SC has 2 of the best places to visit around the world in 2023, NY Times says. Can you guess where?

Charleston and Greenville were listed among 52 places around the world as places to visit in 2023 by The New York Times.

Greenville was listed as 14th, Charleston 32. They were two of 10 U.S. locales on the list.

First place was London, which The Times said offers something for everyone as it undergoes a transition citing new shopping, entertainment and history opportunities and of course the monarchy itself with the coronation of King Charles III.

Of Greenville, lifestyle journalist and podcaster Ari Bendersky wrote, “Set in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Greenville has established itself on the culinary scene.

”The quaint city of about 70,000 has more than 200 restaurants — 85 percent of which are local,” he wrote.

He said people might visit Greenville for outdoor adventure, but they’ll leave after experiencing foods from around the world, including the second location of Charleston’s Lewis Barbecue; Mr. Crisp for seafood, Keipi for Georgian khachapuri and ancient wines; Aryana for Afghani and Califas for Mexican birria tacos.

He quoted Sid Evans, the editor in chief of Southern Living, as saying “The food here is adventurous, and the chefs have embraced the global influences shaping the modern South.”

Charleston was added to the list due to opening of the $100 million International African American Museum.

“Charleston’s brutal history of slavery can be overshadowed by a romanticized portrait of a city with charm, award-winning restaurants and plantation gardens,” wrote Lauren Matison, a freelance writer whose work appears in numerous national travel magazines.

The museum will will help “display the city’s complicated past.”

The museum was built on what was Gadsden’s Wharf, where an estimated 30,000 African captives landed.

“The sleek, single-story building floats atop 18 pillars clad in tabby, a kind of concrete made from oyster shells, and houses a genealogy center, a social justice action lab and 10 exhibit galleries that include stories of slavery and the Great Migration,“ she wrote. “A public outdoor space offers an African Ancestors Memorial Garden featuring indigenous plants like Lowcountry sweet grass and Canary Island palm trees.”

Both cities have made dozens of best of lists over the years, including Conde Nast’s 10 best small cities in the United States.

With London as No .1, the Times named its top 10 places to visit this year as Morioko, Japan; Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in Arizona; Kilmartin Glen in Scotland; Auckland in New Zealand; Palm Springs, California; Kangaroo Island in Australia; Vjosa River in Albania; Accra in Ghana; and Tromso, Norway.

Other United States destinations include Tucson, Arizona; the Alaska Railroad; Louisville, Kentucky; Macon, Georgia; Grand Junction, Colorado; American Prairie in Montana; New Haven, Connecticut; and the Black Hills in South Dakota.