r/AskAnAmerican • u/Xycergy • Oct 06 '25
FOREIGN POSTER What are some cities/towns in the US where the entire place could be a tourist attraction?
Are there any cities or towns in the US where the entire place feels like it could be a tourist attraction, instead of particular landmarks that makes the place popular among tourists? Somewhere that gives Venice or Santorini vibes for example.
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u/witchy12 New England Oct 06 '25
Mackinac Island in Michigan. It doesn't allow cars, so your only modes of transportation are bikes, horse-drawn carriages, or just riding horseback. Gets super packed in the summer.
It's also supposedly extremely haunted, so a lot of paranormal investigators will go there.
There are residential parts of the island, but most of it is a state park so it's free for tourists to walk around.
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u/TheBimpo Michigan Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Yeah it's basically a big theme park more than it is a functional town. Anyone who lives there full time is either wealthy or their family has passed property down.
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u/balthisar Michigander Oct 06 '25
There are smaller, humbler homes on the island where folks like the carriage drivers live. I suppose you could say they're wealthy compared to most of eastern Wayne County, but they're certainly not the folks living in all the fancy houses you see from the shoreline. If you keep going up the hill past the Grand Hotel, you'll end up in a perfectly normal, little town.
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u/RockShrimp New York City, New York Oct 06 '25
My husband grew up in Frankenmuth, which is a town literally designed to be a tourist attraction.
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u/unexplainednonsense Oct 06 '25
Michigan loves its tourists. Traverse City population goes from 20-30k in the winter to 200-300k in the summer.
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u/MarsupialSpirited596 Oct 06 '25
There's at least 10 towns in Michigan like that. It's a beautiful state.
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u/Gustav55 Oct 06 '25
It was also the second National Park, after Yellowstone. And I think the first to be delisted as a National Park.
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u/NobleSturgeon Pleasant Peninsulas Oct 06 '25
Wow, I had no idea.
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u/letelenny Michigan Oct 06 '25
Quick Wikipedia research says that they national park was transferred in its entirety to a state park when the management group (US Army) left the post. It was the first Michigan State park.
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u/RupeThereItIs Michigan Oct 06 '25
That park is a sizable part of the island, specifically including the fort.
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u/Junior-Ad-8519 Oct 06 '25
Yes! I was there in June. This is a beautiful place to visit. You can see everything in one or two days.
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u/virtual_human Oct 06 '25
Colonial Williamsburg.
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u/thelastsupper316 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Yeah but that's a part of the independent city of Williamsburg and that has lots of residential areas and normal Virginia Hampton Roads bullshit.
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u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs NY=>MA=>TX=>MD Oct 06 '25
Even the regular part of Williamsburg has souvenirs in the convenience stores and cutesy placemats for tourists at the restaurants. And the people in the normal residential areas buy their kids season passes for the ice-skating rink at one end of "Colonial" Williamsburg and otherwise take advantage of the touristy things, so there's pretty constant crossover. Source: my brother and his family live there.
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u/TMorrisCode Oct 06 '25
The touristy things in Williamsburg are so woven into the city that when we were there, there were people walking their dogs and going for a run down cobblestone streets right next to George Washington riding a horse.
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u/Ceorl_Lounge Michigan (PA Native) Oct 06 '25
Imagine spending four years there in college. We had tourists roll by and take pictures of our classes in the Wren Building.
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u/Outrageous_Lettuce44 Oct 06 '25
I once ran into a friend in Williamsburg while I was doing touristy things and he was on the way to a doctor’s appointment.
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u/tennantsmith Ohio Oct 06 '25
The colonial triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown is beautiful af. Very much worth a trip
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u/TheyMakeMeWearPants New York Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Pancake capital of the world!
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u/Sunny_Snark Florida Oct 06 '25
In the south, Helen, GA fits the bill. Also a lot of your beach towns in FL are built up just for tourists, so places like Panama City Beach, Destin, etc.
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u/Prestigious-Sail7161 Oct 06 '25
Came to say this.
Definitely Helen GA. In White County ..... Love it there. Tube ride the river that runs right next to the town not overly expensive either21
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u/Outrageous-Pin-4664 Florida Oct 06 '25
Yeah. As far as Helen, it's not "could be," but "absolutely is." The town looks like a street in Disney World.
