Washingtonians might not consider Bellingham or Olympia to be off the beaten path. But according to a new travel ranking, they're among the top under-the-radar destinations in the country to visit this year.

Earlier this month, vacation rental website Wander released its list of the 10 most underrated destinations in the U.S. in 2025. The northwestern U.S. featured heavily on the list, including two Washington cities.

Bellingham came in at No. 8 on the list, while Olympia took the No. 10 spot.

Bellingham and Olympia among ‘most underrated' travel destinations

Wander didn't provide a write-up on either Washington city, although the website said it weighed each city's restaurant scene, nightlife options, landmarks and safety when coming up with the rankings.

While neither city needs any introduction to Washingtonians, Bellingham is known for its wide range of outdoor activities and breweries, while Olympia offers visitors waterfront views, along with the architecture and history of the Washington State Capitol and its eclectic downtown.

The local culture in both places is also influenced by regional Native American communities, including the Squaxin, Nisqually and Lummi tribes.

Tribal canoes pass under four Squaxin Island banners affixed to the Fourth Avenue bridge as part of the Healing of the Waters ceremony near the conclusion of the Festival of the st̓əč̓as celebration held in Heritage Park and along the banks of Capitol Lake in Olympia on Aug. 17, 2024. The festival, hosted by the Squaxin Island Tribe and the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team, honored the landscape and the original inhabitants of what was once a Deschutes estuary and Budd Inlet, and celebrated the plan to remove the Fifth Avenue dam to allow Capitol Lake to revent to the estuary.

Late last year, Bellingham was named the top destination for adventurers by travel outlet Matador Network. Olympia, meanwhile, has been featured on travel rankings for its arts scene and summer festivals as well.

Taylor Dock Boardwalk during twilight afterglow at Boulevard Park in Bellingham, Wash.

While Bellingham and Olympia might fly under the radar on a national scale, both still draw millions of visitors a year. In 2024, Bellingham welcomed 3.49 million visits, according to a recent report from Visit Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.

Meanwhile, in Thurston County, where Olympia is located, there were 3.34 million visits from outside the region in 2023, according to Experience Olympia and Beyond's most recent annual report.

Wander's most underrated travel destinations

Williamsburg, VA took the title of most underrated travel destination, according to Wander. Second and third place both went to Montana cities – Bozeman and Missoula. Here's the entire top ten:

Williamsburg, VA
Bozeman, MT
Missoula, MT
Fairbanks, AK
Charlottesville, VA
Asheville, NC
Bentonville, AR
Bellingham, WA
Helena, MT
Olympia, WA

How Wander chose its underrated travel destinations

Wander used previous reporting from other media outlets to get an initial list of underrated travel destinations. From there, each city was given a score based on the number of restaurants, museums and landmarks per capita as well as the number of restaurants and nightlife venues with an average Tripadvisor rating above four stars.

In order to quantify how underrated a city is, Wander looked at Google and Instagram data to estimate how much each city is being talked about.

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