{"id":51659,"date":"2025-07-09T14:57:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51659\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T14:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:57:09","slug":"ithaca-ny-ranked-the-best-town-to-visit-in-america-by-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51659\/","title":{"rendered":"Ithaca NY ranked the best town to visit in America by CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/74299765007-lake-town-1.JPG\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Eight charming towns in the Finger Lakes<\/p>\n<p>Explore eight charming towns in the Finger Lakes, each with unique attractions. From historic Seneca Falls to the grape-renowned Naples, discover the gems of this scenic region.<\/p>\n<p>An upstate New York town has earned the top spot on CNN Travel\u2019s 2025 list of Best Towns in America to Visit.<\/p>\n<p>Ithaca was ranked No. 1, beating out hundreds of contenders across the country. CNN Travel evaluated towns based on a mix of factors, including food, attractions, local culture, and overall uniqueness.<\/p>\n<p>Why Ithaca topped the list<\/p>\n<p>Ithaca\u2019s natural beauty helped secure its win. Located in the Finger Lakes region, the town is famous for its hundreds of waterfalls and gorges\u2014including those at Buttermilk Falls and Robert H. Treman State Park\u2014inspiring the tagline \u201cIthaca is gorges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CNN also praised the town\u2019s vibrant cultural scene. Longtime favorites like the Ithaca Farmers Market and South Hill Cider (known for guided tastings and live music) offer memorable experiences. Arts and entertainment spots like the historic State Theatre, Hangar Theatre, and Cinemapolis add to the charm, while the Dalai Lama Library and Learning Center provides meditation sessions open to the public.<\/p>\n<p>Downtown, the Ithaca Commons is home to over 100 shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>A college town with rich experiences<\/p>\n<p>Ithaca\u2019s two colleges\u2014Cornell University and Ithaca College\u2014contribute to its diversity, creativity, and energy. Free concerts, college sports, and campus attractions like Cornell Cinema, the Cornell Botanic Gardens, and the Johnson Museum of Art enrich the town\u2019s cultural life.<\/p>\n<p>Standout food and drink<\/p>\n<p>CNN Travel spotlighted Ithaca\u2019s cider scene, with about a dozen local producers, and its plant-based dining, inspired by nearby farms. Highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Moosewood Restaurant: America\u2019s longest-running vegetarian spot<\/li>\n<li>Angelhearts: Known for its vegan donuts<\/li>\n<li>Asempe Kitchen, Tacos CDMX, Franco\u2019s Pizzeria, and New Delhi Diamond\u2019s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Top places for drinks include The Watershed, The Downstairs, Liquid State Brewing Company, and Personal Best Brewing.<\/p>\n<p>CNN\u2019s top 10 towns to visit in 2025<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ithaca, New York<\/li>\n<li>Missoula, Montana<\/li>\n<li>Asheville, North Carolina<\/li>\n<li>Bend, Oregon<\/li>\n<li>Annapolis, Maryland<\/li>\n<li>Petaluma, California<\/li>\n<li>Las Cruces, New Mexico<\/li>\n<li>Northampton, Massachusetts<\/li>\n<li>Clarksdale, Mississippi<\/li>\n<li>Rapid City, South Dakota<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>How the towns were chosen<\/p>\n<p>CNN Travel received nominations from readers and contributors, then selected 10 finalists based on several criteria: dining, attractions, scenery, travel accessibility, diversity, and each town\u2019s unique character.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica\u2019s most interesting towns bring together the best of a beautiful country,\u201d the report states. \u201cThese destinations show off what makes the United States so distinctive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is CNN Travel\u2019s second annual Best Towns to Visit list, and this year\u2019s picks skew smaller in size\u2014ranging from about 15,000 to 115,000 residents\u2014but all were chosen for their individual \u201cwow factors\u201d and sense of community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eight charming towns in the Finger Lakes Explore eight charming towns in the Finger Lakes, each with unique&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,10755,2542,22075,16228,16233,8972,38697,425,2551,635,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,450,1457,1451,3197,22074,22077,1164,14089,14083,646,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,636],"class_list":{"0":"post-51659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cnn","10":"tag-connect","11":"tag-destinations","12":"tag-geographic","13":"tag-geographic-reference","14":"tag-guides","15":"tag-ithaca","16":"tag-local","17":"tag-local-connect","18":"tag-new","19":"tag-new-york","20":"tag-new-york-city","21":"tag-newyork","22":"tag-newyorkcity","23":"tag-ny","24":"tag-nyc","25":"tag-overall","26":"tag-overall-positive","27":"tag-positive","28":"tag-reference","29":"tag-tourist","30":"tag-tourist-destinations","31":"tag-travel","32":"tag-travel-guides-u0026-travelogues","33":"tag-travelogues","34":"tag-u0026","35":"tag-united-states","36":"tag-united-states-of-america","37":"tag-unitedstates","38":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","39":"tag-us","40":"tag-usa","41":"tag-york"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114823866002339313","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}