When you think of Massachusetts, there’s a good chance that you think of places to travel to like Boston, Cape Cod, Salem, The Berkshires (duh!!!), Cambridge, or Nantucket/Martha’s Vineyard. Maybe there are some other cool spots that I’m leaving out. However, none of those were picked as the 22 most underrated destinations in the U.S. As it turns out, the Bay State has two of them. What do you think they are?
CNN Travel recently released their list of the most underrated destinations in the U.S. There are some spots that you might not be surprised to see. Cities such as Buffalo, NY or Kansas City, MO. Southern Illinois also made the list. As someone who has been through Buffalo but also grew up in the Midwest, I can agree with all of those.
So where in Massachusetts is an underrated destination?
It’s definitely not the Berkshires. Our region of the state was listed in the article as being raved about, while Boston and Cape Cod also receive plenty of attention in general. But it turns out the two most underrated destination in the U.S. are:
1. Springfield
Springfield definitely has plenty to offer and probably doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. Here’s what CNN Travel had to say about their spot on the list:
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield is where the sport was born in 1891 as a rainy-day YMCA indoor activity, while the city’s Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum & Sculpture Garden celebrates the Springfield-born children’s author.
Both of those would be awesome attractions to visit. Take a look!
As for the second destination in the Bay State that was chosen, we travel just a little bit up north to:
2. Northampton
As for Northampton, CNN Travel was also impressed with their culture:
One-off shops, restaurants and the LGBTQ scene make Northampton worth a visit or hop across the Connecticut River and hike a portion of the New England Trail through the north woods.
Another fun fact about Northampton is that they have the most dispensaries in the Bay State.
So, it turns out that Central Massachusetts has quite a bit to offer. They must if they’re being called the one (actually two) of the most underrated destinations in the U.S. Luckily, they’re relatively close to all this other great stuff that we have in this state.
