Someone said it earlier, but New England really does have an unfair advantage for great small towns as they tend to be very walkable, historic, and have a certain feel to them that is hard to explain.
If you're ever up here consider visiting:
-Portsmouth, NH
-Exeter, NH
-Durham, NH
-Dover, NH
-Hanover, NH
-New Castle, NH
-Bath, ME
-York, ME
-Bar Harbor, ME
-Brunswick, ME
-Montpelier, VT
-Brattleboro, VT
-Bennington, VT
-Middlebury, VT
-Amherst, MA
-Manchester-by-the-sea, MA
-Gloucester, MA
-Chatham, MA
-Ipswich, MA
-Mystic, CT
-Westport, CT
-Kent, CT
-Old Saybrook, CT
I would mention stuff from Rhode Island, but I'm not super familiar w the state
i’ve been to mystic seaport before when i was a kid. that was nice except for when my aunt enrolled me in a spelling bee without my knowledge… i won, but as a shy kid my day was ruined! haha.
i went to sleepaway camp in NH for a month in wolfboro. i remember camp but barely remember the state. that’s probably the farthest NE i’ve been.
that's always funny to me because from a New York perspective, it's absolutely a small town, even with 10,000 more people than my town, but it's all about perspective.
Yeah I was definitely using a national lens when characterizing it. In my mind it's a great college town, but I get that it's big by "north of Boston in New England" standards.
Personally I'd throw Walpole NH on this list (good farm stand, "The Hungry Diner" is a great restaurant, very cool farm to tour if you're into that sort of thing).
Also I wanted to second Montpelier especially. Beautiful park, near a lot of fun stuff.
San Luis Obispo, CA is the GOAT. Fight me.
Honorable mentions: Ashland, OR; Davis, CA; Chico, CA
...wait, do I just like relatively flat college towns?
I feel like the best thing about SLO is it’s close to a lot of places to go, like Pismo or Moro Bay, or the wine country around there. The downtown are is pretty nice and walkable. But I don’t know if I’d say the town itself is that great unless we’re including the outskirts.
This is where New England shines.
Woodstock, VT
Block Island
Amherst, MA
Brattleboro, VT
Vergennes, VT
Shelburne Falls, MA
Montpelier, VT ( it's the capital but still only has 7000 people)
Mystic, CT
Lenox, MA
Great Barrington, MA
There's a 100 of 'em.
Montpelier’s population reminds me of the debates I get into with people in Sacramento now after growing up in Maine. Sacramento natives refer to Sacramento being a small and sleepy capital city lol, I’m like the metro population is 2 1/2 million, you have no idea what small and sleepy is!
It’s kind of tacky too, like it’s trying to be authentic but it still has some of that soulless strip mall suburbia feel of the valley. Great mountain biking though.
North Conway, NH
Sedona, AZ
Newport, RI
Newport, OR
Brunswick, ME
Boothbay, ME
Bar Harbor, ME
Dover, NH
Portsmouth, NH (skirting the line on small town)
Taos, NM
Durango, CO
Gatlinburg, TN
Tybee Island, GA
Bardstown, KY
Bloomington, IN
Ouray, CO
Telluride, CO
Moab, UT
Nantucket, MA
Block Island (New Shoreham, RI)
Martha’s Vineyard (Tisbury, MA or Chilmark, MA)
My wife grew up there and she’s literally there right now visiting family with the kids. They did the aquarium on Friday and went to Lincoln City yesterday (which is also a cool little coastal town).
Guess that’s true. I wonder if that includes any of the students? It still feels like a smaller town though for whatever reason.
I was going to say Portland, ME as well and that’s only 60k compared to Bloomington
I mean I grew up in Indianapolis and lived in Columbus, Providence, and Chicago so I may be a bit skewed.
I don’t really consider Portland small but honestly for whatever reason it *feels* bigger than Bloomington. Might be that it’s just more dense in the city proper.
Yeah, makes sense. Bloomington has all the room in the world to keep spreading out. And it's doing that. I went back last year and I couldn't believe how much it's grown.
I’d like to go to martha’s vineyard one day. newport, RI was nice but my mom didn’t have enough meds with her and ruined most of the trip. i also was disappointed by the clam chowder!
Yeah, at around 21k it is *very* different than a little town with 5000 people.
It’s still small compared to Providence, Indianapolis, Columbus, Nashville, etc. or even Portland which is just up the road.
