For the first time since 2020, tourist-centric San Antonio has failed to secure a spot on Travel+Leisure’s annual list of the top 10 U.S. cities to visit.

Instead, the Alamo City landed at No. 12 in the magazine’s voter-driven World’s Best Awards.

For the past 30 years, Travel+Leisure readers around the globe have cast ballots to rank the best destinations, hotels, airlines, cruise lines and travel experiences based on metrics including food, shopping, culture and more. Nearly 700,000 readers cast ballots this year, according to the magazine.

Last year, San Antonio ranked as the nation’s No. 7 best destination city.

Despite the Alamo City’s less-impressive 2025 showing, Travel+Leisure readers praised our pedestrian-friendly River Walk, historic sites such as the Alamo and array of shopping and dining options, including those at the Pearl district.

Indeed, SA was the only Texas city to make the list’s top 20.

“There’s no place like San Antonio,” one Travel+Leisure reader wrote in a review. “History itself is dead-center in its beautiful downtown area!”

Santa Fe, New Mexico, took the top spot in this year’s domestic ranking, followed by New Orleans and Charleston, S.C., in respective order.

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