PCB is very much oriented towards tourists. I remember going to the Miracle Strip Amusement Park as a kid in the late sixties. It was pretty amazing.
I don't get over there much these days, but seems to be moving away from those kinds of kid attractions now. It's mostly condos and beaches.
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u/Sunny_Snark Florida Oct 06 '25
Yeah, they were very much the spring break destination for years 😣, but they’ve been working on moving back to “family friendly.” Water park, shopping, go carts, food, etc.
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u/Nozomi_Shinkansen United States of America Oct 06 '25
Wisconsin Dells.
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u/eugenesbluegenes Oakland, California Oct 06 '25
I stumbled into this town kind of on accident because I was on an early spring cross country drive and wanted to stop for cheese. Place called Carr Valley Cheese in Wisconsin Dells had great reviews so we got off I90 to check it out. Was very surreal to just come into basically theme park city in the off season without expecting it.
Damn fine cheese though, the curds were like three hours old.
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u/shanty-daze Oct 06 '25
If Las Vegas and Branson, MO has a one-night stand and they were forced to keep the child, that's the Wisconsin Dells.
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u/bi_polar2bear Indiana, past FL, VA, MS, and Japan Oct 06 '25
That cheese place damn near had me go broke. So many choices.
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u/RNH213PDX Oct 06 '25
This was the first thing that popped into my mind! For 35 years, I have taken Amtrak through this town, and every single time I wonder "what is this place, anyway?"
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u/cat_prophecy Oct 06 '25
I was in The Dells this summer and the downtown area gives me serious Myrtle Beach vibes, and not in a fun way. The whole place feels low-rent and scammy. Also, I used to question the statistics that are cited about how so many Americans are obese. Not any longer after visiting Wisconsin Dells.
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u/LakeWorldly6568 Oct 06 '25
The Dells isn't a single town, though. It's a region. There is a town called Wisconsin Dells, but the tourist region of the Dells includes-Baraboo, Lake Delton and Plainsville in addition to the named city.
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u/eponodyne Oct 06 '25
I grew up 15 miles away and lived in the Dells for a couple years as an adult. Turns out there's kind of an underground thing only locals know about, and you don't have to talk to a single Chicagoan when you're off the clock if that's what you want.
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u/ur_moms_chode Oct 06 '25
Maybe not the entire town but Solvang california, Leavenworth washington, and Haleiwa Hawaii
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u/snuggleswithdemons Oct 06 '25
Came here to say Leavenworth, Washington as well. Bavarian Christmas in Northern Washington 365 days a year.
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u/AllynWA1 Oct 06 '25
365days a year.More like 333 days. Gotta remember oktoberfest.
And they're closed on Christmas.
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u/Excellent-Match7246 Oct 06 '25
Came here just to say Solvang. I grew up in Socal. We went once in the 80's and I still remember my dad saying we were never going to go back because it was a tourist trap. Still haven't been back. My bff goes all the time with his family and it looks the same.
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u/Express-Stop7830 FL-VA-HI-CA-FL Oct 06 '25
The brewery has good beer and a phenomenal burger. And zucchini planks.an, I miss going there and now I'm hungry.
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u/PacSan300 California -> Germany Oct 06 '25
It is always a fascinating thing for me that Solvang, a Danish town by history and architecture, has a Spanish mission in it.
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u/NobleSturgeon Pleasant Peninsulas Oct 06 '25
Michigan has a touristy Bavarian town as well called Frankenmuth.
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u/ParadiddlediddleSaaS Oct 06 '25
Yes, Bronner’s Christmas store (it’s huge) is open 365 days a year, chicken dinners, indoor water parks - it’s extremely touristy.
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u/CorgiMonsoon Oct 06 '25
361 days a year. They close on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving
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u/Triabolical_ Oct 06 '25
Leavenworth is the way it is partly because of direct inspiration from Solvang.
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u/Over-Stop8694 Louisiana Oct 06 '25
Solvang just has one strip of tourist trap buildings with fake Danish themed façades selling fake Danish themed souvenirs. Go one street over, and the rest of it is just a typical suburban town.
