Pair of WA cities named among ‘most underrated’ travel destinations in the US
Washingtonians might not consider Bellingham or Olympia to be off the beaten path. But according to a new travel ranking, they’re among the top under-the-radar destinations in the country to visit this year.
Earlier this month, vacation rental website Wander released its list of the 10 most underrated destinations in the U.S. in 2025. The northwestern U.S. featured heavily on the list, including two Washington cities.
Bellingham came in at No. 8 on the list, while Olympia took the No. 10 spot.
Bellingham and Olympia among ‘most underrated’ travel destinations
Wander didn’t provide a write-up on either Washington city, although the website said it weighed each city’s restaurant scene, nightlife options, landmarks and safety when coming up with the rankings.
While neither city needs any introduction to Washingtonians, Bellingham is known for its wide range of outdoor activities and breweries, while Olympia offers visitors waterfront views, along with the architecture and history of the Washington State Capitol and its eclectic downtown.
The local culture in both places is also influenced by regional Native American communities, including the Squaxin, Nisqually and Lummi tribes.
Late last year, Bellingham was named the top destination for adventurers by travel outlet Matador Network. Olympia, meanwhile, has been featured on travel rankings for its arts scene and summer festivals as well.
While Bellingham and Olympia might fly under the radar on a national scale, both still draw millions of visitors a year. In 2024, Bellingham welcomed 3.49 million visits, according to a recent report from Visit Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.
Meanwhile, in Thurston County, where Olympia is located, there were 3.34 million visits from outside the region in 2023, according to Experience Olympia and Beyond’s most recent annual report.
According to the State of Washington Tourism, Washington saw just over 110 million total visits in 2024.
Wander’s most underrated travel destinations
Williamsburg, VA took the title of most underrated travel destination, according to Wander. Second and third place both went to Montana cities – Bozeman and Missoula. Here’s the entire top ten:
Williamsburg, VA
Bozeman, MT
Missoula, MT
Fairbanks, AK
Charlottesville, VA
Asheville, NC
Bentonville, AR
Bellingham, WA
Helena, MT
Olympia, WA
How Wander chose its underrated travel destinations
Wander used previous reporting from other media outlets to get an initial list of underrated travel destinations. From there, each city was given a score based on the number of restaurants, museums and landmarks per capita as well as the number of restaurants and nightlife venues with an average Tripadvisor rating above four stars.
Wander also factored in scores for safety and cleanliness, using data from Numbeo, a website that tracks quality of life-related metrics.
In order to quantify how underrated a city is, Wander looked at Google and Instagram data to estimate how much each city is being talked about.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Pair of WA cities named among ‘most underrated’ travel destinations in the US."