With plummeting temperatures and shorter days, winter can sometimes feel a little doom and gloom. But that doesn't mean you can't find beauty in the season — you just have to know where to look.
In late November, Premier Inn, the largest hotel chain in the United Kingdom, released a study that identified the most beautiful winter cities in the world. And Boston came in at the top spot.
In its analysis, Premier Inn showed 100 participants images of 72 images of cities experiencing winter around the world and used eye-tracking technology to measure which destinations held gazes the longest. "Using eye-tracking software, the average length of time the participants spent looking at the image of each destination … was recorded," Premier Inn reported in a press release obtained by Travel + Leisure. "The average fixation times were then ranked from high to low to reveal the cities that people spent the longest time looking at. These cities were the most eye-catching and therefore the most beautiful."
The analysis found that Boston's skyline had an average viewing time of 2.67 seconds. "The city's famed colonial architecture takes on an extra nostalgic quality when dusted with snow, while the Freedom Trail becomes an even more magical walking route," Premier Inn revealed in its results. "Boston Common and the Public Garden transform into winter wonderlands, and the Museum of Fine Arts offers warm halls filled with world-class art."
With its iconic skyline, colonial architecture, and dreamy Public Garden, the City on a Hill held participants' gazes for an impressive average of 2.67 seconds. And there's plenty to do in Boston in the winter, too — visitors can ice skate on Frog Pond, visit the Snowsport Winter Village, and even dine in an igloo on the rooftop of The Envoy Hotel.
Of course, other U.S. winter cities also enchanted viewers. New York City came in second place, followed by Salt Lake City, Washington D.C., and Aspen, Colorado, rounding out the top five.