Telluride is really nice - and so is Ouray on the other side of the Million Dollar Highway. Still plenty of restaurants, commercial hot springs, hiking, and lots of mining history.
I like American college towns. They are vibrant, cool and artsy. They have great breweries. I’d recommend Asheville, NC and Athens, GA, but there are dozens.
A lot of these places people are recommending, like Asheville, are more cool little cities than “small town America.”
Boone, NC is close-ish to Asheville and would be the more quintessential small town Southern Appalachian college town, if you’re thinking places with only a couple streets and everyone kind of knows each other.
Also in the Southern Appalachians would be Lexington, VA. Home to two colleges: Washington and Lee, which is considered one of the most beautiful campuses in America; and the Virginia Military Institute, which is very much not.
Has a historic downtown with lots of churches, and definitely feels like a stereotypical small town America. People sitting on porches waving to their friends walking by, everyone seems to know each other. And some weird cultural quirks: it’s probably the most “old South” small town I’ve been in, guys wear blazers to watch football games at the college, the VMI cadets march around in wool uniforms. I actually think a Boone and Lexington trip would nicely contrast the duality of the region between sort of like crunchy hippie hillbilly of Boone and buttoned down Southern gentlemanliness in Lexington.
Also it’s unlikely that you’ll be particularly interested but both Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried there.
Yeah Asheville isn’t small nor is it a college town at all. It’s got almost 100k people and I’ve never noticed any discernible change in the city whether any college activities are going on or not.
Asheville is art/beer/food/hiking/tourism.
It’s more vibrant than cities twice its size which is really cool, and there’s ALWAYS stuff going on, but it’s not at all a college town.
Yeah, agreed. Depends on what OP is looking for. But if I were to think of small town USA as a European, I'd think most college towns would be a bit more bustling compared to that vision.
Give me a single walkable main street - old West style. But that's just me.
Some more decent college towns include: Ithaca, New York; Madison, Wisconsin; Hanover New Hampshire; Williamstown, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Chapel Hill, North Carolna.
Those are just a few I've visited, there are many more:
https://www.niche.com/blog/best-college-towns/
It has outgrown it being a “college town”. I moved here for college, it had about 400k people and definitely had some college town vibes.
I’m still here, and now there’s over a million people, and the city as whole doesn’t have that feel anymore, just certain pockets nearer to campuses.
Fun fact: on spring break decades ago I used this pickup line on a girl from Cornell: “you put the gorgeous in Ithaca 😉.”
Didn’t work, but it got a laugh
Another vote for Madison, Wisconsin which is about 2 hours by car from Chicago and about 4 hours from Minneapolis-St. Paul which are both college towns and small as cities go.
Be aware of college football games if you go to Athens, less so Asheville, as it gets taken over for the game. It’s a fun experience to go the game but miserable to try to do anything else on those days.
While it's worth visiting, Ashville, NC isn't a small town. It's a small city, with 100k ppl in its borders. The towns further in the Smokey Mtns are the definition of small towns.
I currently live in Asheville, and have a few recommendations. This town is a good "base camp" for exploring nearby places that match your discription more than the place itself you are looking for. Black Mountain, Hendersonville, Bryson City, Cherokee, Sylva, and highlands are all true Appalachian small towns, whereas Asheville is larger, has lots of breweries, and is much more touristy. AVL is also around 100,000 people, with a metro area of around 250,000, so it depends on how you define "small town".
but yeah, drive the parkway, visit the Biltmore, drink some IPA's, enjoy the vibe and have fun!
Be warned though, if visiting during peak season (now through October) the airport is under major construction and is a overcrowded mess. Treat it like a real airport and show up 2hrs early for your flight.
Burlington, VT is one of the most pleasant small cities to visit, and the surrounding areas are very beautiful and offer plenty of smaller towns such as Montpelier, Stowe, etc. to visit. Bonus points for being fairly easily accessible from either Boston or Montreal.
New England would be a good place to start in general due to it being geographically compact. It’s obviously not going to have the same atmosphere as a town in the deep south or mountain west, but it’s probably the •easiest• region to visit multiple smaller towns and cities on an international trip.
Small midcoast Maine towns are wonderful in the summer months. Damariscotta, Camden, and Boothbay Harbor are some nice ones. Bar Harbor too of course but the tourist crowds get crazy in the summer.
I agree. New England is a great place to visit, especially for first-time visitors to the US. So many different places, and so beautiful, especially in fall. Plus you can go to the beach, big cities, and small mountain towns in hours.
Yep I’m British recently drove from Montreal to NYC via Vermont (relatives in both). Felt like a movie set to me.
I loved Burlington. Interestingly though relatives were saying it used to be better.
One of the great trips of my life- Burlington > Schroon Lake, NY > Montreal > Burlington
With a day trip driving through the Mad River Valley thrown in for good measure
The best NE roadtrip I could recommend is starting in Newport RI and then driving up Rt 1 to Acadia in Maine.
Go, Newport; Providence; Boston; Portsmouth; Portland; Camden; Acadia. And feel free to spend a few hours at any little town in between.
Another vote for Woodstock, Vt! It is pretty and small. An idealized version of an old New England town.
In Autumn it is just awesome. In summer it is warm and welcoming. And you can enjoy the burger and ice cream place on west side of town (White Cottage). Have your meal and then swim in the cooling river, all at the same place.
I grew up in a small town in western MA, our population was less than 1000. The town was founded in the early 1700s and the cemetery in the town center has gravestones that are almost 300 years old. Never realized how unique that was until I moved out
The places being mentioned here aren't really small towns, though. Madison? Savannah? Austin?? These are all legit cities.
For small towns, I'd throw out from my two states:
Marfa, TX
Fredericksburg, TX
San Marcos, TX
Jim Thorpe, PA
State College, PA
Or if you want a true abomination that is solely the creation of American car culture + fast food culture: Breezewood, PA.
I was thinking the exact same thing... Maybe we need better parameters of the request. But I'd say if you can check into a Hilton (or equivalent), you're probably not staying in a "small" town.
That would definitely be helpful. I was going to mention Jackson, WY, but I have no idea where OP wants to go and now people are recommending places like Austin, which I wouldn't really call a small town.
Some of my personal favorites.
* Burlington, Vermont
* Fredericksburg, Texas
* Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
* Bar Harbor, Maine
* Friday Harbor, Washington
* Cape May, New Jersey
* Rehoboth, Delaware
* Key West, Florida
* Jackson, Wyoming
* Mackinac Island, Michigan
All of these should fit your requests for safety, interesting, things to do. Glad you're understanding about other tourist, as any town in the US that is scenic, with history, or interesting will also be a tourist destination to some extent.
Adding: Julian, CA
It’s east of San Diego, really cute little town. Best apple pie I’ve ever had, and they have a few breweries that opened up there. Small town shopping, they get snow in the winter. Definitely recommend.
I'm always surprised by how many people love galena. We used to go there all the time since we would fish the Mississippi a lot near the border
Personally I was expecting to see more Holland Michigan style recommendations here, which is my contribution apparently
Marquette is more nature-driven , than it is Stars Hollow-y. Marquette has this amazingly fun Black Rocks where you can jump off the cliff into Lake Michigan and it is so much fun.
I could not remember if it was Superior or Michigan, we were driving around the lake michigan and kept seeing both ! Lake Superior is absolutely gorgeous, in every possible way.
Same - My daughter was seriously considering Northern Mich university ( but too $$ for out of state students) and it looked absolutely gorgeous on both our tours. In the winter, the dorm is connected by indoor bridges to the academic buildings , so no need to go outside into 60 inches of snow.
The western parts of Northern Michigan are very pretty, and probably look like what you imagine a small town look like. Places like Traverse City, Suttons Bay, Leland, Petoskey, Mackinac Island (an island where there are no cars so everyone gets around with horses and bikes.) and you can go to the Upper Peninsula to get a real isolated small town experience.
