A small college town in South Carolina was named one of the nation’s best — again.
Clemson — home to Clemson University — ranks No. 5 on a list of places where “small-town charm meets campus life.” But the destination didn’t only receive praise for boasting a school.
Clemson also landed in the No. 6 spot on a separate list of the best small towns to visit in the South, according to results published April 9.
The lists come from USA Today’s 10Best, which publishes vacation-related rankings. To determine the top small towns, travel experts nominated destinations from across the country. Then, editors said they narrowed down the choices and allowed readers to spend a month voting on their favorites.
On the resulting lists of readers’ choice award winners, Clemson was the only place in South Carolina to earn spots in the two rankings. The town, a roughly 30-mile drive southwest from Greenville, has about 18,000 residents.
The list of the nation’s best small college towns considered places with 50,000 people or less. 10Best said the winning destinations have “fun, youthful vibes, unexpected dining and shopping options, and plenty of cultural offerings. Throw in a beautiful campus and some regional surprises, and you have a recipe for a great vacation.”
Clemson was praised for drawing in Tigers football fans and for having attractions on and near campus.
“Visitors also enjoy exploring the South Carolina Botanical Garden, heading to the Bob Campbell Geology Museum to view local fossils, or getting out on the water at Lake Hartwell,” 10Best wrote in its report.
Meanwhile, the small-town rankings focused on “charming” Southern destinations with fewer than 25,000 residents. That list also highlighted Clemson’s football games and proximity to nature, while urging travelers to keep their “eyes peeled for tiger paw prints throughout town.”
It’s not the first time Clemson has been recognized on a national scale. Last year, Travel + Leisure named it the No. 1 small college town in the United States. In those rankings, the magazine gave a nod to the city’s “quaint” downtown and referenced the longtime in-state rivalry with the University of South Carolina.
On the latest list, the top-ranked college town was Florence, Alabama, home to the University of North Alabama.
In other categories, 10Best named fan-favorite small towns for food, historic sites and other attractions. The only other place in South Carolina to make one of the lists was Beaufort, which ranked No. 10 among the nation’s top small coastal towns.
In the past, 10Best has told McClatchy News it doesn’t reveal the number of people who vote in its contests.
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January 9, 2025 11:19 AM