Americans can look forward to a temperate and uneventful winter across much of the country this year, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac, though some regions will experience harsher weather.

In a new report, the personal finance website WalletHub ranks the cheapest U.S. destinations travelers can reach during the colder months. The report focuses on the cost and convenience of traveling to each location and on its affordability, and includes those with ample attractions and activities.

“Whether you love to have a chill in your bones during the winter travel season or prefer to escape to somewhere sunny, the top travel destinations can cost as little as $200 to $300 to reach by plane from major U.S. cities” (with no connections), WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in a statement. “In addition to being affordable, the top cities also have an abundance of attractions that fit their weather patterns, along with high-quality restaurants and relatively low crime rates.”

Ranking Criteria

In order to determine the best winter “warm” or “cold” holiday destinations, WalletHub compared 69 of the most populated U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across these dimensions:

  • Travel costs and hassles, including costs of cheapest and of shortest flights, and durations of cheapest and shortest flights — researchers recorded only the longest leg of each flight and the best deals for each within a $30 range or one-hour window.
  • Local costs, including cost of three-star hotel room, average price for two-person meal, taxi fare and cost of living.
  • Attractions, including number of attractions and their diversity.
  • Weather, including winter weather and warm weather.
  • Cold-weather activities, including proximity of ski slopes; availability of affordable, high-quality restaurants; and ice skating rinks, music venues and shopping centers per capita.
  • Warm-weather activities, including restaurants per capita; tennis courts, baseball diamonds and public and municipal golf courses per capita; and quality of parks.
  • Safety, including violent- and property-crime rates; perception of safety; and DUI-related fatal incidents per capita.

Researchers evaluated those dimensions using 37 relevant metrics, and graded each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most ideal winter travel conditions. They classified each MSA as either a “cold” or “warm” destination according to these guidelines:

Cold: ≤ 46 degrees F (50-year average December temperature)

Warm: ≥ 57 degrees F (50-year average December temperature)

For the flight analysis, they collected data on Oct. 3 and used Dec. 24 as the departure date and Jan. 2 as the return date based on the findings of an American Express travel survey that December is the most popular month for winter-holiday travel, and that the average American considers 10 days the ideal length for a vacation.

See the gallery for the 12 best cold-weather winter destinations, according to WalletHub.

Images: Adobe Stock

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