Stay safe on NY roads this winter with handy safety tips
As winter weather arrives, here are some tips from the NHTSA, AAA and NYS Department of Transportation on how to stay safe on the roads.
New York state is known for its cold winter weather so it’s no surprise that several areas have been ranked some of the best winter holiday destinations in 2025.
WalletHub compared the cheapest U.S. destinations that are the easiest to reach, grouped them into warm or cold holiday destinations and analyzed them based on over 30 metrics, including two weeks of flight data, safety indicators and weather predictions.
“Whether you love to have a chill in your bones during the winter travel season or prefer to escape to somewhere sunny, the top travel destinations can cost as little as $200-$300 to reach by plane from major U.S. cities, with no connections,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.
Here’s what to know about the best cold weather winter holiday destinations.
WalletHub’s top 5 cold weather winter holiday destinations
- Chicago, Illinois
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Washington, D.C.
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Cincinnati, Ohio
What New York cities made the list?
New York City was just barely bumped out of the top five in this year’s ranking as the New York-Newark-Jersey City area came in at No. 6 on WalletHub’s 2025 list. Upstate cities dominated the rest of the list with the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area ranked 27th, the Buffalo-Cheektowaga area at No. 28 and the Rochester area following closely behind in the No. 30 spot.
However, Rochester has some of the highest travel costs and hassles, Buffalo and New York City have some of the highest local costs and Albany has some of the fewest attractions and cold-weather activities, the WalletHub study determined.
How WalletHub measured winter holiday destination favorability
WalletHub compared 69 of the most populated U.S. metropolitan statistical areas across six key metrics: travel costs and hassles, local costs, attractions, weather, activities and safety. The weather category is based on WalletHub’s ranking of cities with the best and worst weather. Here’s which factors the other categories examined:
The travel costs and hassles category took a look at these aspects:
- Cost of the cheapest flight
- Duration of the cheapest flight
- Number of connections on the cheapest flight
- Cost of the shortest flight
- Duration of the shortest flight
- Number of connections on the shortest flight
- Share of delayed flights
The local costs category analyzed these components:
- Cost of a three-star hotel room
- Average price for a two-person meal
- Taxi-fare cost
- Cost of living
The attractions category included these elements:
- Number of attractions
- Diversity of attractions
The cold-weather activities category took into account these factors:
- Proximity of ski slopes
- Ice-skating rinks per capita
- Coffee and tea shops per capita
- Music venues per capita
- Food festivals per capita
- Restaurants per capita
- Availability of affordable, high-quality restaurants
- Wellness centers and spas per capita
- Shopping centers per capita
The safety category examined these aspects:
- Violent crime rate
- Property crime rate
- Perception of safety (walking alone during daylight/night)
- DUI-related fatal incidents per capita
- Motor vehicle crash deaths
Data used to create the ranking was collected as of Sept. 30, 2025 and the information was sourced from multiple entities, such as the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TripAdvisor, the White Book of Ski Areas and WalletHub research.
Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on X and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.
