How Many of the Most Beautiful Towns in America are in Illinois?
A popular travel magazine ranked the 26 Most Beautiful Towns in America, so how many of them are from the Land of Lincoln? The list has me very confused.
Zero. None. Zip. Nada... That's how many towns from Illinois made the list of The 26 Most Beautiful Towns in America, and that ain't right. The list of beautiful towns was put together by the wildly popular, and very upscale magazine/website Conde Nast Traveller, and they set out to avoid cities like Chicago, New York City, San Fransisco, and other beautiful big cities and instead focus on the small towns. In the description of the article before starting the list of towns they say...
"Whether they have over-the-top American charm... or proximity to some of the loveliest landscapes on earth... these idylls are worth a stopover, at the very least. And don't worry, you won't run out of things to do: These small towns are home to local boutiques, tons of outdoor activities, and restaurant-to-people ratios that lean way in your favour."
The list does include some spectacularly beautiful towns like Lake Placid, NY, Sedona, AZ, Sitka, Alaska, and Telluride, Colorado, ALL of which are very deserving to be on the list. I can personally only say I have been to two of the towns on the list Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, both are very beautiful. To see the full list for yourself just click here!
But even though all of those towns are fantastic I can't help but feel this list is biased away from Midwestern flat states, Illinois is not represented on the list and neither is Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, or either Dakota, and while yes Illinois and most of these states aren't geographically stunning like Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine, I still feel like there should be some love given to the beautiful small towns of the plains states. If you were going to put at least one town from Illinois what town would you choose? Galena would be mine, but I'm sure I'm missing some.