Bainbridge Island was named one of the Best Small Towns in the West in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
USA Today 10Best, the go-to site for reader-voted and editor-recommended travel guides, solicits recommendations from a panel of experts highlighting America’s best small towns and lets readers vote for their favorites.
In the top 10 list released in April, Bainbridge Island ranked seventh and was joined by its neighbor to the south, Gig Harbor, in sixth place.
The island is known for its small-town feel near Seattle, and several Bainbridge museums and parks were listed as attractions in the nominations, including the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Kidim Children’s Museum, and Bloedel Preserve. The community is also well-known for its main street, Winslow Way, which is filled with small shops and local restaurants, just blocks from the Seattle-bound ferry terminal and waterfront public park. Popular local events take place throughout the year, including the Grand Old Fourth festival series on July 4, the weekly farmers market and art walk, and the annual mochi pounding festival that celebrates the community’s Japanese American heritage each winter. It is scattered.
Topping our list of the 10 best small towns in the West is Seward, Alaska, a popular tourist destination known as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, nearby glaciers, and more.
Here is the complete list of places that made it to the top 10:
- Seward, Alaska
- Solvang, California
- Grants, New Mexico
- Cody, Wyoming
- Manitou Springs, Colorado
- Gig Harbor, Washington
- Bainbridge Island, Washington
- Williams, Arizona
- durango, colorado
- Ashland, Oregon
For more information about the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards and other of America’s best small towns from West Coast to East Coast, visit 10best.usatoday.com.
