What They're Saying About Athens: Press Coverage, Rankings, & Accolades

We Athenians are loyal and passionate about our city. But don't take our word for it. See what others are saying about Athens, Georgia, then be sure to plan a visit to come see for yourself!

Check out Athens, Georgia's latest press coverage, rankings, and accolades:

 2012

• Ranked #8 of "Top 10 Affordable Vacations" Livability.com, April 2012 
• Ranked #1 of "Top 10 Cities With the Best Music Scenes Outside of Nashville NYC and LA"
        Livability.com, March 2012
•  "Where to Eat in the South in 2012"
        Four Coursemen profiled in Deep South magazine, February 2012
• "What'll Ya Have What'll Ya Have" - Andrew Zimmern visits The Varsity
        Appetite for Life, (video) Season 3
• "Tailgating with Big Dawg" - Andrew Zimmern experiences SEC tailgating
        Appetite for Life, (video) Season 3

2011

•  "72 Hours in Athens"     Athens itinerary, from Athens Food Tours owner Mary Charles Howard
        Southern Distinction, August 2011
• "Travel Short List: College Towns"
         Everyday with Rachael Ray, September 2011 (no link found)
• Southern Living Travel: Best College Towns
        Southern Living, September 2011
• "Tastemakers: Athens, Georgia"
        Dining feature and bonus online slideshow
        Taste of The South magazine, August/September 2011
• "Coolest Small Cities in America," 
        Yahoo Travel, reprint from GQ magazine, July 27, 2011
• "Big Meetings in Not-So-Big Cities"
        Athens CVB services for meeting planners profiled
        Associations Now, July 2011
• "One Tank Trips in Five States"
        Athens to Atlanta is featured
        CNN, July 1, 2011
• "4 Great Places to Retire" 
        Fortune magazine selects Athens "For the Lifetime Learner - College Towns," June 2011
• A "Top 25 Arts Destination" among midsized cities (#12) 
        AmericanStyle Magazine, Summer 2011    (ranked each year since 2002)
• "Howlin' and Happenin'" Group Tour travel feature on Athens
        Bus Tours Magazine, May/June 2011 (opens pdf of issue; Athens is on p. 17)
• White Tiger Gourmet named one of "America's Best BYO Restaurants"
        Travel + Leisure, March 2011
• "Strummin' Along in Athens, Georgia" 
        Digital Journal, March 16, 2011

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2010

• "The Coolest Small Cities in America" 
        GQ magazine, November 2010
• Terrapin Brewery named one of "America's Top 10 Brewery Tours" 
        TripAdvisor.com, October 2010
• "Dandy Dozen: Best College Football Towns" 
        Associated Press results from poll of AP Top 25 voters, Oct 8, 2010
• "Best Local Music Scenes in the U.S." 
  Budget Travel reader's choice poll (Austin TX edged out Athens by just eight votes), October 2010
  
   
• "Top Tri Towns" for triathletes (ranked #10)
  Triathlete.com, October 2010
• Wuxtry Records named one of the top 25 Music Stores in the U.S.
  Rolling Stone magazine, Sept. 2010 
• "Automatic for the Diners," food critic Christiane Lauterbach reviews Athens dining in Atlanta Magazine, Sept. 2010
• Ranked #1 for Campus Life
  BusinessWeek, Sept. 13, 2010
•  "Top 10 College Towns: Great Cities for School & Life After Graduation" (Ranked #2),
  Livability.com, Sept. 2010, also reported by AJC.com, Sept. 13, 2010
•  "25 Best Places to Retire" (Ranked #20)
  CNNMoney.com, Sept. 10, 2010
• "Our 24 Hours in Athens: Top Picks in Food, Fashion & Music" blog review and itinerary from RoadHugUSA television pilot, August 27, 2010
• "There's Nothing Old School About Athens"
  Small Market Meetings, July 2010
  
   
• "Veg in Athens" travel profile in
  VegNews.com, June 2010
• "Athens Getaway"
  Atlanta Magazine, June 2010
• "Going Back to Athens Town" what to do in Athens
  Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 25, 2010
• Terrapin Brewery, "The South's Best Brew Pubs and Breweries" VisitSouth.com, June 2010
  
   
• Ten-page City Portrait:  Dawg Town
  Garden & Gun magazine, June/July 2010
• "America's Best College Towns" (# 3 of 9)
  IndependentTraveler.com, June 10, 2010
  msnbc.com, June 25, 2010
• Ranked A "Top 25 Arts Destination" among midsized cities (#15) AmericanStyle Magazine, June 2010 (ranked each year since 2002)
• "Athens is good enough to eat (and drink)"
  Creative Loafing, May 19, 2010
   
• "Top 6 College Towns that Make Us say 'Wow!" 
  University Language Services, May 3, 2010
  
   
• "Best Small Places for Business and Careers," (#26)
  Forbes.com, April 14, 2010
• "College Towns: An Honor Roll,"
  MSN.com, March 30, 2010
• "Top Ten College Towns," 
  Away.com, March 2010
• Jittery Joe's coffee and latest location in New York City gets a nod from the New York Times, March 9, 2010.
• "Most Vibrant Cities for Young Professionals" Profiled by Real Estate Pro Barbara Corcoran on the Today Show, March 1, 2010
• Bicycling magazine profiles Athens for visiting cyclists. "Southern hospitality rules here, as do smooth roads and even smoother dirt."  March 2010
• "Today's Best Cities For Jobs," cities with over 1% job growth between July and October, 2009;  CareerBuilder.com, Jan. 4, 2010
   