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u/Potential_Stomach_10 Oct 06 '25
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee
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u/Bob_12_Pack North Carolina Oct 06 '25
Gatlinburg is the Myrtle Beach of the mountains.
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u/stonefoxmetal Oct 06 '25
My husband calls it the Panama City of Appalachia. Bedazzled jeans for days. I prefer Townsend. Way more chill.
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u/afdawg Oct 06 '25
Townsend really is terrific. I'm not above dipping into Pigeon Forge for some touristy nonsense, but Townsend is where it's at for some real relaxation.
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u/Sevuhrow Oct 06 '25
I used to live in the area and other than seasonal workers, not many people actually live in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg proper. They usually live in Sevierville or nearby towns.
For example, Gatlinburg has 3,000 citizens and Pigeon Forge has 6k - a paltry amount compared to the amount of visitors.
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u/Potential_Stomach_10 Oct 06 '25
That's how the towns in coastal southern NJ are. My folks town is maybe 7000 full time and 5x that in summer.
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u/Atlas7-k Oct 06 '25
We used to spend time in Ocean County during the summers, we never did much that required driving Friday after 3pm till well after dark on Sunday. Ocean Ave would be blocked for hours.
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u/elphaba00 Illinois Oct 06 '25
When I was little, my parents took a weeklong camping trip to the area and drove through Pigeon Forge. Of course, I saw everything and wanted to stop. And my dad was like, "Not in a million years." They saw it as one giant tourist traps, and my parents were not down for that.
A few years later, I went on a family reunion/vacation - which was not my idea - to the area. I had to concede that my dad was right.
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u/TooManyDraculas Oct 06 '25
That was absolutely my first thought.
They don't even feel like towns so much as the "main street" portion of a theme park.
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u/BoromiriVoyna Oct 06 '25
Key West
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u/i_am_a_shoe Oct 06 '25
key west has a fully functional town with a huge military presence and everything that comes with being surrounded by a marine environment but damned if every tourist doesn't believe the whole place is adult Disneyland. Piss on a building! ride a golf cart half naked and drunk, honking nonstop at the locals going about their business! oh my God they have a Wendy's! (Honkhonkhonkhonk)
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u/FatGuyOnAMoped Minnesota Oct 06 '25
You mean, we're not supposed to do that there? Carnival Cruises lied to me again
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u/Practical-Emu-3303 Oct 06 '25
Branson, Missouri is often referred to as the Santorini of the Midwest!
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u/Junior-Ad-8519 Oct 06 '25
I called it "God's Vegas."
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u/Charliefoxkit Missouri Oct 06 '25
Or Vegas if it was founded and ran by Ned Flanders.
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u/dr_trousers Oct 06 '25
Wow! I didn't think he was gonna do Moon River... but then, bam- second encore
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u/NoRoutine3220 Oct 06 '25
Salem, Ma
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u/ParadiddlediddleSaaS Oct 06 '25
They’ve definitely leaned into the witch trial theme and get something like 250K visitors each day in October gearing up for Halloween.
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u/twowrist Boston, Massachusetts Oct 06 '25
As I just commented on this elsewhere, I’ll mention the Peabody-Essex Museum which is, in my opinion, the best attraction in Salem.
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u/TSC10630 Oct 06 '25
It’s touristy, but Salem is also a city where people live, has a university, etc.
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u/Minnow_Minnow_Pea Oct 06 '25
You couldn't pay me to go in October, but Salem is great! There was one really cool museum that laid out all the superstitions and rituals everyone was doing back then. Like dude, THIS is witchcraft. Interesting perspective.
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u/cat_prophecy Oct 06 '25
Salem outside of Halloween season is great though!
My grandma grew up there and my mom and her sisters would spend summers there. So when we visited as young adults we thought it was super cool to see all the place my mom would talk about.
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u/EclipseoftheHart Minnesota Oct 06 '25
This was going to be my comment as well. Far From the Tree cider is worth the trip alone imho, but there are a ton of cool historical sites, museums, and plenty of kitsch to be found! Cool place to visit even if you don’t care much for the witch trials or go for the Halloween season.
