Maui beat out historic national parks and the city-by-the-bay to be named the best vacation destination in the U.S. in a new analysis. 

In addition to the U.S. locales, London is the world’s top destination, and St. Lucia is the best place to visit in the Caribbean, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The rest of the U.S. top-five destinations, in order, are Yellowstone; the Grand Canyon; San Francisco and Yosemite.

Following London on the international destinations top five are, Bora Bora, French Polynesia; Barcelona, Spain; Paris, France, and Sydney, Australia.

On the expanded list of the top 25 destinations in the world, Maui ranked 7th, ahead of the Bahamas at No. 14 and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 17th place.

The rest of the winning Caribbean destinations are the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Curaçao.

The publication analyzed more than 350 destinations, using methodology combining expert analysis and user voting.

http://travel.usnews.com/Rankings/best_usa_vacations/