Alexandria Ranks Third On Condé Nast Traveler's Small City In The U.S.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria has once again been ranked among the likes of other notable small cities in the U.S.

The city ranked third on the "Best Small Cities in the U.S" list as part of the 2025 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards. It ranked just behind Charleston, South Carolina and Santa Fe, New Mexico and ahead of destinations like St. Augustine in Florida, San Juan in Puerto Rico Savannah in Georgia and Honolulu in Hawaii.

"Most folks start to imagine moving there immediately after setting foot in Old Town, once they’ve strolled the red-brick sidewalks, clocking street after street of perfectly preserved rowhouses from the 18th and 19th centuries," Condé Nast Traveler wrote about Alexandria.

Neighboring Washington, D.C. ranked sixth on the large cities list.

Alexandria has made the top five on the "Best Small Cities in the U.S." list for eight consecutive years since Condé Nast Traveler created the category in 2018. Over 757,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers rated travel experiences around the word for the Readers' Choice awards.

Visit Alexandria, the membership-based tourism organization serving the city, has been seeking high-profile rankings from Condé Nast Traveler and other national publications as part of its promotion strategy. The organization points to evidence that the rankings contribute to travelers' decisions to visit Alexandria. Tourism supports the city's consumption tax revenues to support core city services.

The top small cities ranked by Condé Nast Traveler are:

1. Charleston, South Carolina

2. Santa Fe, New Mexico

3. Alexandria, Virginia

4. St. Augustine, Florida

5. San Juan, Puerto Rico

6. Savannah, Georgia

7. Oakland, California

8. Lexington, Kentucky

9. Honolulu, Hawaii

10. Pensacola, Florida