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	OUR BERKSHIRE TIMES SPONSOR     The Berkshires Rated in Top 10 Best Destinations by   National Geographic Destination Survey   About the Survey -- 133 Places Rated A List by Scores      " This survey—our sixth "places rated" list—isn’t a popularity contest. It is an assessment of authenticity and stewardship, evaluating the qualities that make a destination unique and measuring its "integrity of place." Thus the remote islands of the Grenadines can rate notably higher than popular St. Maarten.    Because evaluating an entire destination involves such unquantifiables as aesthetics and cultural integrity, we decided the best measure would be informed human judgment. We therefore assembled a panel of 437 well-traveled experts in a variety of fields—historic preservation, site management, geography, sustainable tourism, ecology, indigenous cultures, travel writing and photography, and archaeology.    We asked the panelists to evaluate only the places with which they were familiar, using our customary six criteria, weighted according to importance: environmental and ecological quality; social and cultural integrity; condition of historic buildings and archaeological sites; aesthetic appeal; quality of tourism management; and outlook for the future.    Experts began by posting points of view on each place—anonymously, to ensure objectivity. After reading each others’ remarks—a variation of a research tool called the Delphi technique—panelists then filed their final scores.    The resulting Stewardship Index rating represents the average of informed judgments about each place in all its manifestations—as a whole. Like the scores posted by Olympic judges, our experts’ ratings reflect both measurable factors and intangibles (style, aesthetics, culture). And like Olympic athletes, each of the destinations rated here has an opportunity to improve."    Destination Scorecard 133 Rated Places -- The List by Score   Note:   There are multiple entries for some scores, thus the number  rating from 84 down to 31 BEST RATED PLACES 85 Fjords Region, Norway 81 Kootenay/Yoho National Parks, British Columbia 80 Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec 80 South Island, New Zealand 79 Ancient Kyoto, Japan 78 Vermont, U.S. 78 Slovenia 78 Kakadu National Park, Australia 78 Medieval Granada and the Alhambra, Spain 77 Bavarian Alps, Germany 77 Columbia Gorge Region, Oregon-Washington, U.S. 77 Yorkshire Dales, England, United Kingdom 77 Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom 77 Torres del Paine, Chile 76 Berkshires, Massachusetts, U.S. 76 Douro Valley, Portugal 76 Engadine Region, Switzerland 76 Wales, United Kingdom 75 Bruges Historic Center, Belgium 75 Corsica, France 75 Brittany, France 74 Fujisan (Mount Fuji), Japan PLACES DOING WELL 73 Cappadocia, Turkey 73 Pantanal, Brazil 72 Central Copenhagen, Denmark 72 Northern Coast, California 72 Coastal Area, Maine, U.S. 72 Tuscany, Italy 72 Salzburg Historic Center, Austria 71 Ring of Kerry, Ireland 71 Eleuthera, Bahamas 71 Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia 71 Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile 71 Yellowstone/Grand Teton Region, Wyoming-Montana-Idaho, U.S. 71 Amsterdam Historic Center, Netherlands 71 Laurentian Highlands, Quebec, Canada 71 Upolu, Samoa 71 Serengeti Plain, Tanzania 71 Delphi, Greece 71 Santa Barbara to Monterey, California, U.S. 70 Taos and the Enchanted Circle Tour, New Mexico, U.S. 70 Kruger National Park, South Africa 69 Seychelles 69 Lake District, Italy 68 Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown, Virginia, U.S. 68 Cornwall, England, United Kingdom 68 Copán, Honduras 67 Waterton-Glacier "Crown of the Continent" Region, Alberta-Montana-British Columbia 67 New Caledonia 66 Colorado Rockies, Colorado, U.S. 66 Bluegrass Country, Kentucky, U.S. 66 Grand Canyon/Tusayan, Arizona, U.S. 66 Qin Emperor Mausoleum, Xi'an, China 66 Dalmatia's Coastal Isles, Croatia 66 Patagonian Andes Region, Argentina 66 British Virgin Islands 65 Arches/Canyonlands/Moab, Utah, U.S. 65 Yosemite Area, California, U.S. 64 Inside Passage, Alaska-British Columbia 64 Rajasthan, India 64 Hue, Vietnam 64 Vanuatu Edit Text NORTHEAST MOUNTAIN RANGES Click on image to enlarge. PLACES IN THE BALANCE 