Is Charleston Really The Best City In The World?

"Best city in the world" is a pretty tall order. After all, by some estimates, there are as many as 50,000 cities to contend with. But, at least for 2016, the people have spoken and Travel + Leisure has bestowed the honor upon — drumroll, please — Charleston, South Carolina. Citing the city's "historic battlegrounds and jasmine-scented streets," as well as a superb food and hotel scene, T+L also named it the best city in North America. Stephen Colbert, a native of Charleston, weighed in online, explaining that its the "city so nice, they only had to name it once." Of course, ever the Southern gentleman, Colbert also explained that the honor was a bit "time-consuming" — he'd have to write thank-you notes to every person who voted. The other two American cities on the list of world's best were Savannah, GA, and New Orleans, fellow Southern port cities with plenty of history. The rest of the list included cities both well-known to Western travelers (Florence, Italy, at number four) and considerably more far-flung (Luang Prabang, Laos, snagged number five). Check out the full list, here, to see if your favorite cities made the cut.