These 10 US Small Towns Are Must-Visits
Big cities like Nashville and New York get all the travel hype, don’t they? When people plan vacations, they typically flock to popular destinations, but the lesser-known small towns of America offer opportunities that popular spots simply don’t.
America is a treasure trove of charming small towns scattered across the country. These hidden gems make prime vacation destinations, for reasons varying from their natural landscape, historical districts, cultural significance, preserved architecture, and local festivities.
We put together a list of the most visit-worthy small towns, but to be honest- this is just scratching the surface! These small town getaways in the U.S. offer visitors great vacation experiences, and what these towns lack in size is made up for in personality and opportunity!
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Photo credit: Eureka Springs City Advertising & Promotion Commission
Why should you visit?
Eureka Springs makes for a sensational small town getaway. It is a gorgeous small town in the Ozark mountains, offering a variety of activities such as unique shopping, dining, events, and outdoor adventures. Known for its pristine Victorian architecture, proximity to hot springs and its bathhouses, and spot on the National Register of Historical Places, Eureka Springs is a vibrant and funky town. You will enjoy exploring the winding, hilly, bohemian streets both by day and night, as downtown pops with music events, celebrations, art walks, resort-like glamor, and old-school galleries.
Apart from its cultural quirks, Eureka Springs also provides ample opportunity for outdoor adventure. Lush northern Arkansas abounds with lakes, rivers, and forests, making kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, ziplines, and horseback riding very popular.
Can’t-Miss Highlights:
Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine
Photo credit: Ugur Yurt
Why should you visit?
Bar Harbor is a beloved and lovely coastal town in Maine, offering every attraction and amenity that you could wish for in a small town vacation spot on the beautiful New England coastline. Bar Harbor is actually on an island, Mount Desert Island, and the small town has been drawing visitors since the mid 1800s! Serving as the gateway to one of the most popular national parks in America, Acadia National Park, there are exquisite mountain summits, lakes, forests, and outdoor adventure awaiting you.
Bar Harbor’s picturesque shoreline is one that will leave you dreaming of peaceful Maine coastlines every summer after your visit. Sailboats dot the horizon and fishermen wander in and out of the port, carrying the seafood that will soon populate the menu of the delicious downtown restaurants.
They like to say that there is always something happening in Bar Harbor! You can find charming diners, award-winning seafood restaurants, artisan crafts and shopping, wellness retreats, outdoor music and art events.
Can’t-Miss Highlights:
Frenchman Bay
Bar Harbor Town Pier
Schoodic Peninsula
Bisbee, Arizona
Photo credit: Jack Kelly
Why should you visit?
You don’t really wander into Bisbee, Arizona by accident. Located in the Mule Mountains of southeast Arizona, Bisbee is a mere 11 miles north of the Mexican border. A quirky town that prides itself on its funky and grunge culture, Bisbee is a town where you talk to local artists in their galleries, reminisce its former mining glory, attend evening ghost tours, and revel in the remoteness of the Arizona desert. A huge hippie town, Bisbee will amuse and delight you to no end.
Bisbee, the “Queen of the Copper Mines,” made its name and roots in mining, a historical aspect that it has still proudly preserved to this day. At one point, 25% of the world’s copper production stemmed from there! They offer tours of the mines, art shows and musical events.
Bisbee is also closely located to other destinations such as Tombstone, another personality-filled cowboy town, and Chiricahua National Monument, which is home to stunning and unique southwest American terrain.
Can’t-Miss Highlights:
Telluride, Colorado
Photo credit: Jack Kelly
Why should you visit?
Telluride, if for nothing else, would be made visit-worthy for its spectacular location in a box canyon (aptly named Telluride Canyon), meaning it is hemmed in on nearly all sides by intense, towering mountain walls. The picturesque historic streets are backdropped dramatically by these walls, offering an impressive aesthetic. Besides its stunning geography and charming architecture, Telluride is globally recognized for its festivals for art, music, and culture. Performers, athletes, and artists recognize Telluride as a cultural hub, and the events calendar is always populated.
Walking these streets you will enjoy the fusion of artistic, mountain-bum, and bougie vibes. There is an impressive assortment of resort-like leisure, enviable shopping, and fine dining. You can also get walking tours of the Art District and take a free gondola ride for a summit view!
Any outdoor enthusiast will be thrilled with the quick access to all types of mountain sports, from hiking to fly-fishing to whitewater rafting on the San Miguel River to world-class skiing. Southwestern Colorado is an incredibly diverse and entertaining part of the country.
Can’t-Miss Highlights:
Bridal Veil Hike
Bear Creek Falls
Medora, North Dakota
Photo credit: Ugur Yurt
Why should you visit?