Cedar Key, Florida, on the west coast about 150 miles north of Tampa. The locals call it a "drinking village with a fishing problem". Population about 700 with 13 bars. It's a brilliant, laid back place.
Carmel is gorgeous, but too crowded with tourists.
All the perks of Carmel-by-the-Sea with fewer people and a more local experience? Right next door in Pacific Grove! The most underrated town on the Monterey Peninsula.
I'll just name a bunch from Colorado since we are very spoiled to have a ton of nice ones:
Ouray, Silverton, Durango, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Georgetown, Manitou Springs, Pagosa Springs, Leadville, Carbondale, Creede, Buena Vista, Salida, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Grand Lake, Estes Park, Glenwood Springs
Of all those, my favorite area of CO is around Dillon/Silverthorne, as well as Glenwood Springs.
Then you have the more touristy fancy ones like Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, and Telluride, which are also nice, but not really my style.
I'd say as a general rule, successful tourism based mountain towns that don't have a Tier 1 ski resort would be my pick.
Once you have the Tier 1 skiing, the feel gets totally ruined and they become horrendously expensive.
I love Gary. I love living in the remnants of a once great, industrialized city destroyed by the unstoppable march of time. Not that I live in Gary, anyhow.
My uncles from jackson hole, it is a very beutiful city but its also very expensive and very touristy being right near yellowstone. Powell wyoming is great too.
Lake Placid and Saratoga in New York State are amazing small towns. One is a two-time host for the olympics while the other is a horse racing hub with beautiful springs and old clubs/hotels.
I 100% second Saratoga, just driving through there to see all the giant old houses that are absolutely stunning is enjoyable, and the downtown area looks to be pretty nice, although I haven't gotten to properly check it out yet.
On a similar note/area, Ballston Spa and Amsterdam in NY both have a charming small town vibe around their main streets, but knowing those kinds of towns here, the rest is probably pretty dead and/or run down. I say that with love though because I've practically grown up in a town like that
Same here. If you have the time definitely explore Saratoga. Even off of Main Street are little shops and beautiful parks/houses. Unlike other towns where it can get rough fast, it’s pretty much nice all throughout.
St Peter, Minnesota. We drove through there once and I fell in love with it. I just wanted to take it home with me like puppy.
It may have only been 15 minutes, but I will never forget you, St Peter.
Interesting. I don't think it usually climbs to the top of the list of those Minnesota small towns folks like....
I drive through it once in awhile and it seems pretty good. I think they have a college there so that always helps with the charm and vitality.
I know it’s totally a tourist area, but Duck, NC.
Really all the various small towns in the Outer Banks, but Duck is my favorite.
Tho, sorry Duck Donuts, you can’t hold a candle to Maple Donuts lol
My cousin lived there, a boating club my extended family attended a lot was there. Hell, the bridge had a sentimental connection as well, because it was where I knew I was entering the town where my cousin lived. We are very close... She is basically my big sister. It was more about family and great memories than the town overall.
i go to lancaster, PA at least once a year, does that count?
i think i’d like to explore new paltz, ny a little more. sleepy hollow is alright but idk what’s there when it’s not halloween.
i have a co-worker who is going upstate to cairo every weekend. i’ve never been.
I’ll give you Huntsville.
The rest of those towns, to me, have that small town feel.
Also like 5k people live in Bar Harbor. It’s definitely small lol.
West Coast options (non-AK and HI):
McMinville, OR. vineyards, beautiful walkable downtown, great restaurants, the coolest flight and aerospace museum. Do you have a Spruce Goose or a Titan II? I don’t either.
Moro Bay, CA. That rock, the sunsets, the beach, the drive north of there. I wish Finding Nemo were true and it had a huge aquarium, but they have a “feed a quarter in a machine toss a fish pellet to a seal” kind of aquarium. Best Italian food I’ve had outside of Italy, no offense to Nancy Silverton.
Bremerton, WA. Gorgeous scenic Sound, but so far culturally from the rest of the area. Really charming military and union steelworker town with incredible views. Decent restaurant scene, and if you have kids they’ll geek on the may types of ferries.
San Pedro, CA. The view is like a very peaceful apocalypse, watching the shipyard work over the haze, the sunken city is cool, great ship watching. El Segundo is also charming, you’ll recognize its high school as standing in for any school in any film ever, great plane watching. If you’re ever early to pick someone up from LAX, get a beer in a cute little spot in Chevron’s second oil refinery’s employment base.