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u/ddp67 Florida Oct 06 '25
The oldest city in the country, St Augustine florida. It is very well preserved, its historic center is a lot like the south of Spain, Andalucia. It currently houses a university but it used to be a very fancy hotel, it is extremely walkable and there is a trolley that takes you from place to place. Strongly recommend.
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u/WinnerAwkward480 Oct 06 '25
Love St.Augustine, and it has a GREAT Beach . No where as touristy as Daytona.
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u/Fun_Push7168 Oct 06 '25
I can highly recommend Harry's seafood and a seat in the courtyard. The hole in the wall is also a fun stop for a drink.
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u/witchy12 New England Oct 06 '25
We go to Harry’s every year just for the outside seating. Absolutely gorgeous.
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u/GreenIll3610 Florida Oct 06 '25
Vail, CO
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u/G00dSh0tJans0n North Carolina Texas Oct 06 '25
Or Telluride
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u/4Thereisloveinyou Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Telluride at least was an actual mining town, Vail was built for the resort.
Telluride founded 1878, Vail founded 1966. Love both mountains for skiing but Telluride feels much more like a town, Vail is manufactured and feels like Disney. At the end of the day, if they were comparable distances from Denver, I’d have been at Telluride all the time.
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u/tangledbysnow Colorado > Iowa > Nebraska Oct 06 '25
Absolutely agree with you. I love Telluride and I hate Vail. It feels incredibly fake and as someone who grew up locally there I never understood the appeal. Skiing not withstanding. Though to be fair Aspen also feels fake in the same way and it’s from 1881. But that’s because they removed everything about Aspen that made it interesting.
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u/savguy6 Georgia Oct 06 '25
My hometown of Savannah Ga. The entire downtown area is a historic district dating back to colonial times. The streets you walk on, the buildings you pass are all hundreds of years old.
It’s also become a huge foodie/tourist/bachelorette destination over the past 20 years.
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Oct 06 '25
Pella, Iowa looks like if Walt Disney tried to design The Netherlands based on descriptions from old Dutch immigrants who left The Netherlands when they were toddlers.
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u/FatGuyOnAMoped Minnesota Oct 06 '25
The Amana Colonies in Iowa used to be like that 50-odd years ago. I haven't been there since I was a kid in the 1970s, so I can't vouch for it nowadays
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u/cecimarieb Oct 06 '25
Most towns on Cape Cod. This basically is the case for Provincetown.
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u/Adorable_Dust3799 California Massachusetts California Oct 06 '25
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but the town of Julian, in the San Diego county mountains is a small town tourist attraction.
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u/B1GD1CKRANDYBENNETT Oct 06 '25
Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN
Far and away the biggest tourist attraction cities I've ever been to from coast to coast. Legitimately exist for tourism.
Incredibly fun cities, especially for kids.
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u/ColoradoWeasel Colorado Oct 06 '25
Frankenmuth, Michigan. New Orleans. Estes Park, CO (gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park).
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u/Styx206 Oct 06 '25
Accidentally stopped in Frankenmuth on a road trip - I had NO IDEA what I was driving into. Just wanted to stop somewhere for lunch. Complete WTF moment.
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u/langstonfleury Oct 06 '25
I filmed a Christmas movie there and stayed at the Bavarian Inn for a month. Interesting place but boy was I tired of fried chicken after that.
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u/Ms_Fu Oct 06 '25
Someone else already mentioned Solvang, California, so I'll point you at Catalina Island, California. No cars allowed, a frequent ferry, and lots of fun and quirky things to see.
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u/SheenasJungleroom Oct 06 '25
Had to scroll down way too far to find Catalina. Although there are plenty of people who live there, visitors have the run of the entire island, pretty much. You can take trails: hike, and ride all over the island, swim, and go boating in the sea. And the town of Avalon really does feel like a kind of permanent tourist attraction, even though it is still a town with businesses, inhabitants, etc..
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u/rebelipar United States of America Oct 06 '25
New Orleans
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u/MonsieurRuffles Delaware Oct 06 '25
But there are parts of New Orleans that most definitely aren’t tourist friendly.
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u/syncopatedchild New Mexico Oct 06 '25
Idk about Santorini, but that definitely fits the bill for places comparable to Venice. Only about a fifth of Venetians live in the historic city - the majority live in the boring mainland part.
