Latest Money magazine is supposed to have 10 best vacation spots. Anyone know what they are?

Their web site lists 12:

http://money.cnn.com/best/bpvac/index.html

that list really stinks. It's a "SUMMER VACATION" list. Montreal, ha! Michigan coast?! Jeeze!
Not that those are necessarily bad places but I can think of hundreds of other places to go instead of these!

That link takes you to last year's list of best vacation spots. I'm sure those places are still desirable, but here are the places listed in this month's Money magazine:

Portland, OR
Estero Bay, CA
Whitefish, MT
Heber Valley, UT
Bisbee, AZ
Door County, WI
Finger Lakes, NY
Lewes, DE
Quebec City, Canada
Ogunquit and York, ME

I couldn't find a link for this year's list on Money's Web site. Maybe it'll appear next month. Hope this helps...

Oh, and Ha is correct in his statement about this being a summer vacation list. Money's lead-in to this year's article says, "From Oregon to Maine, we picked 10 perfect places in North America to spend your summer holiday."

What is their criteria for perfect places? I love Portland in the summer so I'd agree with that choice but what is the basis for the picks?
I've seen lots of poster here who do not like the Morro Bay area so what is the reaction to the only CA location to the make the list?

When were the Vugin Islands a part of North America?

Suzie,

I'll try to check tonight about what criteria they used--don't have the magazine handy right now.

Mickey,

The Virgin Islands were in last year's list. The quote I cited was from this year's issue--and all of the 10 places listed for this year are in North America. So maybe they changed their criteria for this year.

Oh Puhhlleeaaazzee!!

This from the same magazine that selected Rochester, MN THE BEST town in the USA to live in.

Shot their credibility all to heck right there.

Rank - I assume you've lived in Rochester to form that opinion?

I think Money is trying to uncover some less-known places. None of the places on the list are overrun by tourists. That is why I think they do a good job.

They are most definitely trying to attract attention to some of these less popular places. Trouble is, there is a REASON they are less populated. I mean, the Finger Lakes? Ugh.

Door County is not over-run by tourists???????????????????? And those white-belt, white-shoed crowds who wonder whether Green Bay is "man-made"..they would be...??????

But Brisbee AZ is a great choice - for those dying to travel back to the haze-enveloped 60s-70s.

To Mr/Mrs "c'mon" the original dyed in the wool skeptic:
I was living in Rochester MN when that ranking from Money magazine came out.
Everyone at my place of employment got a huge hoot from it.
Why? Because we all knew better.
Very few people living in Rochester grew up there. The Mayo Clinic and IBM employed nearly half the city's workforce at that time.
Rochester has its redeeming qualities but you have to look at the methodology behind those rankings (same for Rand McNally's "Placed Rated" series) to appreciate how simply crunching numbers can leave you with some very odd results. I won't go on except to say that those lists aren't worth the paper they're printed on. But they're great for stirring debate, which is all the magazine is really after in the first place.

Of course, all these rankings are arbitrary, and the magazines change the criteria all the time, just so they can generate different lists. Even Newsweek's "Best Colleges" list is manipulated that way -- how else could the rankings change so drastically from one year to the next?!

Isn't Best Colleges by News and World Report?

Nothing in the Southeast? You'd think at least somewhere in Virginia would make the list.

Okay, FWIW--the criteria that Money said they used in coming up with this year's list is the following:

"We look for places, including side trips, that easily justify a week of one's time. They have to feature spectacular natural beauty but not be so isolated that they don't also offer a wide variety of attractions, including cultural events and some decent places to eat. And finally, we seek great values. Not that our picks must necessarily be cheap--but they need to be well worth the dollars you'd spend there."

Of the 10 places listed for this year, I've only been to Portland, OR and Ogunquit/York, ME, and I think both of those places are fine choices based on the criteria.

Typical money magazine lists. They seem to have around a 20% accuracy rate - I write that off as pure chance. They are consistently not the lists anyone who knew anything on the subject would make.