Conde Nast Traveler Readers Vote Chicago, Charleston Best Cities

NEW YORK, NY — Conde Nast Traveler has announced the 2018 winners of its Readers’ Choice Awards and some familiar cities made the lists. The New York-based travel magazine said about 429,000 votes were cast in its survey of best cities in America. The list, released Tuesday, is broken up into two — big cities and small cities.

If you’re looking for places to travel, consider South Carolina, home to two of the best small cities in the country, the survey found, including Charleston — the No. 1 ranked small city for the eighth year in a row. Charleston beat out Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Savannah, Georgia, to claim the top spot. The magazine highlighted the city’s history, culture, cuisine and charm — "this city punches like a giant,” the authors wrote.

“Not only can you get world-class barbecue, seafood, and regional Lowcountry classics; you can get them done extraordinarily well, in traditional and modern style,” the magazine said.

To qualify as a small city, Conde Nast only looked at cities with populations under 1 million.

You might also consider Chicago. The Windy City was named the best big city in America for the second year in a row, edging out New York City and New Orleans. The authors highlighted Chicago's top of the line restaurants, breweries and museums. Its people really set the city apart, though. They’re “some of the most pleasant people you'll find anywhere,” the magazine noted.

California had six cities on the two lists, by far the highest number. San Francisco came in at No. 4 in the best big cities ranking and San Diego came in at No. 7. Meanwhile, Monterey came in at No. 7 on the best small cities list followed by Napa at 12.

Click here to see the full list.

Photo of Charleston, South Carolina by Catherine Perry/Patch