and Greatest Hits Radio. Photos by Shane Rounce.