With snow-covered hills ideal for skiing and snowboarding and plenty of indoor activities to enjoy during the colder months, some of the state's cities are among the nation's ideal winter vacation destinations. a study published by WalletHub reveals.
WalletHub compared the cheapest and easiest-to-reach US destinations, grouped them into hot or cold vacation destinations and analyzed them based on more than 30 metrics, including two weeks of flight data, metrics security and weather forecasting.
Here's what you need to know.
Top 5 Cold Weather Winter Vacation Destinations
- Atlanta, Georgia
- New York City
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, Ohio
Why New York is one of the best winter vacation destinations
The New York-Newark-Jersey City area has the cheapest non-connecting flights from all major cities and are relatively inexpensive, with some costing as little as $209, according to WalletHub.
And the metro area has the fifth-largest ice skating rink per capita, as well as many other attractions, including many for winter vacationers.
See the list:These New York Cities Have the Most Expensive ZIP Codes for Buying a Home
What other cities in New York made the list
Outside of the Big Apple, upstate cities dominated the list. Rochester was ranked 27th, the Buffalo-Cheektowaga area ranked 29th and the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area followed closely at 30th.
However, Buffalo and Albany were named cities with some of the highest travel costs and hassles, Buffalo and New York have some of the highest local costs, and Albany has the fewest attractions and hassles. activities in cold weather, the WalletHub study determined.
Here's why:New York is one of the most energy efficient US states
How WalletHub Measured Winter Vacation Destination Preference
WalletHub compared 69 of the most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical areas across six key indicators: travel costs and hassles, local costs, attractions, weather, activities and safety. The weather category is based on WalletHub's ranking of cities with the best and worst weather conditions. Here are the factors considered by the other categories:
THE travel costs and hassles The category looked at these aspects:
- Cheapest flight cost
- Cheapest flight duration
- Number of connections on the cheapest flight
- Cost of the shortest flight
- Shortest flight duration
- Number of connections on the shortest flight
- Share of delayed flights
THE local costs The category analyzed these components:
- Cost of a three-star hotel room
- Average price for a meal for two people
- Taxi cost
- Cost of living
THE attractions The category included these items:
- Number of attractions
- Diversity of attractions
THE cold weather activities The category took into account these factors:
- Proximity to ski slopes
- Skating rinks per capita
- Coffee and tea stores per capita
- Music venues per capita
- Food festivals per capita
- Restaurants per capita
- Availability of affordable, high-quality restaurants
- Wellness centers and spas per capita
- Shopping centers per capita
THE security The category looked at these aspects:
- Violent crime rate
- Property crime rate
- Perception of security
- Fatal drunk driving incidents per capita
- Deaths in motor vehicle accidents
The data used to create the ranking comes from several entities, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, TripAdvisor, the White Book of Ski Areas and WalletHub research.
Emily Barnes reports on consumer issues for the USA TODAY Network's New York Connect team, focusing on topics related to scams and recalls. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Contact us at ebarnes@gannett.com.