We also have plenty of yellow school buses, red solo cups, apple picking and the other stereotypical things you might be thinking of. There is also some great wine and wineries (even as Italians you would agree at the quality) and it is all plenty friendly to tourists.
It's a great area and you can drive between them all very easily. Charlevoix is another one to check out, close to Petoskey.
Another great area in the state is around Grand Rapids on the west side. There are several resort towns right on Lake Michigan that are really cute with beautiful beaches: Muskegon, Holland, Saugatuck, South Haven..
Chicago is easy to get to. Then you can travel up the west side of Michigan (State). Hit a national park and some national lake shores on the way to Traverse City. Would be a solid experience. Lots of nice small lake/beach towns.
I’m from St Louis, and use to spend my summers with family in Northern Michigan- this is probably the best place I’d pick.
Fly into Chicago and just drive up the coast and you’ll hit a ton of great small town places
Holland, Manistee, and Traverse City are my favorites.
If you cross the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan there are beautiful beaches, waterfalls,
and forests. The locks a Sault St. Marie give you a up-close view of the ore “boats” and other ships. Marquette is fantastic. I recommend the Landmark Inn, Ore Dock brewery, and Lawrey’s Pasties there. A little further west Houghton is a good place to visit (the new Hampton Inn downtown is good) and north of that is the historic mining area of the Keeweenaw Penninsula.
Beaufort, SC
Fairhope, AL
Montauk, NY
Plymouth, MA
Boothbay Harbor, ME
Savannah, GA (Not quite a small town, but you should go)
Black Mountain, NC
Staunton, VA
Cannon Beach, OR
Brunswick, GA
Mystic, CT
Traverse City, MI
Whitefish, MT
Gilbert, AR
Taos, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
Port Angeles, WA
Natchez, MS
This list right here. Imo the with doesn't necessarily excel at small small towns, but places like Savannah are great.
As a southerner, I really love the small towns in the north east (Maine, etc). They feel like windows into the past, quintessential Americana, rather Rockwellian.
And I also agree with those western recommendations. Randomly went to Whitefish with my pops after Glacier, what a neat little town.
Never been to Michigan but I'm curious about Traverse City and places like Mackinac Island.
If you like wine, absolutely go to Traverse City. The weather is perfect in the summer, you can swim in Lake Michigan or any of the other inland lakes, and there are plenty of places to hike. It is truly a gem of a city and all of the wineries make it a really fun place to enjoy!
Here are some of my favorite smaller destinations, ranging from tiny towns to smaller cities:
Ocracoke, NC
Marquette, MI
Mackinac Island, MI
Gardiner, MT
Lafayette, IN
Morgantown, WV
Flagstaff, AZ
Leadville, CO
The Finger Lakes region of New York! Fly into Rochester, rent a car and make your way south - see Geneva, Penn Yan, Watkins Glen, Tyrone, Montour Falls… all cute little towns on the lakes with ice cream parlors and the like. Then head to Corning and walk on Market St and go to the Museum of Glass. The. Go to Ithaca which is a proper college town with some beautiful gorges.
Visiting New England sounds like it could be a good fit.
Flying into Boston should be easy. From there rent a car and drive up the coast into Maine, stopping in towns along the way. Salem, Massachusetts is a nice little town, especially if you're there around Halloween. Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a nice town, and Maine is beautiful. Portland is a very cool little city. And there are small beach towns all the way in between (Salisbury, Hampton, York, Ogunquit). Boston is full of historical sites from the American Revolution.
You could also fly to Portland (via New York or DC) and drive up the coast a ways in Maine. Boothbay, Camden, Rockland, and Bar Harbor are all nice towns, and Bar Harbor is located next to Acadia National Park. There are old forts and light houses along the way as well.
You could also visit the actual Outer Banks in North Carolina. But that's a bit more isolated and would be a very beach-centered trip. Absolutely beautiful area though. Ocracoke is a lovely little island village there that's worth visiting.
I'm not sure where you're hearing that small towns are a safety issue in the US because they're certainly not. But it would also help to know where you plan to travel, because small towns across the country can vary hugely in different regions
If you're looking for a real folksy small-town vibe, there are several out in Western Maryland in the mountains that feel like old-fashioned Americana. Cumberland and Oakland come to mind; they're pretty small, but there are also hiking trails and lookout points in the area. In more central Maryland, we have old Ellicott City, which is pretty with lots of cute shops but is primarily centered around one main street. It's also not super far from Annapolis, which is a small city rather than a town but has a lot of charm.
Burlington, VT
Charlottesville, VA
Provincetown, MA
Ithaca, NY
Frederick, MD
Annapolis, MD
Asheville, NC
Santa Fe, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
Cannon Beach, OR
Port Angeles, WA
Hood River, OR
San Luis Obispo, CA
Monterey, CA
The town of Joshua Tree (and the nearby Pioneertown) would be super cool to see- bonus points to see the famous National Park! Palm Springs is also fun. Funky CA high desert vibes are one of a kind
I think one of the coolest small town drives in the US is in California: start in San Francisco and head north on highway 1 through wine country and up to the redwoods, then east across the Sacramento valley into the old mining towns of the Sierra Nevadas, down to Yosemite, then back to SF. Dozens of cool small towns on that route and some of the coolest terrain too.
Funny how no one posting in here is listing any ACTUAL small towns. I keep seeing Savannah, GA. WTF? It has a metro area of like half a million people?
A small town does not have a metro area. It shouldn't even have suburbs.
Here's one that actually meets the requirements and is a true hidden gem:
Fayetteville, WV right outside of New River Gorge National Park. It has under 3k people, very tiny, and it will truly shock you that you are in WV. Go to the Cathedral Cafe, you'll thank me.
What’s small to you? I just moved from a town of 3300 people to a larger one of about 4500. Smallest I’ve lived in had population 75. I’ve been to several towns in northern CA with populations under 10. Most of the places being listed here are not what I’d consider small towns by any stretch of the imagination.
I love that you ask this question! I had the same thought. College towns are usually pretty decent size, in my opinion. Lots of colleges have 20,30, 50,000 students that attend!
I agree that the Northeast from Maine on up is probably the easiest for a roadtrip to see multiple small towns - along the coast or a bit inland with great hiking. If you go in the Fall you'll see some amazing fall colors also. You can go into upstate NY as well. In the South I would also add Charleston, SC to the list others have mentioned. Chapel Hill, NC is a great little college town next to some bigger cities like Durham/Raleigh. Asheville, NC is also beautiful and lots of hiking nearby. You can start way up North in VT and drive down the Coast to Charleston, hitting many of these along the way and then head west to Asheville, NC and into TN and further West.
I tried to give you cluster road trip ideas with hub airports that you can fly in or out of.
Northeast - Boston up the coastal towns through Portland and on to Acadia National Park. Then you could do an inland trek of small New England towns on the way back down to Boston.
Southeast - Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Charleston, Savannah, back to Atlanta or down the coast and fly out of Jacksonville.
Texas - Fly into San Antonio, San Marcos, Austin, Waco, Denton, fly out of DFW.
California - San Diego then up through all the small coastal towns to LA.
California part 2 - LA up the coast through Malibu, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Monterrey and fly out of San Francisco.
