Top-Tier Travel Magazines Name Buffalo a Best Place to Go in 2026

AFAR magazine, Conde Nast traveler select Buffalo.

Buffalo has landed on two elite travel magazine’s best-places-to-travel short lists. Following Visit Buffalo’s increased investment in national public relations, this year’s count of Buffalo’s travel-related media mentions nearly doubled from 2024, with 300 stories highlighting the region’s history, food and cultural offerings. The year finished with a prestigious grand finale:

Afar Magazine, with an online readership of 2.5 million and a print audience of 1.1 million, named Buffalo to its December “Where to Go in 2026: Places That Are on the Rise and Off the Beaten Path” list of the 24 global destinations – from Bucharest and Vietnam to East Antarctica and the Bahamas: https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-best-places-to-travel-in-2026. Conde Nast Traveler, with an online readership of 5.4 million and a print audience of 6.3 million, put Buffalo in its 2026 top 11 “Best Places to Go in North America and the Caribbean,” alongside Portland, Ore., Route 66, Barbados and Guadalajara, Mexico: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/best-places-to-go-north-america-caribbean-2026.

Afar and Conde Nast Traveler highlight exceptional travel experiences that allow travelers to immerse themselves in unique destinations and cultures. Afar noted Buffalo’s Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, with both the Colored Musicians Club & Jazz Museum and the WUFO Black Radio History Collective set to open next year in reimagined spaces, “… history isn’t just behind the glass — it’s on the mic,” the magazine said. With next year’s opening of the $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park and the $200 million Ralph Wilson Park at the Buffalo waterfront, Afar wrote, “It’s clear Buffalo is ready for its next act.”

Conde Nast Traveler dubbed Buffalo “a comeback kid.” It highlighted the region’s renaissance, its Gilded Age history, hiking trails, kayaking, cycling and Ralph Wilson Park’s highway-spanning bridge. Like Afar, Conde Nast Traveler detailed openings ahead: The Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute, the Graycliff visitor center and the Lipsey Architecture Center.

These national features reflect Visit Buffalo’s year-round media relations work, a core function of the communications team and marketing department. Staff pitches story ideas to journalists, extends invitations and, in 2025, hosted 37 on press trips. Visit Buffalo also supplies editors with photography, story angles and local insights. Staff travels to meet with reporters and writers at trade shows and at media headquarters in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C.

This year’s outreach included providing information to Conde Nast Traveler and Afar for consideration with help from the Lou Hammond Group, an integrated communications agency specializing in travel and lifestyle brands, newly retained in 2025. This new partnership fostered coverage from National Geographic, Moon Travel Guides, Black Enterprise, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Matador, Bloomberg and the Smithsonian, among other outlets.

“These national spotlights show what happens when we invest in sharing Buffalo’s story with the world,” said Patrick Kaler, president and CEO of Visit Buffalo. “These publications reach millions and help travelers picture themselves here—walking our waterfront, discovering our heritage corridors, and experiencing our food and culture. Every media mention strengthens our visibility and reinforces what we know to be true: Buffalo is a destination on the rise.”

Media outreach is part of Visit Buffalo’s efforts to grow the tourism economy, a growing sector in the region. In Erie County, it is a $2.7 billion industry. Nearly 10 million visitors generate $283 million in local and state taxes, creating almost 30,000 tourism-related jobs and providing each household with $692 in annual tax relief.

Stories by the national and international travel press encourage people to visit and explore the culture, history and experiences that are unique. The Lonely Planet’s Melissa Yeager delighted in the food scene. “There’s a lot to love about a culinary getaway in New York State’s second largest city,” she wrote in “An Ultimate Wing Weekend in Buffalo, New York,” https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/ultimate-wing-weekend-buffalo-new-york-niagara-falls.

Miles Howard celebrated Silo City’s transformation of its old industrial grounds. “I was able to walk around these silos, now surrounded by trails lined with wildflowers and freshly planted trees,” he wrote in a Boston Globe story, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/opinion/franklin-park-zoo-revitalization/.

And Rafael Pena, a writer for the McClatchy newspaper chain, revealed how he didn’t expect what he discovered here. “Buffalo didn’t just surprise me—it ran up on me and kidnapped my whole perspective. Fed me soul with a side of sazón, introduced me to people who felt like family, and told stories that hit like a history lesson and a homecoming all at once,” he wrote in a Miami Herald story, https://www.miamiherald.com/detour/article308050610.html#storylink=cpy”. “It peeled back my biases, shook up my mental map, and reminded me that domestic travel, if done right, can feel like therapy, too. I came looking to document a destination. But Buffalo didn’t just make the itinerary, it took the wheel.”

Visit Buffalo is the destination marketing organization for Buffalo and Erie County, promoting the region for tourism, meetings and sporting events. By showcasing the area’s culture, attractions and hospitality, Visit Buffalo drives visitor spending and supports economic growth.