Two major travel lists agree that America’s most memorable trips often skip the usual suspects. CNN Travel’s editors chose their third annual America’s Best Towns to Visit for 2026, timed to the nation’s 250th birthday. Reader’s Digest named its underrated picks after a TripIt survey found 85 percent of respondents planned fall travel, mostly within the United States. Together, the two lists span mountains, coastlines, college towns and small cities most travelers overlook.
Sarasota, Florida: A Circus Fortune Built This Cultural Capital
A circus magnate’s fortune built the cultural reputation that just earned Sarasota, Florida, the top spot on CNN Travel’s 2026 list of America’s Best Towns to Visit. The Gulf Coast city is now home to galleries and theaters, and circus history still colors the town, alongside a population of Amish snowbirds who winter there. Rare gardens and wide beaches round out what CNN called a sophisticated getaway offering sun and surf.
Boise, Idaho: A Food City With Deep Basque Roots
Boise, Idaho, is known as the City of Trees. Reader’s Digest points to nearly 200 miles of hiking and biking trails in the foothills, 104 parks, and a 25-mile Greenbelt trail lined with breweries and wineries. Food & Wine magazine named it one of the country’s best up-and-coming cities for food lovers. Boise also holds the largest Basque population in the United States, with a downtown block devoted to Basque tapas and wine.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: From Steel Mills to World Heritage Status
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, no longer produces steel, but the city still trades on its industrial legacy, CNN noted. Visitors can tour the rusting former Bethlehem Steel plant and attend outdoor events beneath its towering blast furnaces. After years of decline, Bethlehem has rebounded thanks to a picturesque Main Street, its reputation as a twinkling Christmastime destination, and its status as the United States’ newest UNESCO World Heritage site.
Savannah, Georgia: America’s Most Haunted City Tops an Underrated List
Some call Savannah, Georgia, America’s most haunted city, a reputation that helped it top a Talker Media travel poll of underrated destinations, according to Reader’s Digest. Fall offers the lightest crowds. Highlights include City Market, an open-air marketplace of restaurants and galleries, and Forsyth Park’s 30 acres in the Historic District. The boutique Perry Lane Hotel anchors that neighborhood with a rooftop pool.
Juneau, Alaska: A Capital City Surrounded by Wilderness
Juneau, Alaska, is the nation’s largest state capital by land mass, and one of the most remote, reachable mainly by cruise ship or plane. It made CNN’s 2026 list on the strength of peaks that stay snow-capped well into summer. The city sits inside a rain forest and has its own glacier. Its wildlife neighbors include bears, mountain goats, and whales, a world away from a typical American town.
Duluth, Minnesota: The Outdoor Escape Beating Bigger Midwest Cities
Outside magazine and the Washington Post have both named Duluth, Minnesota, one of the country’s best cities for outdoor adventure, with mountain biking as a particular draw. Reader’s Digest calls it an alternative to Minneapolis, Chicago, or Denver. Visitors can ride the North Shore Scenic Railroad for views of Lake Superior and the Northwoods, then visit the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. The Solglimt bed-and-breakfast in Canal Park runs on solar power and composts its scraps.
Iowa City, Iowa: Where Literature and Pie-Shakes Collide
Everyone, even the taxi drivers, seems to have ink-stained fingers in Iowa City, Iowa, which CNN called America’s engine room of literature in its 2026 rankings. Author Kurt Vonnegut once walked its streets, part of a literary legacy the city still leans into. Beyond books, visitors can grab a pie-shake at a vintage diner CNN describes as presidentially approved, then head to a neighboring town entirely dedicated to Star Trek.
Estes Park, Colorado: The Budget Base Camp for Rocky Mountain National Park
Reader’s Digest called Estes Park, Colorado, a budget-minded base camp for Rocky Mountain National Park, with golden aspens in fall, cross-country skiing in winter, and fly-fishing, mountain biking, and hiking in spring. Wildside 4×4 leads on- and off-road tours for photo opportunities. The YMCA of the Rockies, spanning more than 860 acres bordered on three sides by the park, offers family cabins popular for multigenerational trips.
Greenville, South Carolina: The One Town Both Lists Picked
One town made both lists. CNN ranked Greenville, South Carolina, third overall, citing its urban waterfall at Falls Park and a bike trail linking neighborhoods to a small town 10 miles north, part of what the outlet described as a 50-year overnight success story. Reader’s Digest, which notes the city was once known as Pleasantburg, pointed to Main Street’s more than 120 locally owned shops and restaurants, including Halls Chophouse’s farm-to-fork Southern menu. When two lists agree, that’s worth noting.