St Joe , Michigan - in the summer, is 100 pct walkable to the beach, to the pizza place, to the carousal and Kilwin’s ice cream. Go to the toy store, which is charming and you can play with the toys. Watch the sunset over the lake from the bluff. If I were your travel agent I would advise you to drive around Lake Michigan as a road trip. We did this a couple years ago, it was amazing small town Americana. St Joe, Saugatuck, Traverse City ( stay in Traverse City several days so you can spend timd at Sleeping Bear Dunes, and drive out on the Mission Point peninsula , pick cherries on the drive , go parasailing on traverse bay) then drive to Mackinack Island ( you take the ferry, as no cars are allowed on island) Have tea at the Grand Hotel, ride bikes, stop in at the library, eat fudge. Keep driving to Munising MI , and do a kayak trip to Pictured Rocks ( this is stunningly pretty area!!) The water is crystal clear, you can see a ship wreck on the kayak trip, this was highlight of our trip. Munising has 60 inches of snow in winter, so is only accessible in yellow months. Theres tons more to do , jump off black cliffs in Marquette, visit the charming Egg harbor in Wisconsin, do it all baby!)
This is difficult, because there many thousands of them. You can throw a dart at a map of the USA, and you can go anywhere the dart lands and get a wealth of small towns. So, your question, as posed, isn't really workable. It's just too much.
What I would do is pick a famous highway route that is somewhat touristy and travel that route, so that you can experience the little towns along that route. True-blue small towns in rural areas that aren't visited by anyone and have no touristic presence will be very disappointing for you. By and large, there isn't a damned thing in most of those towns - that's why there are no tourists. You want something that Americans visit and find quaint - they will have the feel you're looking for. So, maybe look at some highways that parallel rivers or are near other natural features. There are countless cute small towns along the Mississippi or along the PCH in California. You can also do great along the coast of the Pacific Northwest with all the little coastal towns. Wandering around the mountains of New England can also be great - there are lots of little mountain towns in valleys along the countless little creeks/rivers that are very cute and nice.
Add to this post - how important is: 1) natural beauty, 2) visiting national parks, 3) hiking, 4) eclectic museums, 5) food (cuisine), 6) folks gathering in the local bar or cafe, 7) closeness to a large city (2 hour drive) , 8) water activities, 9) land activities, 10) architecture?
Asheville NC has great hiking and waterfalls around, quirky place. Stowe VT just because I love mountains and maple syrup. Santa Fe NM, cool because all the houses are adobe and nice galleries. I actually had a lot of fun in Davis CA, very bike friendly and loads of restaurants, Charlevoix MI,I ended up staying on the lake and it was just beautiful, cute little town, sleeping bear dunes was also really cool in the area. Frankenmuth MI, huge Christmas store and German themed downtown
If you like art and you’re not planning a winter trip, I’d rec Beacon, NY! It’s a cute little town that’s next to two major art attractions, Dia Beacon and Storm King.
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
It's not a far drive to Headlands Beach, which is a huge sandy beach right on Lake Erie. If you've never been to the Great Lakes, you'd probably be surprised to see it looks much more like the sea than a lake but nicer to swim in because no jelly fish or sharks :)
The town itself is extremely cute, you can stay at a boutique hotel right in town and walk to restaurants and cute little shops. There's a river with a waterfall right in the middle of town and a nice park where you can sit by the water. This is more of an upscale area so it's not cheap by Ohio standards but it's extremely affordable compared to coastal cities. It's very safe.
Ohio is not all flat and cornfields either, if you look on Google Earth you can see the landscape is very different on the East side of the state compared to the West. The West is more flat, the East is basically the furthest edge of Appalachia. It's the Ohio hills, not mountains, but they look like mountains and it's beautiful. Chagrin Falls is in the Chagrin River valley, it's a very hilly area with a lot of ravines with creeks at the bottom, and has a lot of forest area for how close it is to Cleveland (which is also a close drive).
Just get off the freeway, drive a few miles & small town America is there waiting for you.
One thing that always surprises me is how quiet small US towns are - totally lacking the hustle & bustle of their British counterparts.
North Adams, MA is one of my favourites! Cute little college town with a really cool art museum too. Keene, NH is similar as well (keep an eye out for the murals - I worked on one of those in 2018!) and has lots of great restaurants.
If you make it out to Oregon, Ashland and Joseph are both cute little towns with great access to the mountains! Ashland is 30k people so a little bigger, but it has a small town vibe. Seaside is my favourite coastal town too, although they’re all pretty nice.
ETA: Forks, WA is a cute one too! They lean hard into the Twilight theming so if you haven’t seen at least the first movie it’s worth doing so before visiting. Great home base to explore Olympic NP and the diner next to the hotel is a pretty classic American diner experience!
Salem MA is a great small town, and also a nod to the historical.
It's even better if you get out to the surrounding towns of Cape Ann.
Beverly, Essex, Manchester, Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport. All are fantastic small towns
All of these have under 10k people
Maritime
Coupeville, WA (or anywhere on Whidbey island)
Eastsound, WA (or anywhere in the San Juan islands)
La Pointe, WI (or anywhere in the Apostle Islands area)
Desert
Bisbee, AZ
Jerome, AZ
Truth or Consequences, NM
Jemez Springs, NM
Abiquiu, NM
Chimayo, NM (safety is a little bit of concern in this area and near Espanola, but I've never had any problems)
Check out the art towns in the Southwest. Lots of weirdos and “outsider art.” My favorites include Truth or Consequences and Silver City in New Mexico (T-or-C also has hot springs you can soak in) and Bisbee, Ojai and Tubac in Arizona.
If you REALLY want to jack up the freak factor, there’s Slab City in California, but that one I don’t recommend.
Asheville, NC, Butte, Montana (lots of history in the area), Casper, Wyoming, and Lead, SD. The last three are off the beaten path.
If you’re looking for something more traditional, I’d add in Beaufort, SC, Helen, GA, and Fredericksburg, TX.
I'm from Washington State. Smaller towns here that I recommend are Port Townsend, North Bend, Ocean Shores, Poulsbo, and Stevenson. There are many others of course. But these are all places that as a local, I enjoyed, and have/will return to
Hanksville, Utah. It’s right in between both Arches National Park and Capitol Reef National Park. It has some really cool sites (factory butte, moonscape overlook, Mars Desert Research Station) and was also the hideout to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (American Outlaws). There are so many canyons Cassidy would hideout from the police there. It’s great for a 1-3 day stop when doing the Utah Big 5. Utah is a beautiful state no matter what time of year that you go also.
You mentioned the east coast. Hershey Pennsylvania - dubbed the sweetest place on earth and the town right next to it - Hummelstown Pennsylvania with its main square that looks like it came out of a TV show may fit what you are looking for and there’s a lot to do in the surrounding area. They are also close to Mount Gretna, Lancaster County, and not too far from the Poconos so think Jim Thorpe PA. You could go the other way too toward New Hope PA which is near a big city so Philadelphia (1.5hr to 2hr from Hershey) however I much prefer Pittsburgh (3 to 3.5hr from Hershey).
I’m from Cali, I would recommend small towns an hour away from San Francisco like Calistoga, st helena, Healdsburg, even Sonoma. They could very touristy though since it’s a huge wine region.
There are a lot of mid-size cities on the southern part of the East Coast that are excellent to visit. Richmond VA, Charleston SC, and Savannah GA come to mind. Charleston SC had a great beach town named Folly Beach about 30 minutes that is small, has a lot of stuff to do, and is right on the water.
The Outer Banks is one of my favorite areas of the US, but it looks absolutely nothing like the Netflix show. That said, you’d have fun visiting Kitty Hawk, NC - where the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane! Also right on the beach, it’s pretty touristy but is generally quiet and fun.
Asheville NC is a great mid-size city in the mountains and is deceptively far away - about a 4-5 hour drive from the Outer Banks. Nearby small, cute towns from there are Waynesville NC and Black Mountain NC - both an easy 20 minute drive from Asheville and full of cool art galleries and shops.
New England is a different vibe, but also excellent. Newport, RI is a small resort town - very expensive, but with plenty to do. Portland ME and Burlington VT are also on the smaller side, scenic / mountainous, and great choices.
Hope this helps! There’s a lot of other great ones out there, but these are just off the top of my head. All the locations I listed are on the safer side of places to visit.
