The South's Best 2023

The South's Best 2023 results are officially in. From small towns and cities to locally-owned restaurants, state parks, and BBQ joints, here are the winners, as voted on by our readers.

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 26 words · Linda Sawyer

Table of Contents

Join us in toasting the people and places that make our home the very best.

Road trip planning starts now.

The Best of 2023

Hometown Favorites

South’s 50 Best Small Towns

Southern Soul Barbecue Plate

Tropical Smokehouse

Charleston SC

pet friendly hotels Siena Hotel

Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park in West Texas

Downtown Dahlonega, GA

Alabama

The Bright Star

Fairhope Alabama

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Arkansas

Coler Mountain Bike Preserve Trail

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Florida

St. Petersburg, FL

Tropical Smokehouse

St. Augustine

Georgia

Dahlonega GA

Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle, NC

Savannah, Georgia, USA downtown skyline at dusk.

Kentucky

Lexington KY

Bardstown Small Town Kentucky

Paducah, Kentucky

Louisiana

Chandelier Bar New Orleans

Front Street in Natchitoches, LA

Parkway Bakery & Tavern

Mississippi

Square Books in Oxford, MS

Oxford, MS

ocean springs mississippi

North Carolina

Poole’s Diner

Take Heart Boutique in Blowing Rock, NC

Boone, NC

Oklahoma

Guthrie, OK

South Carolina

Charleston’s Rainbow Row Homes

Harbor views from Bay Street in Beaufort, SC

Brookgreen Gardens

Tennessee

Loveless CafÃ© (Nashville, Tennessee)

Sunrise over Gatlinburg skyline

Lainey Wilson

Texas

Fort Worth TX

Gruene Dance Hall Texas

RX_1703_Main Street Fredericksburg, Texas.jpg

Virginia

Chincoteague Wild ponies

The Salamander Resort Middleburg, VA

West Virginia

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg, WV

Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Charleston’s Rainbow Row Homes

Birmingham, Alabama, USA Cityscape

Knoxville city and waterfront

Overhead view of The Square WPB

Live oaks spanning Government Street in Oakleigh Gardents Historic District, Mobile, Alabama