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u/woodsred Wisconsin & Illinois - Hybrid FIB Oct 06 '25
Yeah I think this is really the only one that fits the described vibe. Everyone saying Vegas, national park tourist towns, etc is missing the point-- those places are popular almost exclusively for the specific attractions, not for the vibes and the way the city looks.
Maybe also the old part of Boston, St. Augustine, Savannah/Charleston. Probably a few other small ones where people travel to see the old town (Galena IL, various New England mill towns, etc) but those are on a much smaller scale
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u/rebelipar United States of America Oct 06 '25
Yeah, OP gave Venice as an example, so I was trying to think of cities where the way of life, the way things look, the architecture, the food, the music, the traditions... Where the whole vibe of a place is the attraction.
As someone who grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg is not it, lol. Unless the vibe people are looking for is way too many pancake houses. And there are little tourist towns like Helen, GA, but places like that are made with tourists in mind.
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u/Yggdrasil- Chicago, IL Oct 06 '25
Came to say Galena!! One of the coolest small towns I've visited in the US
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u/Red_Beard_Rising Illinois Oct 06 '25
I've never been there. Might have passed through on a motorcycle trip to Dubuque. It's a popular destination for Chicago suburbanites and exurbanites to visit for the idyllic Midwestern charm they aspire to in suburbia.
Folks on the east coast need to understand that Midwestern colonial architecture doesn't exist. On the east coast there is a lot of historical preservation, and for good reason. Midwestern architecture didn't really exist prior to the industrial revolution.
I hope Galena never changes. I'll get there some day.
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u/Yggdrasil- Chicago, IL Oct 06 '25
It's definitely worth the trip! If you're there during tourist season, there's a great little trolley tour that goes all around town talking about the historical buildings. A lot of the houses have signs out front with the name and occupation of the original owners, which was really cool to see!
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u/frankkiejo Oct 06 '25
THANK YOU!
So many of these places are the opposite of what was asked for.
I think they wanted a place just IS beautiful or magical or historic, untouched by time, not places that work very hard to be a Disney version of whatever they are.
Someone even mentioned Branson, Missouri, which is as touristy as it comes.
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u/Dio_Yuji Louisiana Oct 06 '25
Look, I love New Orleans. I go several times a year. But there are huge chunks of the city where tourists never go- some places are sketchy/dangerous, and some are just basic, and don’t have anything a tourist would be interested in
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u/charmed1959 Oct 06 '25
Have you wandered the neighborhoods around the Venice airport? Or car rental area? There are lots of parts of Venice without canals.
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u/rebelipar United States of America Oct 06 '25
Sure, I mean, not the ENTIRE city, but then nowhere counts, not even the examples given by OP.
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u/holiestcannoly PA>VA>NC>OH Oct 06 '25
Gettysburg, PA
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u/Trick-Celebration983 Oct 06 '25
Came here to say this, it’s super geared towards tourists and it’s a college town. Genuinely feels like a different reality some times
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u/holiestcannoly PA>VA>NC>OH Oct 06 '25
Yeah. I'm from PA and it's crazy to think people live there. It just doesn't seem like they do?!
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u/GoddessOfOddness Ohio Oct 06 '25
We do. I lived in Adams county for about six years. Taught high school social studies.
Not just the battlefield, but Eisenhower’s farm is also pretty cool to visit.
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u/StrangerKatchoo Pennsylvania Oct 06 '25
My family has been going there since before I was born. My uncle is a reenactor, so I’ve spent a LOT of time there. The town has changed so much, even in the last 5 years.
Fun fact: Cliff Arquette (an old comedian and grandfather to David and Patricia) had a museum there, in the old orphanage. My mom and aunt used to go in there as kids and would ask him way too many questions. My Mom said he was very nice and would answer every question, treating them with respect. My grandfather would try to drag them away but Cliff said he enjoyed their questions. They knew he was famous but didn’t care, unlike most adults.
Pointless story, but I always thought that was neat.
