Salem Named 1 Of The 'Most Charming' Places In U.S.: TravelMag

SALEM, MA — Salem's combination of history, art and architecture landed it as a spot as one of the most charming small cities to visit.

TravelMag, the online travel magazine, named Salem one of its 30 "most charming small cities in the U.S."

Released Monday, the survey asked a "broad number" of travel writers, photographers and others to name their five favorite small cities (populations between 10,000 and 250,000) in the country. The final list included the cities that got the most votes.

Here's what TravelMag had to say about Salem:

"It's impossible for most people to disassociate Salem from witches. But the site of the infamous witch trials of 1692 has so much more to offer visitors. The Peabody Essex Museum holds a large permanent collection of Asian and American fine art. Being a major early port on the North Atlantic, there are some superb buildings at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, as well as the Friendship of Salem, a 171-foot (52m) replica of an 18th-century trading ship.

"Okay, you're probably still wondering about the witches though, and you'd be right to do so, for there are dozens of museums and colonial mansions linked to the city's gruesome passage of history. A good place to start is a 17th-century wooden building known as The Witch House."

The other Massachusetts community to make the list was Falmouth.

Read "The 30 Most Charming Small Cities In The USA" here.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)