Rankings List: New England's Best Beach Towns 2012

Rankings List: New England's Best Beach Towns 2012

To name New England's Best Beach Towns 2012, GoLocal crunched data on 5 general categories: environment, walkability, lodging, eating & drinking, and beach amenities, from 33 towns from Down East to

the Connecticut shore. The critera included water and air quality, sunny days, walkability index scores, numbers of hotel and B&B rooms, restaurants, bars, and ice cream parlors, and 23 beach amenities from parasailing to nature trails. (For details on the methodology, go here.)

The result? GoLocal's first New England ranking, from #1 to #33.

New England's Best Beach Towns 2012

1. Bar Harbor, ME
2. Hyannis, MA
3. Yarmouth, MA
4. Old Orchard Beach, ME
5. Wells, ME
6. Gloucester, MA
7. Wellfleet, MA
8. Provincetown, MA
9. Westerly, RI
10. New Shoreham/Block Island, RI

11. Eastham, MA
12. Hampton, NH
13. The Kennebunks, ME
14. Scarborough, ME
15. Chatham, MA
16. Edgartown/Martha's Vineyard, MA
17. Nantucket, MA
18. Narragansett, RI
19. Milford, CT
20. Salisbury, MA

21. Ogunquit, ME
22. York, ME
23. Oak Bluffs/Martha's Vineyard, MA
24. Ipswich, MA
25. Lubec, ME
26. Westport, MA
27. Sandwich, MA
28. Westport, CT
29. Georgetown, ME
30. Little Compton, RI

31. Manchester-By-The-Sea, MA
32. East Lyme, CT
33. Madison, CT

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For profiles of the Top 10 New England's Beach Towns, go here.

For more coverage of New England's Best Beach Towns 2012, don't miss GoLocalTV, fresh every day at 4pm and on demand 24/7, here.