• "Southern Retirement Hotspot,"  Retirement Lifestyles magazine, first quarter 2010

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2009

• University of Georgia:  one of the "Decade's 15 Hottest Colleges," TheDailyBeast.com, Dec. 13, 2009
• Athens music scene profiled by the Financial Times, "Music from Two Georgia Towns," Oct. 10, 2009
• One of Athens' "You, Me, and the Bus" public art installation bus stops named one of the World's Coolest Bus Stops, Urlesque.com, Sept. 10, 2009
• "Top 10 College Towns in America," BrilliantTrips.com, Sept. 8, 2009
• "15 Great Underpriced College Towns," U.S. News and World Report, September 2, 2009
• "Best College Towns in America," one of 12 profiled by
  Hotels and Travel Reservations, August 27, 2009
• "Best American Towns to Visit by Car," Forbes.com/MSNBC.com, July 2, 2009
  Also covered by Atlanta Examiner.com, July 28, 2009
  Local coverage in the Athens Banner-Herald, July 30, 2009
• Ranked #5 "Best Cities of 2009," Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2009.
  See their walking tour of Athens  here.
• "Best Retirement Towns for the Arts," TopRetirements.com, July 2009
 
• AthFest CVB Packages featured in "Real Deals" by Budget Travel, June 15, 2009.
   
• "Top College Towns for Jobs," Forbes.com (May 19, 2009)
• AthFest featured as a "Cheap Summer Trip" in Every Day with Rachael Ray (May 2009)
   
• "Best Cities for Jobs," #7 Small City, Forbes.com (April 2009).  This article also appears on  Newsweek.com.
• Here for the Beer.com visits Terrapin Brewery (April 2009)
   
• Athens Music Scene Travel Feature, San Antonio Magazine (March 2009)
   
• The National Restaurant's laid-back vibe and $2 pastries get a thumbs-up from the New York Times (Mar. 4, 2009)
• CVB Director Chuck Jones, "Don't Villify Business Travel," Athens-Banner Herald (March 2, 2009)
•  One-Tank Trip: Athens, GA, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (March 1, 2009)
• One of the world's "29 Destinations to Visit in 2009," Los Angeles Times (Feb. 4, 2009)
• Dozen Distinctive Destinations coverage and slideshow at CNN.com (January 13, 2009)
• Athens named one of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations® for 2009, National Trust for Historic Preservation (Jan., 2009). 

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2008

• 2009 "Best Places to Thrive:" Top 20 U.S. Towns for Boomers to Live, Work & Play by BestBoomerTowns.com, (Dec., 2008).
• University of Georgia named a "Best Value in Public Colleges" (#4 out of 100), Kiplinger's Personal Finance, December 2008.
• University of Georgia ranked #4 in "Best Colleges for Making Money" by Smart Money magazine, December 16, 2008.
• "The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009" (1 of 3 Georgia cities along with Warner Robins and Marietta), Business Week, November 11, 2008.
•  "Success and Hoppiness" small business profile of Terrapin Beer Co. on CNN, November 7, 2008.
• Five and Ten named one of "Georgia's Top 10 Restaurants" by Georgia Trend (2008 Silver Spoon Awards, November 2008 issue).
• University of Georgia's mascot Uga VII named "Best College Mascot" by Fox Sports, October 2008.
• "Best Sports Cities" (#51 out of 400), Sporting News.
  
• Ranked A "Top 25 Arts Destination" among midsized cities (#9) - AmericanStyle Magazine, June 2008 (ranked each year since 2002).
• Athens featured in the Philadelphia Sunday Sun, June 1, 2008.
• "Best Small Places for Business and Careers" (#13), Forbes, March 2008.
• Athens named one of America's 50 Greenest Cities (#33) by Popular Science, February 2008.
• Music tour of Georgia featured in the Sunday Mirror, London, February 10, 2008.  (Writer Brian Hancill was one of three international travel writers who made a press visit to Athens in December, 2007.)
• Athens' black heritage featured in Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "One Tank Trip," February 1, 2008.

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2007

• Watercolor Magic magazine profiles Athens, December 2007.
• Georgia's second safest city, according to the 14th annual "City Crime Rankings," CQ Press (a unit of Congressional Quarterly), November 2007.
• Air Tran's in flight magazine, Go, profiles Athens. "It's a college town that caters to more than just students, and though it is a magnet for hipsters, polo-shirt-wearing good ol' boys love it, too. The drinks are cheap, the wireless internet free, the vibe lively. Athens really is close to perfection." November, 2007.
• Out Traveler names Athens #1 in a profile of ten "bright blue spots of tolerance and acceptance for LGBT travelers." November, 2007.
• The Globe named one of the Best Bars in America by Esquire Magazine, October 2007.
• Five & Ten named Restaurant of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 4, 2007.
•  Lucky magazine profiles Athens shopping in "Five Greatest Unsung Shopping Locations"; includes print-and-go map. "The creative energy that powers this progressive Southern community . . . extends to its wildly original boutiques." August, 2007.
• One of five 'great college towns,"  Kiplinger's Personal Finance special Retirement Planning 2007 issue, "Attractions of a College Town," Fall 2007
• "Top 10 Most Popular Retirement Towns," Topretirements.com, August 2007
• 40 Watt Club and The Melting Point, named "Top 40 Music Venues in America,"  Paste magazine, May 2007
• Cosmopolitan magazine's online 100 Hot City Guide.
• Recommended in 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. and Canada Before You Die by travel writer Patricia Schultz, June 2007.

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More Athens Rankings and Accolades from 2006 and prior