The San Antonio Botanical Gardens are just one of many world-class attractions that can be found in the Alamo City. Credit: Courtesy Photo / San Antonio Botanical Gardens

Travel + Leisure magazine’s readers have named San Antonio the ninth-best city in the United States in the magazine’s annual rankings of U.S. urban areas rated as travel destinations.

Hell, we even beat out Austin, which landed two slots below at No. 11.

Perhaps the excitement about besting our perpetual I-35 rival explains why Visit San Antonio — our local tourism promotion organization — tweeted that the Alamo City was the only Texas city to make the list. Oops.

“San Antonio is proud to be the only city in Texas listed as one of T&L’s 15 Best Cities in the United States,” Visit San Antonio wrote in a Twitter post Monday.

It’s unclear whether the factual error was a cheeky jab at San Antonio’s big brother, or just an error.

Either way, Travel+Leisure readers applauded the Alamo City’s food scene and the general friendliness of its people. One reader was particularly impressed with the city’s “Ambassadors,” who are always ready to help tourists with their needs and can be found wandering downtown streets.

Travel + Leisure compiled the list by asking readers to rank cities based on landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping and overall value.

San Antonio’s ranking on the new list is down from the No. 6 spot it held last year. Meanwhile, Charleston was again ranked the best U.S. city — a title it’s held for a decade.  

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This article appears in Jul 13-26, 2022.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...