DC tops New York Times’ ‘Places to Go in 2020’ list

January 9, 2020

Getty Images/iStockphoto/lucky-photographer

D.C.-area denizens, turns out your wanderlust may have already been satisfied. Two cities in the area made it on a list of places to go this year.

The New York Times put D.C. at the top of its “52 Places to Go” in 2020.

The nation’s capital topped the list, in part, to mark the importance of the 100th anniversary of American women winning the right to vote, The New York Times wrote on its selection process. Several museums in D.C. already have or are planning to have exhibits to commemorate women’s suffrage, and being D.C., they will likely be free.

Moreover, D.C. topped the list because of its diversity, history and cuisine, among others. The New York Times wrote:

“Even as a modern, homegrown and ever-changing culture percolates below the surface, though, Washington holds to its historical ideal of a city built on a common heritage — a place for all Americans to reflect on a shared identity, even in a contentious election year.”

Another local destination made it on the list, as well. Richmond, Virginia, came in at No. 39. The Virginia capital, the list described, has morphed form a “sleepy capital steeped in Confederate history” to a cultural center of arts, food and recreation.

In compiling the list, the newspaper posed the question, “Where would you go if you could go anywhere?” Staff consulted with writers, contributors, foreign and domestic correspondents, and travel experts. Two themes emerged from what they gathered: the importance of sustainability and the pull of history.

Here are the first 10 places on the list:

  1.   1. D.C.
  2.   2. British Virgin Islands.
  3.   3. Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
  4.   4. Greenland
  5.   5. Kimberley Region, Australia
  6.   6. Paso Robles, California
  7.   7. Sicily
  8.   8. Salzburg, Austria
  9.   9. Tokyo
  10. 10. Caesarea, Israel

Check out all 52 places to go in 2020.

See photos of places from the list where some WTOP staff would like to go … if they could go anywhere.

Abigail Constantino

Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.

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