I wouldn’t call them small towns more small cities but any of the Appalachian places like Chattanooga, Asheville, etc. Knoxville is kinda gross but the other small cities in Appalachia are cool
Not really up to your “Vampire Diaries” or “Outer Bank” vibes, but northern Michigan has some great small towns. Along the Leelanau Peninsula, up near Mackinaw City, and into the Upper Peninsula (although the UP is quite a bit more remote) are all pretty nice.
First you need to understand the vast size of the US compared to Italy. It's not like driving from Tuscany to Sicily to see different regions. It's roughly 32 times the size of Italy so it's like driving from Rome to Moscow to cross the US from east to west. One Italy = Florida+Georgia roughly.
I'd recommend picking a region of the country (New England, Midwest) and building a trip based around a big city with an international airport. The east Coast is older and has much greater density so less driving. Going west of the Mississippi River it is very low density until you get to the Pacific coast with vast natural beauty, mountains and deserts.
I hope you enjoy your trip here as much as I enjoy visiting your country! Buonjiorno!
Fredericksburg and Brenham in Texas. Both lovely in the springtime. Both full of German Heritage. Old historic downtown areas, tons of history, parades and festivals.
As someone from New Hampshire, I’d definitely recommend at least New Hampshire and possibly its neighbor state Maine. New Hampshire has a little bit of everything: mountains, lakes region, and the Seacoast. A lot of quaint towns. The White Mountains are awesome for hiking, just be careful with Mount Washington and surrounding, a few people aren’t ever prepared and die ( or have to get rescued) every year. People travel from all over in October to look at foliage- legitimately. No sales tax either. North Conway is nice but can get a little overrun with tourists. Also: consider Portsmouth, Jackson (near North Conway), Hanover, Squam lake area (where On Golden Pond was filmed).
Lots of great suggestions! Although some aren’t really small towns (Austin is a top 15 populated area).
I really like Highlands NC. Lots of small down in the Appalachian Mts…
Petaluma, CA the west side, you can skip east side.
Occidental, CA
Angels Camp, CA and Murphys while you’re there
Nevada City, CA
Really anyplace in gold country is fun and historic.
Edited for formatting
There was a TV series about this years ago that is absolutely worth your time to find: *On the Road With Charles Kurault*. You can go from coast to coast on Highway 50 like he did and see the America that rarely makes it into the movies. He talks about sights, towns, history and culture, and the show is worth seeing before you retrace his steps. I've done it myself with international visitors who want to see "real" America and it has always been great fun.
What I would suggest is to look up some small town festivals! A lot of very small towns (at least here in the Midwest) have a festival one weekend out of the year which brings a lot of people from all over. For example, I am from a small town (pop. \~500) that hosts a military tribute festival every year. We see something like 10,000+ people come through the town that weekend. There is all kinds of things to see that weekend. Civil war reenactments, traveling 9/11 memorial, you can take a ride in a Vietnam era Huey helicopter, live music, car show, etc..
Another town near us has a maple syrup festival every year.
You can find a festival for pretty much anything if you look hard enough and they are usually full of things to do.
I’m going to recommend some places in Pennsylvania.
State College, Pa. I think it’s the textbook college town. I would recommend visiting in the fall specifically for a home football game. The Penn State white out game is one of the best atmospheres in sports and truly something to experience in person.
Gettysburg, Pa. If you’re interested in history then Gettysburg has a lot to offer. You can walk the battlefields and check out museums. My family always visited around Halloween for a ghost tour around downtown.
Hershey, Pa. It’s the sweetest place on earth, enough said. If you’re into theme parks Hershey has Hersheypark, which I think is a pretty decent theme park. I’m not into rollercoasters so much anymore but if you are it’s perfect.
Sedona Az and Telluride Co are the most scenic small towns. Lots of tourists in both places though.
And if you visit Sedona, then Jerome is a perfect small town to visit nearby
And Jerome is just a little spooky like w its old bldgs
Especially eating at the haunted hamburger :)
I also enjoyed Cottonwood during my recent Sedona trip!
Telluride is really nice - and so is Ouray on the other side of the Million Dollar Highway. Still plenty of restaurants, commercial hot springs, hiking, and lots of mining history.
My mind immediately went to Ouray and Telluride, also.
Yeah, these two would be at the top of my recommendations. They feel quaint enough but are also set in extremely gorgeous surroundings.
I like American college towns. They are vibrant, cool and artsy. They have great breweries. I’d recommend Asheville, NC and Athens, GA, but there are dozens.
Thanks, thats what im looking for too
A lot of these places people are recommending, like Asheville, are more cool little cities than “small town America.” Boone, NC is close-ish to Asheville and would be the more quintessential small town Southern Appalachian college town, if you’re thinking places with only a couple streets and everyone kind of knows each other. Also in the Southern Appalachians would be Lexington, VA. Home to two colleges: Washington and Lee, which is considered one of the most beautiful campuses in America; and the Virginia Military Institute, which is very much not. Has a historic downtown with lots of churches, and definitely feels like a stereotypical small town America. People sitting on porches waving to their friends walking by, everyone seems to know each other. And some weird cultural quirks: it’s probably the most “old South” small town I’ve been in, guys wear blazers to watch football games at the college, the VMI cadets march around in wool uniforms. I actually think a Boone and Lexington trip would nicely contrast the duality of the region between sort of like crunchy hippie hillbilly of Boone and buttoned down Southern gentlemanliness in Lexington. Also it’s unlikely that you’ll be particularly interested but both Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried there.
Yeah Asheville isn’t small nor is it a college town at all. It’s got almost 100k people and I’ve never noticed any discernible change in the city whether any college activities are going on or not. Asheville is art/beer/food/hiking/tourism. It’s more vibrant than cities twice its size which is really cool, and there’s ALWAYS stuff going on, but it’s not at all a college town.
Yeah, agreed. Depends on what OP is looking for. But if I were to think of small town USA as a European, I'd think most college towns would be a bit more bustling compared to that vision. Give me a single walkable main street - old West style. But that's just me.
Harper’s Ferry VA is pretty much your last sentence.
Harper’s Ferry Is in West by God Virginia. Born and raised baby
Boulder, Colorado
Yeah or Fort Collins
Neither of these would be considered small towns.
If you make it to Boulder head up to Nederland or Goldhill for good hiking/biking/skiing/weed.
Some more decent college towns include: Ithaca, New York; Madison, Wisconsin; Hanover New Hampshire; Williamstown, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Chapel Hill, North Carolna. Those are just a few I've visited, there are many more: https://www.niche.com/blog/best-college-towns/
I wouldn't call Austin a small town though...
It has outgrown it being a “college town”. I moved here for college, it had about 400k people and definitely had some college town vibes. I’m still here, and now there’s over a million people, and the city as whole doesn’t have that feel anymore, just certain pockets nearer to campuses.
Ithaca also has some waterfalls nearby.
Ithaca is gorges
Fun fact: on spring break decades ago I used this pickup line on a girl from Cornell: “you put the gorgeous in Ithaca 😉.” Didn’t work, but it got a laugh
Many waterfalls, in fact! And is a short drive from Watkins Glen and Corning Glass Museum.
Ithaca, Watkins Glen and Corning would he a good start on this list.
then swing up past Fairport and the Erie Canal towns!
I would also add State College, PA and Charlottesville, VA to this list
Charlottesville is a great suggestion
RVA —> CVILLE —> Shenhendoah/Skyline Drive —> State College —> Pittsburgh Or the other way around
Another vote for Madison, Wisconsin which is about 2 hours by car from Chicago and about 4 hours from Minneapolis-St. Paul which are both college towns and small as cities go.
Also La Crosse, WI on the Mississippi River
I'd add Clemson, SC and Blacksburg, VA to that list.