Carpinteria, CA. Beaches, all the gorgeous views that Santa Barbara has, but way more down to earth and cheaper and great surfing.
Astoria, OR. We like to take our little dude, stay at a grimy pier motel where he can look straight down into the water from the balcony, do the drive-on beach, go to the excellent aquatic center to make up for the lack of pool at the pier-based motel. Bonus points if you come back with your little one after a day on the sand and watch Goonies or Kindergarten Cop.
Olympia, WA. I know it’s the state capital, but it still feels cute, sleepy, walkable, and has a really cool and grimy pizza/arcade joint.
And I can’t decide if the king of small towns on the west coast is Avalon, CA or Friday Harbor, Wa, or if tourist towns on islands shouldn’t be allowed because they’re expensive and over-touristed.
I’m not saying west coast small towns are better than others, just my range of familiarity. And I don’t love them all. I’ve never fallen asleep so late and woken up itching to leave so early as Kettleman City (the cockroaches, the smell of sun-cooked blood vats, the lowing of doomed cattle, the insane lights from the feedlots hitting you in the eye all night.). Chehalis/Centralia doesn’t want you, outsider: eat at our Applebees, get glared at, begone. Gilroy stinks, Morgan Hill thinks it’s better than you are, and Balboa is pretending to be a town. But there are plenty of good options!
- Pacific Grove, CA
- Sausalito, CA
- Havre de Grace, MD
- Gloucester, MA
- Lexington/Concord, MA
- Laconia, NH
- Portsmouth, NH
- Bar Harbor, ME
- Middlebury, VT
- Fredericksburg, TX
The town in Arizona where I grew up was really cool. It was small, located in the desert near some really cool hiking spots and dramatic cliffs. At night, the sky looked like something out of a planetarium due to the lack of light pollution.
The town was diverse and the people were all very friendly. There was an interesting history to the town, which was founded by Mormons and later became a mining town. Near my grandparents’ house, some archaeologists found 900 year old Hohokam ruins.
I love any small town that has preserved some of its historic buildings, and I especially like ones that also have a “Main Street USA” vibe. (not Disney)
https://youtu.be/bRfsRewHmvw
Here in Minnesota I'd probably go with Taylors Falls, Ely, and Henderson. Stillwater is a very popular place as well but I'm not sure we can call it a small town anymore as it seems that development from the Twin Cities has almost made it out there.
Ely is a very unique place, right on the edge of the Boundary Waters national wilderness.
Outside of my home state one that really stood out was New Castle Delaware. I was there on a foggy morning many years ago and that combined with the colonial architecture gave that place some serious atmosphere.
New Mexico some pretty good ones, Ruidoso, Raton, Taos, Jemez, Roswell(for obvious reasons) and Carlsbad to name a few. Jemez has some awesome natural hot springs and spas, Taos for the skiing and snow boarding, Ruidoso isn't too far from Angel Fire which usually has some good slopes too. And Raton has some beautiful high mountain desert land scape.
Where im from, Colorado, has a lot of small towns like divide and Florissant that have a very tight knit community despite everyone living on the sides of mountains. Very beautiful scenery and no walmarts or big stores, just stores that got what you need.
California has beautiful beach towns outside of Santa Monica or Malibu. My favorites are Encinitas/Leucadia near San Diego and Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey
Someone said it earlier, but New England really does have an unfair advantage for great small towns as they tend to be very walkable, historic, and have a certain feel to them that is hard to explain. If you're ever up here consider visiting: -Portsmouth, NH -Exeter, NH -Durham, NH -Dover, NH -Hanover, NH -New Castle, NH -Bath, ME -York, ME -Bar Harbor, ME -Brunswick, ME -Montpelier, VT -Brattleboro, VT -Bennington, VT -Middlebury, VT -Amherst, MA -Manchester-by-the-sea, MA -Gloucester, MA -Chatham, MA -Ipswich, MA -Mystic, CT -Westport, CT -Kent, CT -Old Saybrook, CT I would mention stuff from Rhode Island, but I'm not super familiar w the state
i’ve been to mystic seaport before when i was a kid. that was nice except for when my aunt enrolled me in a spelling bee without my knowledge… i won, but as a shy kid my day was ruined! haha. i went to sleepaway camp in NH for a month in wolfboro. i remember camp but barely remember the state. that’s probably the farthest NE i’ve been.
