People don’t typically consider Massachusetts cities and towns as romantic getaways. I certainly don’t and I’ve lived here all my life. The weather is erratic and usually uncomfortable, much of the Commonwealth is too densely populated for comfort and pretty much everything is expensive. But maybe it’s the pessimist in me typing right now, because a new study by WalletHub ranks four Bay State communities among the top domestic destinations for newlyweds to celebrate their honeymoon.
The study was conducted using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Kayak, the Tax Foundation, the Weather Underground, TripAdvisor and Yelp. From these sources, WalletHub was able digest the already published research on popular honeymoon destinations within the U.S. and compile a list of 100 locales. Four of those are right here within our Massachusetts borders.
Writes WalletHub, “We also included the 26 largest cities in the U.S. because while they may have been deemed ‘too obvious’ to appear on other best and worst lists, they are nevertheless dominant vacation destinations.” This explains, for example, Detroit’s peculiar number 18 ranking.
Three metrics were then created – budget, weather conditions and activities & romanticism – to determine which American hotspot is best on your wallet, is most privy to Mother Nature’s temperate environmental conditions and will induce nothing short of Love Potion No. 9.
Boston sits pretty in the top 10, coming in as the seventh best honeymoon destination in the U.S.A. Only Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York and Honolulu proved to be more charming and romantic than The Hub. Washington D.C., San Diego and Seattle rounded out the top 10.
Pulling down the number 48 spot is Cape Cod. While simply designating Cape Cod as a top honeymoon destination is technically wrong – it’s comprised of some 15 towns and villages – it’s tough to argue with the Cape’s overall seclusion and serenity. Barnstable in particular has been ranked highly in several health and wellness polls by Gallup.
Thirty spots down the list is the island of Nantucket. This boggles me a bit because neighboring Martha’s Vineyard is in between both the Cape and Nantucket at number 60. Aren’t they all pretty much the same, though? *cue ridicule from the locals*
Image via Shutterstock