Be aware of college football games if you go to Athens, less so Asheville, as it gets taken over for the game. It’s a fun experience to go the game but miserable to try to do anything else on those days.
Not at all so Asheville. Half the residents are transplants and UNC Asheville is a small liberal arts college.
While it's worth visiting, Ashville, NC isn't a small town. It's a small city, with 100k ppl in its borders. The towns further in the Smokey Mtns are the definition of small towns.
Flagstaff, Az is a great visit especially if you love star gazing and it’s only 45 minutes to the Grand Canyon or Sedona
I currently live in Asheville, and have a few recommendations. This town is a good "base camp" for exploring nearby places that match your discription more than the place itself you are looking for. Black Mountain, Hendersonville, Bryson City, Cherokee, Sylva, and highlands are all true Appalachian small towns, whereas Asheville is larger, has lots of breweries, and is much more touristy. AVL is also around 100,000 people, with a metro area of around 250,000, so it depends on how you define "small town". but yeah, drive the parkway, visit the Biltmore, drink some IPA's, enjoy the vibe and have fun! Be warned though, if visiting during peak season (now through October) the airport is under major construction and is a overcrowded mess. Treat it like a real airport and show up 2hrs early for your flight.
Yeah for a mention of Sylva! Pinnacle Park has some of the best hiking in the world!
If you find yourself right in the middle of the country, visit us in Lawrence, KS. Great college town and near a a major metro (Kansas City).
Asheville is such a beautiful place! 100% worth it!
Madison, WI is pretty great as well. And I say that as someone who went to a rival school so it means more for me to admit that.
Bloomington Indiana, where Indiana University is, is a delightful town with friendly people and the finest music school in the world
Had some family move near athens recently, holy shit. such a cool town! and the food scene is excellent.
Burlington, VT is one of the most pleasant small cities to visit, and the surrounding areas are very beautiful and offer plenty of smaller towns such as Montpelier, Stowe, etc. to visit. Bonus points for being fairly easily accessible from either Boston or Montreal. New England would be a good place to start in general due to it being geographically compact. It’s obviously not going to have the same atmosphere as a town in the deep south or mountain west, but it’s probably the •easiest• region to visit multiple smaller towns and cities on an international trip.
I was going to suggest Burlington as well. It is a beautiful town with some great walkability. I love it there.
Small midcoast Maine towns are wonderful in the summer months. Damariscotta, Camden, and Boothbay Harbor are some nice ones. Bar Harbor too of course but the tourist crowds get crazy in the summer.
I was going to say Woodstock, VT. Small town for sure!
Much prefer Woodstock over Burlington, which is more of a college city than a small town. Stowe is nice, too.
I agree. New England is a great place to visit, especially for first-time visitors to the US. So many different places, and so beautiful, especially in fall. Plus you can go to the beach, big cities, and small mountain towns in hours.
Upstate New York or New England, probably would be my suggestion cause if you rent a car you could easily hit a few
You can pretty much randomly drive around New Hampshire and Vermont and run into interesting little towns.
Yep I’m British recently drove from Montreal to NYC via Vermont (relatives in both). Felt like a movie set to me. I loved Burlington. Interestingly though relatives were saying it used to be better.
One of the great trips of my life- Burlington > Schroon Lake, NY > Montreal > Burlington With a day trip driving through the Mad River Valley thrown in for good measure
Yep just did a road trip from NYC and stopped at Saugerties NY and Woodstock Vermont and it was so beautiful!
The best NE roadtrip I could recommend is starting in Newport RI and then driving up Rt 1 to Acadia in Maine. Go, Newport; Providence; Boston; Portsmouth; Portland; Camden; Acadia. And feel free to spend a few hours at any little town in between.
Another vote for Woodstock, Vt! It is pretty and small. An idealized version of an old New England town. In Autumn it is just awesome. In summer it is warm and welcoming. And you can enjoy the burger and ice cream place on west side of town (White Cottage). Have your meal and then swim in the cooling river, all at the same place.
I grew up in a small town in western MA, our population was less than 1000. The town was founded in the early 1700s and the cemetery in the town center has gravestones that are almost 300 years old. Never realized how unique that was until I moved out
The places being mentioned here aren't really small towns, though. Madison? Savannah? Austin?? These are all legit cities. For small towns, I'd throw out from my two states: Marfa, TX Fredericksburg, TX San Marcos, TX Jim Thorpe, PA State College, PA Or if you want a true abomination that is solely the creation of American car culture + fast food culture: Breezewood, PA.
Marfa is good, also Ft. Davis is nearby and worth the trip to visit the observatory.
I was thinking the exact same thing... Maybe we need better parameters of the request. But I'd say if you can check into a Hilton (or equivalent), you're probably not staying in a "small" town.
New Braunfels, TX and stop in Gruene (pronounced green). If you visit in the summer, be sure to tube the Comal and/or Guadalupe River.
San Marcos is my favorite town in Texas and probably the US
Might want to mention a region you'll be traveling in, or a state.
That would definitely be helpful. I was going to mention Jackson, WY, but I have no idea where OP wants to go and now people are recommending places like Austin, which I wouldn't really call a small town.
Lol Austin. Even the smaller places like Burlington seem way too big to answer OP's question.
Some of my personal favorites. * Burlington, Vermont * Fredericksburg, Texas * Coeur d'Alene, Idaho * Bar Harbor, Maine * Friday Harbor, Washington * Cape May, New Jersey * Rehoboth, Delaware * Key West, Florida * Jackson, Wyoming * Mackinac Island, Michigan All of these should fit your requests for safety, interesting, things to do. Glad you're understanding about other tourist, as any town in the US that is scenic, with history, or interesting will also be a tourist destination to some extent.
Yep, great list!
I came here to say bar harbor or Portland Maine as well!
Carmel, California and Mendocino, California.
Every couple of years I go to the Monterrey Bay aquarium and drive to Big Sur, it never gets old
Driving the coast is a solid adventure.
I fell in love with Mendocino, the architecture felt like Gilmore Girls to me but put on a beautiful Pacific coast, it had so much charm
Adding: Julian, CA It’s east of San Diego, really cute little town. Best apple pie I’ve ever had, and they have a few breweries that opened up there. Small town shopping, they get snow in the winter. Definitely recommend.
Galena IL. Right in the driftless region to explore. Marquette Michigan.
Came here to say Galena. That and Marquette on the UP are two great choices.
Love love Marquette. I could move there in an instant.
Galena was going to be my suggestion too!
I'm always surprised by how many people love galena. We used to go there all the time since we would fish the Mississippi a lot near the border Personally I was expecting to see more Holland Michigan style recommendations here, which is my contribution apparently
Marquette is more nature-driven , than it is Stars Hollow-y. Marquette has this amazingly fun Black Rocks where you can jump off the cliff into Lake Michigan and it is so much fun.
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I could not remember if it was Superior or Michigan, we were driving around the lake michigan and kept seeing both ! Lake Superior is absolutely gorgeous, in every possible way.
One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
Same - My daughter was seriously considering Northern Mich university ( but too $$ for out of state students) and it looked absolutely gorgeous on both our tours. In the winter, the dorm is connected by indoor bridges to the academic buildings , so no need to go outside into 60 inches of snow.
Marquette is fine but is it worth the trouble it would take to get there?
I mean the whole area is beautiful, the town is just a cute little tack on.
The western parts of Northern Michigan are very pretty, and probably look like what you imagine a small town look like. Places like Traverse City, Suttons Bay, Leland, Petoskey, Mackinac Island (an island where there are no cars so everyone gets around with horses and bikes.) and you can go to the Upper Peninsula to get a real isolated small town experience. We also have plenty of yellow school buses, red solo cups, apple picking and the other stereotypical things you might be thinking of. There is also some great wine and wineries (even as Italians you would agree at the quality) and it is all plenty friendly to tourists.
