CRAIG TERRY / CAPE MAY COUNTY TOURISM / Cape May Point
The newest vacay buzz is all about “townsizing”—a shift away from big-city getaways in favor of small cities with storybook appeal. More and extra vacationers, particularly Gen Z, are choosing locations that really feel like one thing out of an old school film.
Washington Mall in Cape May / Rabbitti/istockphoto.com
In response to this rising development—searches for slower, extra intentional journey are up 4,700 % over the previous yr. SIXT ranked the highest 20 small-town locations within the U.S. primarily based on inhabitants, walkability, native enterprise choices, and total noise ranges (the quieter, the higher). One of our favourite Jersey Shore cities positioned second on the checklist.
CRAIG TERRY / CAPE MAY COUNTY TOURISM / Cape May Point
Cape May has a inhabitants of simply 2,757 individuals, a noise stage of 65 decibels (thought-about to be reasonable), and 800 native companies, making this walkable seashore city (it ranked 81 out of 100 for walkability) excellent for a slower, seaside escape, in line with SIXT.
CRAIG TERRY / CAPE MAY COUNTY TOURISM / Cape May Point
Cape May has a lot to supply vacationers, from the beachfront to the downtown by Washington Street Mall to Cape May Point’s pure areas to close by Cape May Court House and its standard free park and zoo.
The Victorian houses and structure make you are feeling such as you’re in Europe. Congress Hall’s resort and restaurant take you again to post-colonial days. The Emlen Physick Estate, a Victorian house and museum courting again to 1879, has the charming The Carriage House Café & Tearoom.
You can stroll just about anyplace, particularly alongside the boardwalk. Renting bikes is a simple strategy to discover the realm, too. You can even go railbiking, pedaling alongside decommissioned railroad tracks, to see the brand new murals at The Garrett Family Preserve.
Nature lovers can whale watch alongside the Atlantic Ocean shoreline, go to the lighthouse at Cape May Point State Park for views of the Delaware Bay, or birdwatch alongside the Atlantic Flyway at South Cape May Meadows. Monarch butterflies, dragonflies, and horseshoe crabs are additionally frequent within the space; or commerce in your binoculars for a historical past hat and take a look at the World War II bunkers and the SS Atlantis.
SIXT used the checklist of the highest 55 small cities in America from Architectural Digest (the place Cape May is ranked 4th out of 55) and narrowed that right down to the highest 25, evaluating inhabitants dimension, walkability, noise ranges and the variety of native companies utilizing information present from June 27, 2025.
CRAIG TERRY / CAPE MAY COUNTY TOURISM / Cape May Point
Top 20 Places to Visit With Small-Town, Townsizing Charm, in line with Sixt:
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