This South Carolina destination ranks among best places to visit this fall. Here’s why

A South Carolina destination is a popular place for tourists — and now ranks among the best locations for a fall getaway.

Charleston landed at No. 9 on a list of top places to visit this season, according to U.S. News & World Report.

To create the list, U.S. News & World Report focused on locations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. Thousands of users voted on whether destinations deserved recognition, and editors scored several factors of each place, including “sights, culture, people, food, family, nightlife, adventure, romance, value and accessibility,” according to results updated Aug. 30.

Also under consideration were the recommended times to visit each place, with fall defined as the period from September to November, officials wrote in their report.

Charleston was the only location in the Palmetto State to earn a spot in the top 10.

There are “a lot of fall festivals happening in Charleston each year, which is really great for out-of-town visitors to kind of get to know the city,” Erin Evans, managing editor of travel for U.S. News & World Report, told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

Evans also gave the city a nod for its location, which she said is easily accessible for many people along the East Coast. Then there’s the region’s fall weather, which is often sunny and warm.

“Now that the humidity has dropped, strolling through the historic streets of The Battery or sinking your toes in the sand at Folly Beach is even more enjoyable,” officials wrote in their report.

Charleston isn’t a stranger to receiving praise around this time of year. One of the city’s tours recently ranked among the nation’s most “spine-chilling” — just in time for the Halloween season.

Earlier this year, the city also was named an up-and-coming U.S. travel destination and a top place for food lovers, McClatchy News reported.

This time around, the mountain town of Asheville, North Carolina, earned the No. 1 spot in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. The other destinations rounding out the top 10 Best Fall Vacations list:

• Zion National Park in Utah

• Grand Canyon in Arizona

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee

• Kauai, Hawaii

• Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming

• Sedona, Arizona

• Acadia National Park in Maine

• Montreal, Quebec in Canada

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