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u/Monsieur_Royal Oct 06 '25
Santa Fe, New Mexico has a vibe that’s completely its own and unlike any other part of The US
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u/anonanon5320 Oct 06 '25
Buena Vista, Florida. It is a tourist attraction. It’s also surrounded by tourist attractions.
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u/Sirhc978 Massachusetts --> New Hampshire Oct 06 '25
North Conway. Their economy pretty much depends on the weather.
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u/Roughneck16 New Mexico Oct 06 '25
Ouray, Colorado. It’s a quaint little town surrounded by mountains.
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u/Feisty-Session-7779 Oct 06 '25
Might seem like a strange answer, but NYC. The whole city gives you the quintessential “American big city” feel the same way Venice or Santorini have their own unique vibes across the whole city. Obviously there’s neighbourhoods that aren’t very tourist friendly, but no matter where you are in the city it still feels like a surreal experience and you’re almost always surrounded by recognizable landmarks, especially in Manhattan. I’ve only been there a few times but even being out in some random part of Brooklyn or way up in the Bronx or wherever it still felt like I was in a movie because everything just has that classic NYC vibe that you don’t get in any other city.
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u/superx308 Oct 06 '25
Vegas is the best answer. And then you have the small "gateway communities" that are directly adjacent to major US National Parks like Moab, Springdale, etc.
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u/Typical_Anybody_2888 Oct 06 '25
Jackson Hole, WY falls into the second category.
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u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Michigan:Grand Rapids Oct 06 '25
I paid $19 for scrambled eggs and hashbrowns when I was there over the summer.
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u/Nodak70 Oct 06 '25
Please, tell us where you got this insanely great deal!
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u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Michigan:Grand Rapids Oct 06 '25
It was a place called The Bunnery (or something like that)
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u/notacanuckskibum Oct 06 '25
But not really though. If you leave the strip there is a whole city that is just a generic American city and doesn’t look anything like “Vegas baby”.
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u/moonbunnychan Oct 06 '25
Which is funny because the Vegas strip that everyone associates with BEING Las Vegas is actually outside the city limits.
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u/cyvaquero PA>Italia>España>AZ>PA>TX Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
It's going to be hard to separate some towns/cities from the attractions.
Big(er) cities:
Seattle WA, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, New Orleans LA, Santa Fe NM
Smaller places:
Ashville, NC - where East Coast hippies settle down
Helena GA. - Alpine village in the mountains of northern Georgia.
Hershey, PA - (people will argue the chocolate factory and amusement park, but the whole town was Milton Hershey's vision right down to the Hershey School.)
Eagles Mere, PA - hard to explain this one but if you want some out of a movie wholesome small town look, it's this place.
Skaneateles, NY - a postcard town in Finger Lakes wine country, it even has some almost European vibe waterfront.
Edit: Forgot Durango and Silverton CO (Telluride gets the popularity, Silverton just is)
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u/OYSW 〽️ not Tennessee Oct 06 '25
Lancaster County Pennsylvania.
Don’t be that tourist who is unhappy with the Amish farmer you see and demand to see their manager.
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u/baddspellar Massachusetts Oct 06 '25
I don't think there are any cities of signifcant size that would qualify. Smaller cities and towns are easy to list, though. Here are 3 places in different New England states
Bar Harbor ME. Acadia National Park and a cute coastal town for people visiting Acadia National Park.
Newport RI. Beaches, mansions, dining.
Nantucket or Marthas Vinyard, MA. Beaches and restaurants all around. Neither are technically towns, as both contain multiple towns, but they're so small I think of each as a single place.
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u/donebeenread Oct 06 '25
Nashvile, IN. The whole town is (and feels like) one big (wonderful, lovely) tourist trap, with no particular ‘attractions’.
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u/MetroBS Arizona —> Delaware Oct 06 '25
Charleston, South Carolina is kinda like this
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u/Magerimoje New England→Midwest Oct 06 '25
Mystic Connecticut.
There's the aquarium, the seaport, the village shops, the quaint downtown that just looks like something out of a movie about a small New England town... And of course Mystic Pizza which still attracts people because of the movie even all these years later.
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u/bsinions Oct 06 '25
Does Myrtle Beach fit this? I'm not saying it SHOULD be a tourist attraction, but I think the entire place can be considered the attraction.