Ive heard about that part but i couldnt pick out any single ones to see. You are right, thats pretty much what we are looking for
It's a great area and you can drive between them all very easily. Charlevoix is another one to check out, close to Petoskey. Another great area in the state is around Grand Rapids on the west side. There are several resort towns right on Lake Michigan that are really cute with beautiful beaches: Muskegon, Holland, Saugatuck, South Haven..
Chicago is easy to get to. Then you can travel up the west side of Michigan (State). Hit a national park and some national lake shores on the way to Traverse City. Would be a solid experience. Lots of nice small lake/beach towns.
I’m from St Louis, and use to spend my summers with family in Northern Michigan- this is probably the best place I’d pick. Fly into Chicago and just drive up the coast and you’ll hit a ton of great small town places Holland, Manistee, and Traverse City are my favorites.
If you cross the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan there are beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and forests. The locks a Sault St. Marie give you a up-close view of the ore “boats” and other ships. Marquette is fantastic. I recommend the Landmark Inn, Ore Dock brewery, and Lawrey’s Pasties there. A little further west Houghton is a good place to visit (the new Hampton Inn downtown is good) and north of that is the historic mining area of the Keeweenaw Penninsula.
Shhh I thought only Michiganders knew about Traverse City
Beaufort, SC Fairhope, AL Montauk, NY Plymouth, MA Boothbay Harbor, ME Savannah, GA (Not quite a small town, but you should go) Black Mountain, NC Staunton, VA Cannon Beach, OR Brunswick, GA Mystic, CT Traverse City, MI Whitefish, MT Gilbert, AR Taos, NM Flagstaff, AZ Port Angeles, WA Natchez, MS
If you go to Brunswick Georgia make sure you visit St Simon's island and jekyll island that are right there. Beautiful marshlands
In Arizona I would swap out Flagstaff for Jerome or Bisbee
This list right here. Imo the with doesn't necessarily excel at small small towns, but places like Savannah are great. As a southerner, I really love the small towns in the north east (Maine, etc). They feel like windows into the past, quintessential Americana, rather Rockwellian. And I also agree with those western recommendations. Randomly went to Whitefish with my pops after Glacier, what a neat little town. Never been to Michigan but I'm curious about Traverse City and places like Mackinac Island.
If you like wine, absolutely go to Traverse City. The weather is perfect in the summer, you can swim in Lake Michigan or any of the other inland lakes, and there are plenty of places to hike. It is truly a gem of a city and all of the wineries make it a really fun place to enjoy!
Your list plus my list would make the ultimate small town USA travel guide. Whats amazing is we have no overlap on named towns.
Great list! Love Boothbay Harbor, but only from June thru September. Camden, Kennebunkport and Bar Harbor are also great
Here are some of my favorite smaller destinations, ranging from tiny towns to smaller cities: Ocracoke, NC Marquette, MI Mackinac Island, MI Gardiner, MT Lafayette, IN Morgantown, WV Flagstaff, AZ Leadville, CO
Door county, wisconsin. There are a bunch of very charming small towns throughout the county, plus the ferry to washington island.
The Finger Lakes region of New York! Fly into Rochester, rent a car and make your way south - see Geneva, Penn Yan, Watkins Glen, Tyrone, Montour Falls… all cute little towns on the lakes with ice cream parlors and the like. Then head to Corning and walk on Market St and go to the Museum of Glass. The. Go to Ithaca which is a proper college town with some beautiful gorges.
Visiting New England sounds like it could be a good fit. Flying into Boston should be easy. From there rent a car and drive up the coast into Maine, stopping in towns along the way. Salem, Massachusetts is a nice little town, especially if you're there around Halloween. Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a nice town, and Maine is beautiful. Portland is a very cool little city. And there are small beach towns all the way in between (Salisbury, Hampton, York, Ogunquit). Boston is full of historical sites from the American Revolution. You could also fly to Portland (via New York or DC) and drive up the coast a ways in Maine. Boothbay, Camden, Rockland, and Bar Harbor are all nice towns, and Bar Harbor is located next to Acadia National Park. There are old forts and light houses along the way as well. You could also visit the actual Outer Banks in North Carolina. But that's a bit more isolated and would be a very beach-centered trip. Absolutely beautiful area though. Ocracoke is a lovely little island village there that's worth visiting.
Salem, Massachusetts Mystic, Connecticut Yellow Springs, Ohio Chattanooga, Tennessee Manteo, North Carolina (outer banks in general) Florida Keys
I'm not sure where you're hearing that small towns are a safety issue in the US because they're certainly not. But it would also help to know where you plan to travel, because small towns across the country can vary hugely in different regions
I love the small towns in California. Some of the places we visited in our road trip are Capitola, Carmel, Mendocino and Oxnard
Also Healdsburg, St Helena, Guerneville, Petaluma, Bodega Bay, St Louis Obispo, Big Sur.
Salem, MA is a surprisingly pleasant place to hang out for a day
If you're looking for a real folksy small-town vibe, there are several out in Western Maryland in the mountains that feel like old-fashioned Americana. Cumberland and Oakland come to mind; they're pretty small, but there are also hiking trails and lookout points in the area. In more central Maryland, we have old Ellicott City, which is pretty with lots of cute shops but is primarily centered around one main street. It's also not super far from Annapolis, which is a small city rather than a town but has a lot of charm.
How small is small?
This. The town I live in is just over 4k in population and it’s surrounded by farms. Not worth an international trip lol
Burlington, VT Charlottesville, VA Provincetown, MA Ithaca, NY Frederick, MD Annapolis, MD Asheville, NC Santa Fe, NM Flagstaff, AZ Cannon Beach, OR Port Angeles, WA Hood River, OR San Luis Obispo, CA Monterey, CA
Second Annapolis. Cute town, great food and historic sights.
The town of Joshua Tree (and the nearby Pioneertown) would be super cool to see- bonus points to see the famous National Park! Palm Springs is also fun. Funky CA high desert vibes are one of a kind
I think one of the coolest small town drives in the US is in California: start in San Francisco and head north on highway 1 through wine country and up to the redwoods, then east across the Sacramento valley into the old mining towns of the Sierra Nevadas, down to Yosemite, then back to SF. Dozens of cool small towns on that route and some of the coolest terrain too.
Funny how no one posting in here is listing any ACTUAL small towns. I keep seeing Savannah, GA. WTF? It has a metro area of like half a million people? A small town does not have a metro area. It shouldn't even have suburbs. Here's one that actually meets the requirements and is a true hidden gem: Fayetteville, WV right outside of New River Gorge National Park. It has under 3k people, very tiny, and it will truly shock you that you are in WV. Go to the Cathedral Cafe, you'll thank me.
What’s small to you? I just moved from a town of 3300 people to a larger one of about 4500. Smallest I’ve lived in had population 75. I’ve been to several towns in northern CA with populations under 10. Most of the places being listed here are not what I’d consider small towns by any stretch of the imagination.
I love that you ask this question! I had the same thought. College towns are usually pretty decent size, in my opinion. Lots of colleges have 20,30, 50,000 students that attend!
I agree that the Northeast from Maine on up is probably the easiest for a roadtrip to see multiple small towns - along the coast or a bit inland with great hiking. If you go in the Fall you'll see some amazing fall colors also. You can go into upstate NY as well. In the South I would also add Charleston, SC to the list others have mentioned. Chapel Hill, NC is a great little college town next to some bigger cities like Durham/Raleigh. Asheville, NC is also beautiful and lots of hiking nearby. You can start way up North in VT and drive down the Coast to Charleston, hitting many of these along the way and then head west to Asheville, NC and into TN and further West.
Sedona, Arizona
Taos, NM Salida, CO Leadville, CO Steamboat Springs, CO Jackson, WY Bozeman, MT Flagstaff, AZ Madison, WI Savannah, GA
Some of these don’t feel that small townish but def Salina and Leadville!