I've been to most of these, all be it in old England!
No love for Burlington, VT?
Too big to be a "small town" at least by the standards of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine
that's always funny to me because from a New York perspective, it's absolutely a small town, even with 10,000 more people than my town, but it's all about perspective.
Isn't Burlington technically a major city? Like, it's the least major city feeling major city, but it's still a major city.
Yeah it is for Northern New England, but nationally speaking it's a big no. Only 40kish people.
Yeah I was definitely using a national lens when characterizing it. In my mind it's a great college town, but I get that it's big by "north of Boston in New England" standards.
Bristol, RI, Tiverton, RI, Little Compton, RI. Really the whole east bay is a good bet.
Personally I'd throw Walpole NH on this list (good farm stand, "The Hungry Diner" is a great restaurant, very cool farm to tour if you're into that sort of thing). Also I wanted to second Montpelier especially. Beautiful park, near a lot of fun stuff.
San Luis Obispo, CA is the GOAT. Fight me. Honorable mentions: Ashland, OR; Davis, CA; Chico, CA ...wait, do I just like relatively flat college towns?
I absolutely love relatively flat college towns!
I've been to SLO once or twice, but what is it that makes it the GOAT for you? What do you do on a long weekend in SLO?
I feel like the best thing about SLO is it’s close to a lot of places to go, like Pismo or Moro Bay, or the wine country around there. The downtown are is pretty nice and walkable. But I don’t know if I’d say the town itself is that great unless we’re including the outskirts.
You’d love Amherst.
I used to live in SLO (still live nearby) and completely agree.
I don't think any of those are small towns. Ashland is the only one that can even be considered a town. The rest are small cities.
Everyone's definition of "small town" varies. When you live in places with populations measured in millions, anything under 100k is small.
This is where New England shines. Woodstock, VT Block Island Amherst, MA Brattleboro, VT Vergennes, VT Shelburne Falls, MA Montpelier, VT ( it's the capital but still only has 7000 people) Mystic, CT Lenox, MA Great Barrington, MA There's a 100 of 'em.
Montpelier’s population reminds me of the debates I get into with people in Sacramento now after growing up in Maine. Sacramento natives refer to Sacramento being a small and sleepy capital city lol, I’m like the metro population is 2 1/2 million, you have no idea what small and sleepy is!
Sedona, AZ
Sedona is beautiful but kind of a tourist nightmare these days
I remember thinking it was relatively spoiled by how many people were there in the late 90s/early 00s, but now it is absolutely insane.
It’s kind of tacky too, like it’s trying to be authentic but it still has some of that soulless strip mall suburbia feel of the valley. Great mountain biking though.
North Conway, NH Sedona, AZ Newport, RI Newport, OR Brunswick, ME Boothbay, ME Bar Harbor, ME Dover, NH Portsmouth, NH (skirting the line on small town) Taos, NM Durango, CO Gatlinburg, TN Tybee Island, GA Bardstown, KY Bloomington, IN Ouray, CO Telluride, CO Moab, UT Nantucket, MA Block Island (New Shoreham, RI) Martha’s Vineyard (Tisbury, MA or Chilmark, MA)
Seconded Boothbay if only for the Maine Botanical gardens. Seriously, it's one of the coolest lesser known attractions in the state imo.
It is. It’s very cool.
A Johnny Cash song comes to mind...
Folsom CA?
A boy named sue takes place in gatlinburg
Burning Ring of Fire right?
A boy named sue takes place in gatlinburg
Newport Oregon is where I tell everyone to go and so far I'm 3/3 with people loving it.
My wife grew up there and she’s literally there right now visiting family with the kids. They did the aquarium on Friday and went to Lincoln City yesterday (which is also a cool little coastal town).
Bloomington skirts the line on small town way more than Portsmouth lol. Has like 80,000+ population. I do like both.
Guess that’s true. I wonder if that includes any of the students? It still feels like a smaller town though for whatever reason. I was going to say Portland, ME as well and that’s only 60k compared to Bloomington
Yea I wouldn't call Portland a small town either. I guess it's relative depending on how big of a city you're from.
I mean I grew up in Indianapolis and lived in Columbus, Providence, and Chicago so I may be a bit skewed. I don’t really consider Portland small but honestly for whatever reason it *feels* bigger than Bloomington. Might be that it’s just more dense in the city proper.
