Atlanta and Las Vegas are arguably the top two U.S. destinations for the busy winter holiday travel period in 2024, according to new data from WalletHub.
The personal finance website recently analyzed dozens of the nation's largest metro areas based on 37 key metrics across six dimensions, including travel costs and hassles, local costs, attractions, weather, activities and safety.
Factors considered include two weeks of flight data, nightly hotel rates, restaurants per capita, number of attractions and weather predictions, among other things.
The destinations were grouped into cold and warm based on whether they had an average December temperature of 46 degrees or below (cold) or 57 degrees or higher (warm).
The Top Cold Weather Winter Holiday Destinations
- Atlanta, Georgia
- New York, New York
- Washington, DC
- Chicago, Illinois
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Denver, Colorado
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Kansas City, Missouri
WalletHub analyzed 32 cold-weather metro areas and Atlanta ranked in the top 10 in four of the six dimensions, including first for cold-weather activities and second for weather.
People ice skating in Central Park, New York City. (Photo Credit: travnikovstudio/Adobe)
Meanwhile, the Big Apple finished second for attractions and safety while ranking sixth among the 32 cities for cold-weather activities and travel costs and hassles.
For those seeking an underrated winter escape, fifth-ranked Cincinnati had the lowest local costs of any cold-weather city and ranked third for cold-weather attractions.
The Top Warm Weather Winter Holiday Destinations
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- San Diego, California
- Dallas, Texas
- Austin, Texas
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Houston, Texas
- San Francisco, California
- Tampa, Florida
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Miami, Florida
Aerial view of the Las Vegas Strip. (Photo Credit: lucky-photo/Adobe)
Among the 37 warm-weather metro areas analyzed, Las Vegas ranks 11th or better in five of the six categories, including first for warm-weather activities and second for attractions. Sin City is also relatively budget-friendly, ranking seventh for local costs and 10th for travel costs and hassles.
Second-ranked San Diego ranks top five in four of the dimensions, including third for weather, fourth for both attractions and warm-weather activities and fifth for safety.
In the Southwest, Phoenix ranks first for weather while Houston is number one when it comes to travel costs and hassles this holiday season.
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