ALEXANDRIA, VA — Travel + Leisure ranks Alexandria among the likes of New Orleans, Honolulu, Boston and New York on its best U.S. cities list.

Alexandria ranked fifth on Travel + Leisure’s Best Cities in the U.S. list, part of the magazine’s “World’s Best Awards” survey. This is the fourth consecutive year Alexandria has made the list.

“Travelers love Alexandria’s proximity to Washington D.C., giving the coastal city its big-city polish, yet it still feels far enough removed from the fray,” Travel + Leisure shared about Alexandria. “Also of note is the colonial architecture in Old Town, the Potomac River waterfront, shopping on King Street, and an emerging food scene.”

Santa Fe ranked first on Travel + Leisure’s list for the first time. Other cities ahead of Alexandria were New Orleans, Charleston and Savannah. In the top 10, Alexandria ranked ahead of Honolulu; Greenville, South Carolina; New York; Asheville, North Carolina; and Chicago.

Visit Alexandria, the membership-based tourism organization for the city, worked to get the Travel + Leisure ranking. The organization seeks national rankings in Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler and more as a strategy to promote Alexandria as a national destination to increase visitors. Visit Alexandria’s effort to boost visitors aims to help the city increase visitor-related revenues, supporting core city services.