Most Alexandrians will agree with this news, just announced Tuesday: Alexandria has been named a "Top 3 Best Small City in the U.S.," according to the 2021 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.
Photo by Sam Kittner for Visit Alexandria
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The free King Street Trolley heads up King Street near Old Town Alexandria's waterfront.
Here's what the magazine had to say about Alexandria:
Washingtonians are all in on the secret, but it’s no surprise the rest of the world is catching up: Alexandria, Virginia, the charming, historic city just across the Potomac River from our nation's capital, draws travelers and would-be residents alike. Most folks start to imagine moving there just after setting foot in Old Town, once they’ve strolled the red-brick sidewalks, clocking street after street of perfectly preserved rowhouses from the 18th and 19th centuries. When you visit, scope out King Street, packed with boutiques, restaurants, and specialty shops; then land at the waterfront, where you can watch the boats bobbing on the water before touring the Torpedo Factory Art Center, a collective of galleries and artists’ studios. End the day at Gadsby’s Tavern, where some of our founding fathers used to drink—don’t mind the actors in colonial garb.
Alexandria landed the #3 spot behind Aspen (#1) and Charleston (#2), while rising above other well-known destinations including Santa Fe (#4), Key West (#7) and Savannah (#8). Alexandria has ranked among the top 5 Best Small Cities for four consecutive years, since the category was created in 2018.
The Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry and are commonly known as “the best of the best of travel.” More than 800,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers across the globe submitted responses rating the travel experiences across the globe that they longed for most when they couldn’t travel and decided to visit first once they could. This year’s awards reflect the ways the world of travel has begun to welcome back guests and the travel professionals that have never stopped serving them to the highest standards.
Alexandria also has the unique positioning of being a Top 3 Best Small City in the U.S. located minutes from one of the Best Large Cities in the U.S. (Washington, D.C. is #6). Visitors can stay in one location but experience two of the nation’s best cities. Read the full article: cntraveler.com/gallery/best-cities-us. All winners will also be celebrated in the November issue of Condé Nast Traveler.
Top 10 Small Cities in the U.S.:
- Aspen, Colorado
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
- Key West, Florida
- Savannah, Georgia
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming
- Newport, Rhode Island
Top 10 Large Cities in the U.S.:
- Chicago, Illinois
- New York, New York
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Boston, Massachusetts
- San Francisco, California
- Washington, D.C.
- San Diego, California
- Portland, Oregon
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Nashville, Tennessee