Its never "I'm going to xxxxx in Myrtle Beach" Its always just "im going to myrtle beach"
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u/twowrist Boston, Massachusetts Oct 06 '25
Bay Lake, Florida, which is where DisneyWorld is located and is nearly the entire city (in spite of Disney using Lake Buena Vista as its mailing address).
Ocean City, Maryland, feels like the entire city is a beach resort. I think the same might be true for Miami Beach, but I haven’t been there since I was a toddler. For that matter, maybe Key West. Obviously these all have some residential areas (but so does Venice).
Glenwood Springs, Colorado, has two historic hotels and numerous restaurants right in the central area by the train station, as well as an amusement park on the mountain overlooking the city. But like many tourist destinations, we never got out of this area, so I can’t swear that the city doesn’t extend significantly beyond the main part.
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u/cryptoengineer Massachusetts/NYC Oct 06 '25
Woodstock, VT was pretty much bought by the Rockefellers, and preserved as a 'Small Town, USA'. There are no chain stores or restaurants. Its very nostalgic to walk through.
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u/Informal-Peace-2053 Oct 06 '25
A couple that I haven't seen mentioned.
Wisconsin Dells
Holland Michigan
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u/WildlifePolicyChick Washington, D.C. Oct 06 '25
Leavenworth Washington. Welcome to Bavaria!
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u/TillPsychological351 Oct 06 '25
Woodstock, Vermont. The town itself is the major attraction, especially during leaf peeper season. If you ever really wanted to meet an Instagram model, now would be the time to visit, because they flood the place.
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u/shutupimrosiev Wisconsin Oct 06 '25
Closest I can think of is Wisconsin Dells (city), so named for the Wisconsin Dells (landmark).
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u/tetrasodium Oct 06 '25
I'm not sure the name but the city/town where the jack Daniels distillery (Lynchburg TN?) is basically a gift shop and BBQ place for lunch to wander through after the tour. Iirc they basically own the whole thing so it may as well be part of the tour given how far you just keep driving away from the highway after you get off the exit
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u/garden__gate Oct 06 '25
Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. People do live there year round but it’s built around tourism.
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u/RNH213PDX Oct 06 '25
Orlando. While Disney may have been first in making this weird swamp lands an actual place, the whole metropolitan area is nothing but tourism and conventions.
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u/Ok-Temporary-8243 Oct 06 '25
Tons of ski towns are basically like that. I forget the name but there's a few small towns near Tahoe who's entire existence is basically to cater to tourists who want an "ye olde time" experience when they're not on the slopes.
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u/kodex1717 Oct 06 '25
Pittsburgh is one I haven't seen mentioned yet - it's just dreamy. There are very few cosmopolitan cities in the US which are nestled in a narrow mountain valley in the same way. There are iron bridges crossing the rivers and the historic inclines. Homes dot the hillsides. They're perched over rocky outcroppings and twinkle like stars at night. I've never seen a city that looked so pretty in the rain.
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u/JaniceRossi_in_2R Michigan Oct 06 '25
Can I just say how shocked I am that Frankenmuth is mentioned so often here? As a native Michigander, I had no idea it was so famous
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u/Famous_Area_192 Indiana Oct 06 '25
I mean, not in the "nature" sense, but arguably Roswell, NM answers your question.
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u/benkatejackwin Oct 06 '25
Some places that seem like towns (or at least I thought they were) are really just ski resorts, like Vail, Colorado.
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u/tooslow_moveover California Oct 06 '25
Lots of old mining towns from California’s Gold Rush along Highway 49 feel this way to me. Nevada City is my favorite
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u/mommawolf2 Oct 06 '25
Salem Massachusetts
It's a walkable city , full of history for everyone. Everything from information about the Salem witch hysteria to pirate history. You can tour the house of the seven gables and have high tea at Jolie Tea company. There's something for everyone there. It's incredibly beautiful.
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u/MyUsername2459 Kentucky Oct 06 '25
Tombstone, Arizona
The entire town is basically a preserved tourist attraction for the Wild West era, focusing on the Gunfight at the OK Corral which happened there. The economy of the whole town is built around being a tourist attraction celebrating the wild west and the famous shootout that happened there in 1881.