Photo: Patrick Batchelder/Alamy.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you probably already have holiday gifts on the brain. While online purchases and stores within your reach are great for getting the job done in an efficient manner, some of the best shopping in the U.S. was recently recognized in the Conde Nast Traveler 2013 Readers' Choice Awards — are you lucky enough to live in one of them?
Nearly 80,000 readers voted on their favorite cities for dropping coin. As you might expect, New York City topped the list, followed by other big boys like Chicago and San Francisco. It was refreshing, however, to see cities like Charleston making the cut, too, proving that good things can also come in smallish packages.
These top 10 destinations carry a great mix of retail blockbusters and one-of-a-kind wonders that can only be found in that city. Other points taken into consideration were atmosphere (i.e. fantasyland-like Vegas), iconic shopping streets or neighborhoods, and a balance of splurge-worthy and thrifty-gal finds. If only we could visit all these amazing cities — road trip, anyone? Click here and see if your city made the cut. (Conde Nast Traveler)