These are the worst cities for summer travel

What do you look for when planning a trip? Common criteria for summer vacation destinations are cities with sunny beaches, fun attractions, renowned restaurants and plenty of entertainment. But despite boasting any or all of these features, some popular destinations can be more trouble than they’re worth when it comes to summer travel. A new study by Forbes Advisor compared the 43 most populated cities in the U.S. and ranked them based on several metrics to determine the worst cities for summer travel.

Forbes Advisor looked at the city experience (including hotel prices, meal prices, tour prices, crime, walkability, restaurant rankings), air travel experience (flight delays, property loss and reimbursement percentage) and driving experience (gas prices, parking, traffic data) to rank the cities.

After analyzing these metrics, Forbes Advisor crowned a winner (or loser, rather): Jacksonville, Florida. Despite miles of sandy beaches and trendy neighborhoods, Jacksonville is not a top spot for a summer vacation. The city is hard to get around, ranking lowest in walkability and third lowest for public transportation. The airport has the second-highest percentage of disrupted flights. If you drive, you’ll find a dearth of parking lots and garages. Jacksonville has the eighth highest crime rate of the 43 cities, and it is among the cities with the fewest restaurants with four or more stars on Tripadvisor.

Following Jacksonville on the “don’t bother this summer” list are Colorado Springs with a low transit score and high cost of tours and activities; Fresno with the highest cost for tours and activities, third highest gas prices and few restaurants and tours with four or more stars on Tripadvisor; Memphis with the highest crime rate, high incidence of traffic accidents and low transit score and Albuquerque with a high crime rate, high meal prices, few parking options and low restaurant ratings.

On the bright side, the study ranks Minneapolis, Long Beach, Washington D.C., Seattle and Omaha as the best cities to visit for summer travel.

See the full list of city rankings on the Forbes Advisor website.