63 Traverse City & Lakeshore, Michigan, U.S. 63 Sonora Desert Region, Arizona, U.S. 62 The Grenadines, Caribbean 62 Costa Rica 62 Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, U.S. 62 Maui, Hawaii, U.S. 62 Great Barrier Reef, Australia 62 Prague Old Town, Czech Republic 62 Annapurna Circuit, Nepal 61 Grenada 61 Island of Hawaii, U.S. 61 Hill Country, Texas, U.S. 61 Mount Rushmore/Badlands, South Dakota 60 Petra, Jordan 60 Stonehenge, England, United Kingdom 60 Kerala Backwaters, India 59 Bali, Indonesia 59 Port Antonio Area, Jamaica 59 Reef and Islands, Belize 59 Valparaíso, Chile 58 Borobudur, Indonesia 58 Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S. 58 Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 58 Lake Titicaca, Bolivia-Peru 57 Azure Coast, Turkey 57 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia 57 Athens Acropolis, Greece 57 Santorini, Greece 57 St. Lucia 55 Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Peru 55 Tikal/Flores, Guatemala 55 French Riviera (Côte d'Azur), France 54 Niagara Falls Area, Ontario-New York 54 Rio de Janeiro Beach Districts, Brazil 54 Chiang Mai, Thailand 53 Masai Mara, Kenya 53 Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia 53 Sanibel/Captiva, Florida APPALACHIAN TRAIL | GA to ME Click on image to enlarge. PLACES WITH TROUBLES 52 Lalibela and Rock-Hewn Churches, Ethiopia 52 Northern Coast, Honduras 52 Agra Area (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri), India 51 Long Island Shore (Hamptons to Montauk), New York, U.S. 51 North Coast, Crete, Greece 51 Venice and Lagoon, Italy 50 Tahiti, French Polynesia 50 Galápagos Islands, Ecuador 49 Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina-Tennessee, U.S. 49 Lijiang and Three Parallel Rivers, Yunnan, China 48 Everglades and Big Cypress, Florida, U.S. 48 Lake Atitlán, Guatemala 48 Luxor (Thebes, Valley of the Kings), Egypt 48 Beijing Historic Districts, China 47 Andorra 47 Sinhalese Coastal Regions, Sri Lanka 46 Angkor/Siem Reap, Cambodia 45 Pyramids, Giza, Egypt 45 South Beach, Florida, U.S. 45 Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet, China 44 Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 44 Dead Sea, Israel-Jordan 44 "Riviera Maya," Caribbean Coast, Quintana Roo, Mexico 43 Algarve, Portugal 42 Costa Brava, Spain 42 Chesapeake Bay, Maryland-Virginia, U.S. WORST RATED PLACES 41 Northern Red Sea Coast, Egypt 41 North Coast, Dominican Republic 38 St. Maarten/St. Martin 37 Cabo San Lucas Region, Mexico 35 Grand Bahama, Bahamas 34 West Bank, Bethlehem, Israel/Palestine 31 Costa del Sol, Spain BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MA Click on image to enlarge. Optional Text or Photos  Optional Text or Photos CATEGORY BERKSHIRE COUNTY HISTORY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_County,_Massachusetts   https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Berkshire_County,_Massachusetts   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maberksh/   https://archive.org/details/historyofcountyo00fiel   http://www.berkshirecountyhistory.com/ TITLE   TITLE BEST RATED PLACES 85 Fjords Region, Norway 81 Kootenay/Yoho National Parks, British Columbia 80 Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec 80 South Island, New Zealand 79 Ancient Kyoto, Japan 78 Vermont, U.S. 78 Slovenia 78 Kakadu National Park, Australia 78 Medieval Granada and the Alhambra, Spain 77 Bavarian Alps, Germany 77 Columbia Gorge Region, Oregon-Washington, U.S. 77 Yorkshire Dales, England, United Kingdom 77 Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom 77 Torres del Paine, Chile 76 Berkshires, Massachusetts, U.S. 76 Douro Valley, Portugal 76 Engadine Region, Switzerland 76 Wales, United Kingdom 75 Bruges Historic Center, Belgium 75 Corsica, France 75 Brittany, France 74 Fujisan (Mount Fuji), Japan TITLE   TITLE Berkshire Style Just The Berkshires Magazine " > Just The Berkshires FESTIVALS   Berkshire International Film Festival Berkshire Jazz Festival     NEWSPAPERS   Berkshire Eagle iBerkshires   CHRONOGRAM        Chronogram   Our Berkshire Times   Country & Abroad   Berkshire Magazine     **********   Lenox MLS CLASSIFICATION Berkshire County Massachusetts North-Central-South Click on image to enlarge. 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