Need to get away? We asked 10Best and USA TODAY readers to vote for their favorite small towns weekend escapes – towns with populations of under 25,000 that are all within 150 miles of major metros, making them easily reachable whether you fly and rent a car or live nearby. After four weeks of voting, the results are in!
The top 10 winners in the category Best Small Town Weekend Escape are as follows:
- Saugatuck, Mich.
- Granbury, Texas
- Sedona, Ariz.
- Lauderdale-by-the Sea, Fla.
- Estes Park, Colo.
- Dahlonega, Ga.
- Hudson, N.Y.
- Middleburg, Va.
- Friday Harbor, Wash.
- Leiper’s Fork, Tenn.
A panel of experts picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Larry Bleiberg (LarryBleiberg.com), Deborah Fallows (American Futures), Anna Hider (Roadtrippers), Libby McMillan and the 10Best team of Local Experts were chosen based on their extensive knowledge of American travel.
Other towns nominated for the title Best Small Town Weekend Escape included Beaufort, S.C.; Dundee, Ore.; Fernandina Beach, Fla.; Fredericksburg, Texas; Healdsburg, Calif.; Julian, Calif.; Key Largo, Fla.; Lambertville-New Hope, Penn./N.J.; Ojai, Calif. and St. Michaels, Md.
Congratulations to all our winning small towns!
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The Experts
Larry Bleiberg
Larry Bleiberg, a veteran journalist with... Read More
Larry Bleiberg, a veteran journalist with magazine, newspaper and web experience and a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, has spent much of his career living in, and writing about, the South. The Virginia native is former travel editor of the Dallas Morning News and Coastal Living magazine and founder of CivilRightsTravel.com. He served on a Pulitzer Prize team, is a seven-time Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award winner, and was honored for producing the best newspaper travel section in North America. Learn more at LarryBleiberg.com or facebook.com/larry.bleiberg.
Larry Bleiberg

Larry Bleiberg, a veteran journalist with magazine, newspaper and web experience and a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, has spent much of his career living in, and writing about, the South. The Virginia native is former travel editor of the Dallas Morning News and Coastal Living magazine and founder of CivilRightsTravel.com. He served on a Pulitzer Prize team, is a seven-time Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award winner, and was honored for producing the best newspaper travel section in North America. Learn more at LarryBleiberg.com or facebook.com/larry.bleiberg.
Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She... Read More
Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She and her husband, the writer James Fallows, continue crisscrossing the country in their small plane, reporting on the reinvention of small towns. Their national best-selling book on the project, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, was published in May, 2018. They are currently in production with HBO on a documentary based on the book. Deb has written extensively on language, culture, travel and China for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times and The Washington Monthly. Her 2010 book, Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, is based on her 3-year experience living and working in China.
Deborah Fallows

Deborah Fallows is a writer and a linguist. She and her husband, the writer James Fallows, continue crisscrossing the country in their small plane, reporting on the reinvention of small towns. Their national best-selling book on the project, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, was published in May, 2018. They are currently in production with HBO on a documentary based on the book. Deb has written extensively on language, culture, travel and China for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times and The Washington Monthly. Her 2010 book, Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, is based on her 3-year experience living and working in China.
Anna Hider
Anna is a writer and social media manager for
Anna is a writer and social media manager for Roadtrippers, the coolest trip-planning site and app on the planet, where she's spent two years digging up the coolest off-the-beaten-path things for travelers to see and do. She loves hiking, exploring, and sometimes even getting lost in a good state park, and is definitely a sucker for any place with a waterfall, a ghost town or a beach.
Anna Hider

Anna is a writer and social media manager for Roadtrippers, the coolest trip-planning site and app on the planet, where she's spent two years digging up the coolest off-the-beaten-path things for travelers to see and do. She loves hiking, exploring, and sometimes even getting lost in a good state park, and is definitely a sucker for any place with a waterfall, a ghost town or a beach.
Libby McMillan
Longtime travel journalist Libby McMillan often... Read More
Longtime travel journalist Libby McMillan often escapes on weekends via car or plane. She's personally visited many of this category's nominees and now has the rest on her bucket list.
Libby McMillan

Longtime travel journalist Libby McMillan often escapes on weekends via car or plane. She's personally visited many of this category's nominees and now has the rest on her bucket list.
10Best Local Experts
10Best Local Experts provide users with original,... Read More
10Best Local Experts provide users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. No business pays to be listed. Our Local Experts are well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about, with constantly updated content.
10Best Local Experts

10Best Local Experts provide users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. No business pays to be listed. Our Local Experts are well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about, with constantly updated content.