2 Maine towns rank among the country's 25 best to visit, US News says
FILE PHOTO / LAURIE SCHREIBER
Bar Harbor outscored small towns nationwide to be ranked as the best to visit, according to U.S. News & World Report.
As tourists are predicted to come out in force this summer, there’s more evidence Maine may be high on their itineraries.
Bar Harbor ranked No. 1 and Kennebunkport was No. 21 on the list of the “Best Small Towns to Visit in the USA,” published Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.
The annual ranking evaluates places nationwide “with a population of less than 50,000 people that offer plenty of restaurants and attractions, plus have a unique character all their own,” the publisher says.
Results are based on a combination of scores submitted by readers and by U.S. News editors, considering criteria such as sights, shopping and value.
Bar Harbor bested second-ranked Telluride, Colo., and bronze medalist Jackson Hole, Wyo., and was the only town in the Northeast to make the top 10. Kennebunkport ranked just behind Sun Valley, Idaho, and just ahead of Hood River, Ore.
U.S. News said, “Bar Harbor is small-town Maine at its finest,” and called Kennebunkport “an ideal getaway for all kinds of travelers.”
Among New England states, Massachusetts placed two towns within the list’s top 25: Martha’s Vineyard, No. 17, and Salem, No. 25. In Vermont, Stowe ranked No. 18.
The rankings are just the most recent for Maine. In March, travel website Expedia ranked three Maine towns among the country’s 25 “friendliest”: Kennebunkport, was No. 7 in the U.S.; Ogunquit, No. 9; and Bar Harbor, No. 16.
U.S. News & World Report has published its namesake magazine since 1933, and today calls itself "the global authority in rankings."
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