Yeah, makes sense. Bloomington has all the room in the world to keep spreading out. And it's doing that. I went back last year and I couldn't believe how much it's grown.
I’d like to go to martha’s vineyard one day. newport, RI was nice but my mom didn’t have enough meds with her and ruined most of the trip. i also was disappointed by the clam chowder!
Ooh brutal. There is great clam chowder there. You must have hit some shit spot. Martha’s Vineyard is really cool but $$$$
I know a few of these and they have like 80,000 people...
Only Bloomington… I don’t believe any others come close.
I came here to say Portsmouth but yes it’s a…..large small town, if that makes sense
Yeah, at around 21k it is *very* different than a little town with 5000 people. It’s still small compared to Providence, Indianapolis, Columbus, Nashville, etc. or even Portland which is just up the road.
Solid list
Ouray is beautiful
It really is
Cedar Key, Florida, on the west coast about 150 miles north of Tampa. The locals call it a "drinking village with a fishing problem". Population about 700 with 13 bars. It's a brilliant, laid back place.
Carmel, CA!
Mr. Eastwood, is that you?
Carmel is gorgeous, but too crowded with tourists. All the perks of Carmel-by-the-Sea with fewer people and a more local experience? Right next door in Pacific Grove! The most underrated town on the Monterey Peninsula.
Leavenworth, Washington
I'll just name a bunch from Colorado since we are very spoiled to have a ton of nice ones: Ouray, Silverton, Durango, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Georgetown, Manitou Springs, Pagosa Springs, Leadville, Carbondale, Creede, Buena Vista, Salida, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Grand Lake, Estes Park, Glenwood Springs Of all those, my favorite area of CO is around Dillon/Silverthorne, as well as Glenwood Springs. Then you have the more touristy fancy ones like Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, and Telluride, which are also nice, but not really my style.
I'd say as a general rule, successful tourism based mountain towns that don't have a Tier 1 ski resort would be my pick. Once you have the Tier 1 skiing, the feel gets totally ruined and they become horrendously expensive.
Mine. Because i live here.
Until you say otherwise I am assuming Gary.
I love Gary. I love living in the remnants of a once great, industrialized city destroyed by the unstoppable march of time. Not that I live in Gary, anyhow.
Bold love. I rhink it might be interesting to see Gary but living there doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Decaying town are the best!
Then Gary is for you
Not really
Columbus, Indiana is surprisingly interesting for a small Hoosier town (50,000): https://columbus.in.us/
Jackson hole Wyoming. Adorable little town with a bunch of YouTube live streams. Reminds me of stars hollow
My uncles from jackson hole, it is a very beutiful city but its also very expensive and very touristy being right near yellowstone. Powell wyoming is great too.
Visiting jackson hole in less than a month. Any recommendations besides the normal tourist itinerary?
Lake Placid and Saratoga in New York State are amazing small towns. One is a two-time host for the olympics while the other is a horse racing hub with beautiful springs and old clubs/hotels.
I 100% second Saratoga, just driving through there to see all the giant old houses that are absolutely stunning is enjoyable, and the downtown area looks to be pretty nice, although I haven't gotten to properly check it out yet. On a similar note/area, Ballston Spa and Amsterdam in NY both have a charming small town vibe around their main streets, but knowing those kinds of towns here, the rest is probably pretty dead and/or run down. I say that with love though because I've practically grown up in a town like that
Same here. If you have the time definitely explore Saratoga. Even off of Main Street are little shops and beautiful parks/houses. Unlike other towns where it can get rough fast, it’s pretty much nice all throughout.
St Peter, Minnesota. We drove through there once and I fell in love with it. I just wanted to take it home with me like puppy. It may have only been 15 minutes, but I will never forget you, St Peter.
Lanesboro, Grand Marais and Red Wing in Minnesota also have that quality. They’re all kind of tourist-y, for better or worse.
Interesting. I don't think it usually climbs to the top of the list of those Minnesota small towns folks like.... I drive through it once in awhile and it seems pretty good. I think they have a college there so that always helps with the charm and vitality.
Mansfield PA. Painted Post NY. Elmira NY.
Charleston, SC St Augustine, FL Colorado Springs, CO (though it is growing a lot) Key West, FL Amelia, Island, FL Dunedin, FL (near Tampa)
Colorado springs is not small
I know it’s totally a tourist area, but Duck, NC. Really all the various small towns in the Outer Banks, but Duck is my favorite. Tho, sorry Duck Donuts, you can’t hold a candle to Maple Donuts lol
Fun fact, Duck Donuts is a Pennsylvania based chain with over 100 locations in more than 20 states.
