Colorado Cities Among the “Worst Cities for Summer Travel”

Forbes magazine recently released its “worst cities for summer travel” list, and Colorado Springs was number two after Jacksonville, FL.

Denver was ranked at number 18.

Colorado Springs was given a 99.59 out of 100 for several reasons. Denver, which wasn’t in the top 10 and seemed to be judged by different metrics, ranked 18 with a “City Experience Score” of 60.74. The Advisor portion of the magazine was responsible for the rankings.

“Forbes Advisor compared the 43 most populated cities with available data across 16 metrics to uncover the worst places to visit during the summer,” the magazine said. “We found that Jacksonville, Florida is the worst vacation spot for summer travel, while Minneapolis ranks as the best.”

Why was Colorado Springs ranked so highly … or, um, lowly?

“Colorado Springs Airport has the highest percentage of delayed, canceled or diverted flights (29.5 percent on average) and the fourth lowest percentage of fully reimbursed property loss and damage claims (13.6 percent) during the summer,” Advisor said. “It had the second worst transit score. It had the third-highest median cost of tours and activities ($152). And it ranks fifth for fewest restaurants with four or more stars on Tripadvisor (626).”

Meanwhile Denver earned high “worst” marks for “Air Travel Experience” (36.93) and “Driving Experience” (31.16).

The best city for summer travel? Minneapolis.

So there you go, folks. Skip Colorado this summer and head straight for the Land of Lakes! For more information, read this while you’re flying to Minneapolis.