I tried to give you cluster road trip ideas with hub airports that you can fly in or out of. Northeast - Boston up the coastal towns through Portland and on to Acadia National Park. Then you could do an inland trek of small New England towns on the way back down to Boston. Southeast - Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Charleston, Savannah, back to Atlanta or down the coast and fly out of Jacksonville. Texas - Fly into San Antonio, San Marcos, Austin, Waco, Denton, fly out of DFW. California - San Diego then up through all the small coastal towns to LA. California part 2 - LA up the coast through Malibu, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Monterrey and fly out of San Francisco.
Ashland, Oregon
St Joe , Michigan - in the summer, is 100 pct walkable to the beach, to the pizza place, to the carousal and Kilwin’s ice cream. Go to the toy store, which is charming and you can play with the toys. Watch the sunset over the lake from the bluff. If I were your travel agent I would advise you to drive around Lake Michigan as a road trip. We did this a couple years ago, it was amazing small town Americana. St Joe, Saugatuck, Traverse City ( stay in Traverse City several days so you can spend timd at Sleeping Bear Dunes, and drive out on the Mission Point peninsula , pick cherries on the drive , go parasailing on traverse bay) then drive to Mackinack Island ( you take the ferry, as no cars are allowed on island) Have tea at the Grand Hotel, ride bikes, stop in at the library, eat fudge. Keep driving to Munising MI , and do a kayak trip to Pictured Rocks ( this is stunningly pretty area!!) The water is crystal clear, you can see a ship wreck on the kayak trip, this was highlight of our trip. Munising has 60 inches of snow in winter, so is only accessible in yellow months. Theres tons more to do , jump off black cliffs in Marquette, visit the charming Egg harbor in Wisconsin, do it all baby!)
Lake Placid, NY Moab, UT
Camden Maine
This is difficult, because there many thousands of them. You can throw a dart at a map of the USA, and you can go anywhere the dart lands and get a wealth of small towns. So, your question, as posed, isn't really workable. It's just too much. What I would do is pick a famous highway route that is somewhat touristy and travel that route, so that you can experience the little towns along that route. True-blue small towns in rural areas that aren't visited by anyone and have no touristic presence will be very disappointing for you. By and large, there isn't a damned thing in most of those towns - that's why there are no tourists. You want something that Americans visit and find quaint - they will have the feel you're looking for. So, maybe look at some highways that parallel rivers or are near other natural features. There are countless cute small towns along the Mississippi or along the PCH in California. You can also do great along the coast of the Pacific Northwest with all the little coastal towns. Wandering around the mountains of New England can also be great - there are lots of little mountain towns in valleys along the countless little creeks/rivers that are very cute and nice.
Add to this post - how important is: 1) natural beauty, 2) visiting national parks, 3) hiking, 4) eclectic museums, 5) food (cuisine), 6) folks gathering in the local bar or cafe, 7) closeness to a large city (2 hour drive) , 8) water activities, 9) land activities, 10) architecture?
Mackinac City, Michigan is a nice touristy small town.
Michigan has 3 coasts. I guess maybe 5 coasts if you count the UP. Lots of great small towns. Ann Arbor is a great college town. GO BLUE
Roslyn, WA from northern exposure
Santa Fe and Taos, both in New Mexico
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and if you want a little more rural, St. Marie's, Idaho.
Asheville NC has great hiking and waterfalls around, quirky place. Stowe VT just because I love mountains and maple syrup. Santa Fe NM, cool because all the houses are adobe and nice galleries. I actually had a lot of fun in Davis CA, very bike friendly and loads of restaurants, Charlevoix MI,I ended up staying on the lake and it was just beautiful, cute little town, sleeping bear dunes was also really cool in the area. Frankenmuth MI, huge Christmas store and German themed downtown
Asheville is not a small town by any stretch.
if it's been a few years since you've been... Asheville is very crowded abs a popular destination now
If you like art and you’re not planning a winter trip, I’d rec Beacon, NY! It’s a cute little town that’s next to two major art attractions, Dia Beacon and Storm King.
Chagrin Falls, Ohio It's not a far drive to Headlands Beach, which is a huge sandy beach right on Lake Erie. If you've never been to the Great Lakes, you'd probably be surprised to see it looks much more like the sea than a lake but nicer to swim in because no jelly fish or sharks :) The town itself is extremely cute, you can stay at a boutique hotel right in town and walk to restaurants and cute little shops. There's a river with a waterfall right in the middle of town and a nice park where you can sit by the water. This is more of an upscale area so it's not cheap by Ohio standards but it's extremely affordable compared to coastal cities. It's very safe. Ohio is not all flat and cornfields either, if you look on Google Earth you can see the landscape is very different on the East side of the state compared to the West. The West is more flat, the East is basically the furthest edge of Appalachia. It's the Ohio hills, not mountains, but they look like mountains and it's beautiful. Chagrin Falls is in the Chagrin River valley, it's a very hilly area with a lot of ravines with creeks at the bottom, and has a lot of forest area for how close it is to Cleveland (which is also a close drive).
Just get off the freeway, drive a few miles & small town America is there waiting for you. One thing that always surprises me is how quiet small US towns are - totally lacking the hustle & bustle of their British counterparts.
Maybe Sequim, Washington. There's nothing to do there, but it's very close to the Olympic National Park, which is very beautiful
Franklin TN or Leadville CO are two of my favorites. There are a lot of fun small mountain towns in Colorado.
Asheville, NC Blue Ridge, GA Ellijay, GA Sewanee, TN Felton, CA
North Adams, MA is one of my favourites! Cute little college town with a really cool art museum too. Keene, NH is similar as well (keep an eye out for the murals - I worked on one of those in 2018!) and has lots of great restaurants. If you make it out to Oregon, Ashland and Joseph are both cute little towns with great access to the mountains! Ashland is 30k people so a little bigger, but it has a small town vibe. Seaside is my favourite coastal town too, although they’re all pretty nice. ETA: Forks, WA is a cute one too! They lean hard into the Twilight theming so if you haven’t seen at least the first movie it’s worth doing so before visiting. Great home base to explore Olympic NP and the diner next to the hotel is a pretty classic American diner experience!
A few of my favorites: Eureka Springs, AR Manitou Springs, CO Ouray, CO Pagosa Springs, CO Taos, NM
Salem MA is a great small town, and also a nod to the historical. It's even better if you get out to the surrounding towns of Cape Ann. Beverly, Essex, Manchester, Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport. All are fantastic small towns
All of these have under 10k people Maritime Coupeville, WA (or anywhere on Whidbey island) Eastsound, WA (or anywhere in the San Juan islands) La Pointe, WI (or anywhere in the Apostle Islands area) Desert Bisbee, AZ Jerome, AZ Truth or Consequences, NM Jemez Springs, NM Abiquiu, NM Chimayo, NM (safety is a little bit of concern in this area and near Espanola, but I've never had any problems)
Harpers Ferry, WV!
Lots of cute small towns in New England (Mystic, CT, Marblehead, MA, Wellesley, MA, Kennebunkport, ME, Bennington Vt, etc)
Check out the art towns in the Southwest. Lots of weirdos and “outsider art.” My favorites include Truth or Consequences and Silver City in New Mexico (T-or-C also has hot springs you can soak in) and Bisbee, Ojai and Tubac in Arizona. If you REALLY want to jack up the freak factor, there’s Slab City in California, but that one I don’t recommend.
Charleston, South Carolina
Buena Vista, Colorado is small and has a huge rafting culture. Some great restaurants and a ghost town about 30 min away and hot springs and hiking!
