Bisbee makes international list of best places to visit next year

PHOENIX — We’re expecting things to get a little busier in one Arizona town after it was featured on a list of 18 international destinations people should visit next year.

Bisbee was featured in Frommer’s list of the best places to travel in 2018 because it has the charm of an undiscovered artist’s hamlet, much like Key West used to before it became popular.

“Most American artists’ towns have been mined for tourism and become overly twee, but Bisbee is proof that there’s still gold to be found in the desert,” the travel guide wrote.

Bisbee also earned a nod because of its proximity to the San Pedro River, a noted spot for bird watchers, and its laid-back lifestyle that takes place in a historical mining town setting.

This was hardly the sole recognition Bisbee has received recently. It was named the best small town to move to before it gets to popular in August.

The average house will cost just $130K; your neighbors will be a mix of rough-and-tumble miners, writers, painters, old-school hippies, new-wave hippies, and recovering yuppies — including artists and University of Arizona academics who have decamped from the “big city” two hours away.

Bisbee was also named the best historic town in the nation last year, along with the best hippie town in Arizona.

Other places on the Frommer’s list included Hamburg, Germany; New Orleans; and Jordan, a country in the Middle East.

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