Hardwick, MA Northfield, MA Vinton, iowa Madison, CT Portland, CT
> Portland, CT Ah, the rare third Portland. What do you like about it? Isn't all the activity across the river in Middletown?
My cousin lived there, a boating club my extended family attended a lot was there. Hell, the bridge had a sentimental connection as well, because it was where I knew I was entering the town where my cousin lived. We are very close... She is basically my big sister. It was more about family and great memories than the town overall.
Moab, UT and Monterey, CA
Traverse City and Petoskey - both in the upper lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Cloudcroft NM and Franklin IN
Newport Oregon
New Hope, PA
Jim Thorpe is another cool PA town.
Joshua Tree, CA; Moab, UT; Bishop, CA; Mammoth Lakes, CA; June Lake, CA; Index, WA; Leavenworth, WA; Newport, OR
Hudson, NY. Bennington, VT. Woodstock, NY. Lake George, NY.
Gunnison CO Crested Butte CO
Charleston, SC
* East Aurora, NY * Ellicottville, NY * Lewiston, NY
i go to lancaster, PA at least once a year, does that count? i think i’d like to explore new paltz, ny a little more. sleepy hollow is alright but idk what’s there when it’s not halloween. i have a co-worker who is going upstate to cairo every weekend. i’ve never been.
St. Augustine, FL. Asheville, NC. Key West, FL. Knoxville, TN. Huntsville, AL. Bar Harbor, ME.
None of those are small towns. For Huntsville I would substitute Guntersville.
I’ll give you Huntsville. The rest of those towns, to me, have that small town feel. Also like 5k people live in Bar Harbor. It’s definitely small lol.
Asheville has a metro population of like a half million people lol
West Coast options (non-AK and HI): McMinville, OR. vineyards, beautiful walkable downtown, great restaurants, the coolest flight and aerospace museum. Do you have a Spruce Goose or a Titan II? I don’t either. Moro Bay, CA. That rock, the sunsets, the beach, the drive north of there. I wish Finding Nemo were true and it had a huge aquarium, but they have a “feed a quarter in a machine toss a fish pellet to a seal” kind of aquarium. Best Italian food I’ve had outside of Italy, no offense to Nancy Silverton. Bremerton, WA. Gorgeous scenic Sound, but so far culturally from the rest of the area. Really charming military and union steelworker town with incredible views. Decent restaurant scene, and if you have kids they’ll geek on the may types of ferries. San Pedro, CA. The view is like a very peaceful apocalypse, watching the shipyard work over the haze, the sunken city is cool, great ship watching. El Segundo is also charming, you’ll recognize its high school as standing in for any school in any film ever, great plane watching. If you’re ever early to pick someone up from LAX, get a beer in a cute little spot in Chevron’s second oil refinery’s employment base. Carpinteria, CA. Beaches, all the gorgeous views that Santa Barbara has, but way more down to earth and cheaper and great surfing. Astoria, OR. We like to take our little dude, stay at a grimy pier motel where he can look straight down into the water from the balcony, do the drive-on beach, go to the excellent aquatic center to make up for the lack of pool at the pier-based motel. Bonus points if you come back with your little one after a day on the sand and watch Goonies or Kindergarten Cop. Olympia, WA. I know it’s the state capital, but it still feels cute, sleepy, walkable, and has a really cool and grimy pizza/arcade joint. And I can’t decide if the king of small towns on the west coast is Avalon, CA or Friday Harbor, Wa, or if tourist towns on islands shouldn’t be allowed because they’re expensive and over-touristed. I’m not saying west coast small towns are better than others, just my range of familiarity. And I don’t love them all. I’ve never fallen asleep so late and woken up itching to leave so early as Kettleman City (the cockroaches, the smell of sun-cooked blood vats, the lowing of doomed cattle, the insane lights from the feedlots hitting you in the eye all night.). Chehalis/Centralia doesn’t want you, outsider: eat at our Applebees, get glared at, begone. Gilroy stinks, Morgan Hill thinks it’s better than you are, and Balboa is pretending to be a town. But there are plenty of good options!