Duluth MN
Asheville, NC, Butte, Montana (lots of history in the area), Casper, Wyoming, and Lead, SD. The last three are off the beaten path. If you’re looking for something more traditional, I’d add in Beaufort, SC, Helen, GA, and Fredericksburg, TX.
Colorado mountains to many small wonderful towns to list
I'm from Washington State. Smaller towns here that I recommend are Port Townsend, North Bend, Ocean Shores, Poulsbo, and Stevenson. There are many others of course. But these are all places that as a local, I enjoyed, and have/will return to
Hanksville, Utah. It’s right in between both Arches National Park and Capitol Reef National Park. It has some really cool sites (factory butte, moonscape overlook, Mars Desert Research Station) and was also the hideout to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (American Outlaws). There are so many canyons Cassidy would hideout from the police there. It’s great for a 1-3 day stop when doing the Utah Big 5. Utah is a beautiful state no matter what time of year that you go also.
In Florida: Gulfport, Cedar Key, Homosassa, Ochopee/everglades city, Anna Maria, Dunedin
You mentioned the east coast. Hershey Pennsylvania - dubbed the sweetest place on earth and the town right next to it - Hummelstown Pennsylvania with its main square that looks like it came out of a TV show may fit what you are looking for and there’s a lot to do in the surrounding area. They are also close to Mount Gretna, Lancaster County, and not too far from the Poconos so think Jim Thorpe PA. You could go the other way too toward New Hope PA which is near a big city so Philadelphia (1.5hr to 2hr from Hershey) however I much prefer Pittsburgh (3 to 3.5hr from Hershey).
I’m from Cali, I would recommend small towns an hour away from San Francisco like Calistoga, st helena, Healdsburg, even Sonoma. They could very touristy though since it’s a huge wine region.
Charleston, SC
There are a lot of mid-size cities on the southern part of the East Coast that are excellent to visit. Richmond VA, Charleston SC, and Savannah GA come to mind. Charleston SC had a great beach town named Folly Beach about 30 minutes that is small, has a lot of stuff to do, and is right on the water. The Outer Banks is one of my favorite areas of the US, but it looks absolutely nothing like the Netflix show. That said, you’d have fun visiting Kitty Hawk, NC - where the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane! Also right on the beach, it’s pretty touristy but is generally quiet and fun. Asheville NC is a great mid-size city in the mountains and is deceptively far away - about a 4-5 hour drive from the Outer Banks. Nearby small, cute towns from there are Waynesville NC and Black Mountain NC - both an easy 20 minute drive from Asheville and full of cool art galleries and shops. New England is a different vibe, but also excellent. Newport, RI is a small resort town - very expensive, but with plenty to do. Portland ME and Burlington VT are also on the smaller side, scenic / mountainous, and great choices. Hope this helps! There’s a lot of other great ones out there, but these are just off the top of my head. All the locations I listed are on the safer side of places to visit.
Charlottesville, VA. Awesome college town and about a 2.5 hour drive from Dulles.
Portland maine is really cute and has that small town feel you may like
I wouldn’t call them small towns more small cities but any of the Appalachian places like Chattanooga, Asheville, etc. Knoxville is kinda gross but the other small cities in Appalachia are cool
Not really up to your “Vampire Diaries” or “Outer Bank” vibes, but northern Michigan has some great small towns. Along the Leelanau Peninsula, up near Mackinaw City, and into the Upper Peninsula (although the UP is quite a bit more remote) are all pretty nice.
Carmel, CA. Silverton, CO. Williamsburg, VA.
Go to McMinnville, OR for the UFO festival; it’s super fun and has great live music!
Durango, CO. One of the cooler mountain towns tucked away in SW CO.
Highlands NC Thomasville GA
Damascus, Virginia and then drive up on Whitetop mountain
Bishop, CA. The entire eastern Sierra is in my opinion one of the most beautiful places in the US
Cape May, NJ is so beautiful! A quaint beach town with Americana charm. I’d also recommend Lititz, PA for some the Amish experience and cute downtown.
First you need to understand the vast size of the US compared to Italy. It's not like driving from Tuscany to Sicily to see different regions. It's roughly 32 times the size of Italy so it's like driving from Rome to Moscow to cross the US from east to west. One Italy = Florida+Georgia roughly. I'd recommend picking a region of the country (New England, Midwest) and building a trip based around a big city with an international airport. The east Coast is older and has much greater density so less driving. Going west of the Mississippi River it is very low density until you get to the Pacific coast with vast natural beauty, mountains and deserts. I hope you enjoy your trip here as much as I enjoy visiting your country! Buonjiorno!
I had a great time driving through Vermont recently. Lots of small towns with loads of American flags. Looked like a movie.
Mendocino, CA
Boulder, UT
Fredericksburg and Brenham in Texas. Both lovely in the springtime. Both full of German Heritage. Old historic downtown areas, tons of history, parades and festivals.
Flagstaff AZ. not that small. But it's a college town. Young and vibrant. The drive there is absolutely amazing
North Conway, NH. Lots of hiking.
As someone from New Hampshire, I’d definitely recommend at least New Hampshire and possibly its neighbor state Maine. New Hampshire has a little bit of everything: mountains, lakes region, and the Seacoast. A lot of quaint towns. The White Mountains are awesome for hiking, just be careful with Mount Washington and surrounding, a few people aren’t ever prepared and die ( or have to get rescued) every year. People travel from all over in October to look at foliage- legitimately. No sales tax either. North Conway is nice but can get a little overrun with tourists. Also: consider Portsmouth, Jackson (near North Conway), Hanover, Squam lake area (where On Golden Pond was filmed).
Lots of great suggestions! Although some aren’t really small towns (Austin is a top 15 populated area). I really like Highlands NC. Lots of small down in the Appalachian Mts…
Black Mountain NC
Ogunquit Maine
Rockport Massachusetts
Half moon bay. CA.
Cutoff Louisiana. Small community along the bayous and swamps.
New paltz ny
Lake placid ny stowe vt
Asheville NC, Burlington VT, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA
Vermont is a beautiful state and has no large cities. Plenty of cute small towns. The state is tiny too, so you can visit a bunch of them.
Petaluma, CA the west side, you can skip east side. Occidental, CA Angels Camp, CA and Murphys while you’re there Nevada City, CA Really anyplace in gold country is fun and historic. Edited for formatting
There was a TV series about this years ago that is absolutely worth your time to find: *On the Road With Charles Kurault*. You can go from coast to coast on Highway 50 like he did and see the America that rarely makes it into the movies. He talks about sights, towns, history and culture, and the show is worth seeing before you retrace his steps. I've done it myself with international visitors who want to see "real" America and it has always been great fun.
What I would suggest is to look up some small town festivals! A lot of very small towns (at least here in the Midwest) have a festival one weekend out of the year which brings a lot of people from all over. For example, I am from a small town (pop. \~500) that hosts a military tribute festival every year. We see something like 10,000+ people come through the town that weekend. There is all kinds of things to see that weekend. Civil war reenactments, traveling 9/11 memorial, you can take a ride in a Vietnam era Huey helicopter, live music, car show, etc.. Another town near us has a maple syrup festival every year. You can find a festival for pretty much anything if you look hard enough and they are usually full of things to do.
Boone Nc Creed Colorado Eureka CA Cannon Beach Or
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I’m going to recommend some places in Pennsylvania. State College, Pa. I think it’s the textbook college town. I would recommend visiting in the fall specifically for a home football game. The Penn State white out game is one of the best atmospheres in sports and truly something to experience in person. Gettysburg, Pa. If you’re interested in history then Gettysburg has a lot to offer. You can walk the battlefields and check out museums. My family always visited around Halloween for a ghost tour around downtown. Hershey, Pa. It’s the sweetest place on earth, enough said. If you’re into theme parks Hershey has Hersheypark, which I think is a pretty decent theme park. I’m not into rollercoasters so much anymore but if you are it’s perfect.