Pittsburgh Makes Travel Channel's List Of Vacation Destinations For 2014

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- What do Pittsburgh, the Everglades, Nantucket and the Black Hills of South Dakota have in common?

All of them are on the Travel Channel's new list of best vacation destinations for 2014.

"Not really a surprise because in 2012 we had 'National Geographic Traveler' announce that we are one of the best, must-see places in the world," said Connie George, of Visit Pittsburgh. "[In] 2013, USA Today announced that we were one of the best American destinations, and now we have Travel Channel."

The popularity of Pittsburgh is soaring.

There's the incredible cuisine.

"Pittsburgh's heritage is a cultural melting pot," said Nicole Palmer, of Il Pizzaiola restaurant. "We have a lot of heritage that is northern European, and it all kind of settled in different parts of the city, and it creates a very interesting pallet when it comes to culinary taste because when you start getting those people so close together, a lot of interesting things happen."

And we also have an amazing Cultural District.

According to the Travel Channel's rankings, we are "one of the hippest cities in America," and have become an arts destination thanks to institutions like the Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory.

"You want to tour downtown; probably the best choices are Heinz Hall and the Warhol Museum, which is pretty nice," said Dennis Echtchenko, a native of Ukraine. "I used to live in New York before, and the people in New York know about the Warhol Museum."

Pittsburgh has so much going, and the people who live here know it best.

Here are some suggestions of what tourists should do:

"One of my favorite sitting places is right there at Point State Park and look over at PNC Park," says James Walker, who moved to Pittsburgh in 1988.

"Breakfast on the square," said Brittani Witherspoon, a Pittsburgh resident. "I like to get coffee and my Nutri-Grain bar and eat breakfast on the square because I can see all the beautiful people and everything that is going on. There is always something going on."

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