A recent ranking on personal-finance website WalletHub listed the Phoenix and Tucson areas among the best metropolitan areas to take a warm-weather winter vacation.
The ranking, which you can check out here, considers travel costs and "hassles," local costs, area attractions and activities, and weather conditions.
Phoenix and Tucson ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, on the list, just behind the Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles areas.
Those cities are great, no doubt, but it's hard to think any of them beat Arizona's two largest metro areas for escaping wind chills and whiteouts. Between in-town hiking opportunities, fun places to stay and great dining options, who wouldn't want to be here in December or January?
Our neighbors in New Mexico, meanwhile, ranked highly on the list of cold-weather destinations. The Albuquerque area was No. 2 on that list, behind Atlanta.