Medora is a rustic, endearing small town destination in North Dakota that keeps old Western culture alive through its lively landscape, attractions, and well-preserved history. Here you rediscover a respect for the Wild West when horses were ridden up and down the streets, stagecoaches barreled through town, and saloons were populated with handlebar mustache-sporting cattle hands.
With a population of only 132, Medora is remote, peaceful, and offers a huge personality for such a small place. Cherishing the town’s finely-preserved historical significance, the exquisite Burning Hills Amphitheatre's Medora Musical offers music, live events, reenactments, and more. Besides this small town’s personality, the landscape is spectacularly unique. Medora is a hub for traffic into the Badlands and a gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Can’t-Miss Highlights:
These five charming small towns are only a few of the many scattered over the United States. We highly encourage a visit to any of these small towns; put them on your bucket list! Happy travels!
Flagstaff, Arizona
Photo by Jasmine Coro
Why Should You Visit?
Flagstaff is the best town to beat the heat in the state of Arizona and makes a romantic, eclectic small town getaway that satisfies all types of travelers. Put on the map by Route 66, it is gorgeously situated in the San Francisco Mountains and hosts an enchanting old-school downtown. Being in Northern Arizona, it has all four seasons and the most snowfall in the entire state. Outdoors lovers will revel in the natural beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities, no matter what season you go. The fall is immaculate with gorgeous foliage blooming in aspen tree forests around Humphreys Peak.
Flagstaff is a small college town and snowbird community, attracting people of all ages and interests. You are just as likely to meet an international traveler as a retiree as a college student in the same adorable coffee shop on the corner (try Macy’s or Late for the Train). Besides the outdoor opportunities, there is shopping, thrifting, live music, attractive restaurants, and guided tours to destinations such as the Grand Canyon or Antelope Canyon.
Can’t Miss Highlights:
Moab, Utah
Photo by Dino Reichmuth
Why Should You Visit?
Outdoor recreational paradise in the desert: that is Moab. You can scarcely find a destination better designed for outdoor sports, because Moab truly has it all. To name a few: ATV’s, skydiving, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, dirt biking, camping, jeep tours. Its proximity to Arches National Park, Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Capitol Reef National Park draws all nature—and adventure—lovers.
The minimalist town itself is a one-strip that you can drive through in four minutes: tiny, but somehow provides all you need with interesting shops, restaurants, and lodging. Moab has stayed small and remote, despite growing popularity, and its remote location in the middle of the expansive Utah backcountry make it a destination to be sought out, not stumbled on. It’s a southwestern and rustic town of taco trucks and turquoise jewelry shops, where everyone on the street sports hiking attire and streaks of red dirt from their most recent desert adventure.
Can’t Miss Highlights:
Cape May, New Jersey
Photo by Dan Mall
Why Should You Visit?
A quaint beach town tucked on the very southward tip of New Jersey, Cape May is known as "America's Original Seaside Resort. This desirable getaway is hard to beat in terms of small town charm, offering some of the nation’s highly rated beaches, historical appeal as a National Historic Landmark, and beautiful Victorian architecture. Besides the stunning stretches of sand, there are wineries to explore, whale watching, historical bed-and-breakfasts, and bird watching. It is ranked as the number one destination of New Jersey!
Can’t Miss Highlights:
Hilo, Hawaii
Photo by Tommy Munoz
Why Should You Visit?
Hilo is a Hawaiian cowboy town, if you can imagine it. The capital of the Big Island offers the very best of the state’s adventures and natural beauty, and sits as the jumping-off point for pristine beaches of black, green, and white sand; waterfalls that plummet hundreds of feet; an active volcano; the southernmost point of the U.S.; cliff-jumping; hiking; and world-class resorts.
Located on a harbor, Hilo is a hippy and beachy small town vacation spot, offering local Hawaiian cuisine, funky goods and fresh food markets, and lush orchid gardens. Hilo is a great base for travelers heading to Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, and Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world. You really get an out of this world experience in this small town!
Can’t Miss Highlights:
Taos, New Mexico
Photo by Isa Macouzet
Why Should You Visit?
Taos is a southwestern gem of a small town vacation destination. This little getaway is beautiful and historical, offering all types of diversions for travelers, and is one of the best places to experience the American Southwest. It is home to a World Heritage Site, world-renowned ski resort, lively arts and music scene, and well-preserved historical downtown built on adobe architecture.
Just a quick drive from Santa Fe, Taos makes a sensational vacation spot with its stunning mountainous landscape, unique art shops, ancient petroglyphs, transcendental adobe structures, and Native American historical and cultural value. It is a gorgeous and visit-worthy small town vacation destination offering a ton to see and do all times of year, no matter what season you go!