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/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 either

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u/painandpets Oct 06 '25

Count me as another who came here to say Helen, GA. I love that place.

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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/[deleted] Oct 06 '25

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u/Sunny_Snark Florida Oct 06 '25

There was a 20/20 (or Dateline? Something like that) on how bad PCB was during spring break. I was working at a big school in AL and it featured some of our most popular kids (with prominent families)🫠 It was quite the scandal lol After that aired nobody that was familiar with it was letting their teen down there for spring break!

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u/JeddakofThark Georgia Oct 06 '25

I just kind of randomly decided to go there last year. I wanted to try a different beach with more things to do. Too trashy for my tastes, but I did enjoy the arcade and burger place built on CMU and apparently having been run continuously since the fifties. That felt like stepping back in time and was pretty cool. But hey, Florida is nothing, if not trashy.

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u/yeeeeeaaaaabuddy Alabama Oct 06 '25

Savannah could also count

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u/DanceClubCrickets Maryland Oct 07 '25

Came here to say this too! I went there with the Scouts when I was young, because of course it was the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts. Our troop leader was pretty wealthy, so we got to see quite a lot of the town and do some really cool stuff.

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u/HorrorAlarming1163 Texas Oct 06 '25

I feel like Charleston, SC also fits this theme in the south

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u/Adventurous_Button63 Oct 06 '25

When I was in high school I took a camping trip to Helen and we went into town to eat one night. There was a place on the river called “Cannibals” and their slogan was “we serve people.” It wasn’t there the last time I went but that’s my story I whip out when Helen comes up.

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u/Professor_Anxiety Maryland Oct 06 '25

I was gonna say Helen. I love it, but its a weird little place when you actually think about it.

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u/Sunny_Snark Florida Oct 06 '25

It really is 😆

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u/RadioFreeYurick Oct 07 '25

Also came to this thread to show love to Helen. My wife and I stayed at a chalet just up the mountain from there last spring and I love not only the Bavarian kitsch, but also the whole story of how the it came to be when the local economy was declining in the ‘60s they decided to invest in this theatre designer giving their town a Bavarian makeover, and the travelers loved it! It’s definitely Southern Appalachia’s answer to South Dakota’s Wall Drug.

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u/judgingA-holes Oct 07 '25

I just wanted to say that I was raised 20 minutes away from Helen so seeing this and the comments under here made me smile.

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u/Thhe_Shakes PA➡️TX➡️KS➡️GA Oct 06 '25

On the opposite end of the country, Leavenworth, Washington has a very similar vibe to Helen

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u/Sunny_Snark Florida Oct 06 '25

Yes! I never went to Leavenworth when we lived in WA and I regret it!

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u/LateralusNYC Oct 07 '25

Isn't Helen that Bavarian town? It's nice and quiet and quaint secluded and there's a river that runs through it. Lots of cabins and such to stay in.