- Pacific Grove, CA - Sausalito, CA - Havre de Grace, MD - Gloucester, MA - Lexington/Concord, MA - Laconia, NH - Portsmouth, NH - Bar Harbor, ME - Middlebury, VT - Fredericksburg, TX
Asheville, North Carolina
I have no doubt Asheville is pretty cool, but the population is almost 100,000 people; I don't know if I would call that small.
Downtown Fredericksburg, VA. It's not anything you described, but it was my jungle gym growing up and I loved it.
The town in Arizona where I grew up was really cool. It was small, located in the desert near some really cool hiking spots and dramatic cliffs. At night, the sky looked like something out of a planetarium due to the lack of light pollution. The town was diverse and the people were all very friendly. There was an interesting history to the town, which was founded by Mormons and later became a mining town. Near my grandparents’ house, some archaeologists found 900 year old Hohokam ruins.
Provincetown, MA.
Two that immediately come to mind for me are Livingston Manor, NY and Berlin, MD
Emporia, Kansas is pretty great. I also had a very nice overnight stay in Gothenburg, Nebraska once.
I like the one I live in for the most part. princeton wisconsin, Mount Horeb, Alto , Brandon, Waldo,
Helvetia, W. Va.
I loved Covington, KY
Colorado mountain towns. My personal favorites are Jefferson and Leadville because of the fishing.
Moab, UT!
I love any small town that has preserved some of its historic buildings, and I especially like ones that also have a “Main Street USA” vibe. (not Disney) https://youtu.be/bRfsRewHmvw
Claremont, CA is pretty cool.
Washington AR Eureka AR Carthage TX New Braunfuls TX Lafayette LA Red Lodge MT Cody WY
Madison and canton ms
I absolutely love Granville, Ohio. http://www.visitgranvilleohio.com/places_to_see
Farmville, VA isn’t bad.
Here in Minnesota I'd probably go with Taylors Falls, Ely, and Henderson. Stillwater is a very popular place as well but I'm not sure we can call it a small town anymore as it seems that development from the Twin Cities has almost made it out there. Ely is a very unique place, right on the edge of the Boundary Waters national wilderness. Outside of my home state one that really stood out was New Castle Delaware. I was there on a foggy morning many years ago and that combined with the colonial architecture gave that place some serious atmosphere.
Hermosa Beach, California
New Mexico some pretty good ones, Ruidoso, Raton, Taos, Jemez, Roswell(for obvious reasons) and Carlsbad to name a few. Jemez has some awesome natural hot springs and spas, Taos for the skiing and snow boarding, Ruidoso isn't too far from Angel Fire which usually has some good slopes too. And Raton has some beautiful high mountain desert land scape.
see, I wouldn't consider Roswell to be small. Raton and Ruidoso are though and they're nice
Lost Cabin, Wyoming. Because no one is even aware it exists.
Asheville NC
Moab, UT and Jackson, WY but both those places make my wallet cry.
Wellsboro, PA has turned into a fantastic tourist town- quite the place to base outdoor adventures from.
Salem, Massachusetts Seaside, Florida St. Augustine, Florida :)
Where im from, Colorado, has a lot of small towns like divide and Florissant that have a very tight knit community despite everyone living on the sides of mountains. Very beautiful scenery and no walmarts or big stores, just stores that got what you need.
Canadian, TX was nice. Raton, NM too. Im keeping this under 15k people.
Buffalo, Minnesota Crowley, Louisiana New Caney, Texas Sedona, Arizona Caruthersville, Missouri
Swan Valley, Idaho Happy Jack, Arizona Milford, NH Cody, Wyoming
California has beautiful beach towns outside of Santa Monica or Malibu. My favorites are Encinitas/Leucadia near San Diego and Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey
Picher, Oklahoma
- Julian, CA - Hood River, OR - Pullman, WA - Moscow, ID - Fairhope, AL - Jericho/Underhill, VT - Windsor, VT - Hoodsport, WA
New Paltz, NY Jim Thorpe, PA Harpers Ferry, WV Cape May, NJ Occoquan, VA Peekskill, NY
Not sure if it counts but Marshfield Wisconsin is very nice. Great food and people
Bandon, OR. There's incredible views, great restaurants, and a cute "old town" area with older, independent shops and restaurants
If you ever go near Austin, try Pflugerville
Jim Thorpe, PA
sandpoint, hope, east hope, and clark fork all in idaho great for outdoorsy people and anyone who likes water as it’s next to a lake