For Condé Nast Traveler, by CNT Editors.
Over the last four years, we’ve asked our readers to rate a city’s “friendliness” in the Readers’ Choice Awards survey, especially with respect to where you felt welcome. Did an outgoing local show you the way? Was the city easy to navigate? Some 128,000 people took the survey in 2015—see what you had to say about the friendliest U.S. cities. Counting down...
10. Burlington, Vermont
A “live and let live” feeling pervades this New England college town that’s “fun, laid-back, and artsy... winter or summer.” “The locally brewed beer is incredible,” “fresh meals at farm-to-table restaurants were too many to count,” and “fantastic bike paths along Lake Champlain” make one newcomer “feel very much in tune with its natural surroundings.”
9. New Orleans, Louisiana
“Favorite overall reason to visit New Orleans: the awesome, friendly locals” just about sums this “high-energy, eclectic, and always fun” charmer. “This is truly a place meant for enjoying life. Extraordinary sensory experiences at every turn, and it seems as if everyone wants you to have a good time.”
8. Jackson, Wyoming
“The people are friendly and the views are out of this world” here below the “breathtaking Tetons.” It’s a “genuine taste of the original American West” that includes “fantastic nightlife for the younger crowd.” And let it be known that a raft trip down the Tetons was “the most enjoyable experience” one reader “ever had with clothes on.”
7. Asheville, North Carolina
“We loved Asheville,” raved one reader. “Good restaurants. Gay-friendly (although we aren’t gay). Lots of arts, theatre companies, art galleries,” with an”eclectic, fun, and lively River Arts District.” It’s “an all-around wonderful small city,” says another reader. “Great mountain scenery and friendly people. Always a smile from those you meet.”
6. Santa Fe, New Mexico
Readers appreciated the peerless vibe—”this is an amazing town that is totally different from the norm”—and the “spiritual scenery” of the surrounding countryside. “The atmosphere of friendliness and artistry,” especially in the town square, along with delicious local food “draws us like a magnet. It’s just one of those places that has captured our hearts.”
See the rest of Friendliest Cities in the U.S. on CNTraveler.com
More from Condé Nast Traveler:
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