New European summer travel trend... "Coolcations"?

Yep, I designed my current trip in Gdansk and Stockholm as a cool getaway from the August heat at home. Istanbul, my next city, wasn't part of the original plan, which would have continued to Helsinki and a return visit to Tallinn.

Instead of 90-100F+ at home, it's in the breezy 70s here in Stockholm!

Yes also preferable to Spain now, much of it enduring +100 f weather for days on end, at least there is a good amount of air conditioning throughout Spain. Seems Sweden is the place to be now lol!

I've been doing "coolcations" before "coolcations" were cool. I've lived in the south my entire life and I have always hated being hot. Not for me the Florida vacation in summer. My days of sitting on the beach or on a lake are over, if I ever had them.

We do most of our travel in early shoulder season, but past summer trips have included Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Canada, San Francisco and Portland (where it was in the 90s when I was there in June but at least it cooled off quite a bit at night).

July 2014 (when our kids were still school aged) we spent 13 days in Berlin, Prague, Salzburg and Zurich, with a long layover trip into Amsterdam on the way home, and we needed jackets at least part of the time in each city. I'm not sure that would happen today.

I too have been a fan of "coolcations" for many years as I hate the heat. I head to Norway next week and then back to Iceland again next month.

We're lucky enough to be able to mostly avoid summer vacations in favor of going when the crowds (and mostly kids) are far fewer. Usually, this also translates very well to mild weather instead of the hotter weather in many places. We did go to Norway & the Netherlands recently, so don't always avoid the busy summer travel season. But, if we can, we do.

miuccia; are you suggesting Americans should stay home? Or take a sailing yacht?

Carlos, yes, makes a lot of sense to me with the new normal of blazing hot summers. Nordic countries in the summer and southern Europe in the winter. As for the rest of Europe, well, wherever we stay has to have A/C. We've had our fill of borderline sleepless nights in a sweltering room, and it takes a lot away from touring the next day.

I realize many people have to travel during peak season because their kids are in school, but even then I'd look to travel during, say, Thanksgiving break, spring break, or New Year's/Christmas.

Mr. E, yes, sailing is the answer. Take a few lessons, buy a sailboat, and away we go!

BigMikeWestByGodVirginia, just seems odd that on a forum geared to American travelers to Europe that the advice would include staying off airplanes. But okay.

As for the topic at hand, as you point out, a lot have few other options than summer. I dont go to the extreme of "go north" as tourism is about seeing what you want to see and a lot of people want to see Paris.

But there are meathods to make things more comfortable.

We keep saying "Summer". School is out in June and the first few weeks of June are a lot more comfortable than the end of July. Check your desired locations because it varies a lot, but you will find often that the rising temperatures is a slow ramp up from May to the last day of July which is generally the hottest day in a lot of Europe. Then the temps tend to go down pretty fast from the first to the last of August so another window might be the last week in August.

Then seriously look at the weather, not just the temperature. There is something called the Heat Index that can vary the impact of temperatures a great deal. Generally Madrid is cooler than the temperatures imply and Barcelona hotter than the temperatures imply. So calcuate the Heat Index for places of interest, you might be surprised.

An AirBnb in a very old apartment block, ground floor or 1st floor, with a courtyard facing door and window. The courtyards, especially close to the ground, in those buildings can be 5F or more cooler than the street. Something to do with thermal mass.

Anti AirBnb, then if the city you are visitng has a major river running through it. Get a hotel room down on the river. Here thats good for almost 5F and the breeze that comes down the river all day and all night makes things a lot more enjoyable.

Then there are the activities of the day. 3pm to 5pm is museum time. Some places are blazing hot during the late afternoon but not so bad in the morning or evening.... again, research and plan around it. Or look for the attractions along the river during the hottest part of the day if there is one.

Then know your own tolerances. A gentleman from Eagle Pass, Texas where the temps hit 110F+ in the summer can probably take 99F in Madrid a lot better than someone from Northern California. Yes, we tend to believe at home we run from AC to AC which wont be the case on holiday, but in thinking that we are presuming that the person traveling is and always has been an office worker. Presumptions always backfire. Eagle Pass still has a lot of homes with no AC and its an argicultural community so a lot of people work outside all year long. And if you plan your day, maybe you will be running from AC to AC in Europe.

Dress appropriately. Its 98F here and the streets are full of locals ............ and tourists. Somehow they are getting by. But our Heat Index is closer to 89F today. The locals especially are dressed for it. Shorts, cool shirts and a lot of flowing long dresses. I just did a 20 minute walk, stayed in the shawdows and out of the sun, the breese was about 5mph and the humidity was 25% and it wasnt horrible. Nothing like what I use to endure in Texas.

Sure, you want to see Barcelona. Do it, but make is at the cooler end of your trip and limit the stay to what it takes to see what is important then move to some place more hospitable. Most can tough it out for a few days .... and enjoy.

Common sense, planning a few compromises but no extreme migrations where temperatures dictate what you will have to try and enjoy when you really wanted to see something else.

As for the topic at hand, as you point out, a lot have few other options than summer. I dont go to the extreme of "go north" as tourism is about seeing what you want to see and a lot of people want to see Paris. But there are meathods to make things more comfortable....

Or just go to Norway and you don't have to jump through all those hoops you have listed ;-) Seriously I don't think there's any city in Europe worth torturing yourself so much for. Sometimes I can't tell if Americans are on vacation or a military campaign lol! Seems they are determined to battle mother nature no matter the cost.

Well I guess my husband is doing his part, lol. He just sailed from Iceland to Greenland and back to Iceland.

Sometimes I can't tell if Americans are on vacation or a military
campaign lol!

It's August in Budapest and the most common language here, after Hungarian, is Spanish by a huge, huge margin. I guess we, Americans, corrupted them? I've heard maybe 3 Americans in the last 2 weeks, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say more thsn 50 Spanish speakers.

I am use to American attitudes of self importance ... but interesting to hear Europeans attributing the same to a group that makes up less than 10% of all the tourists in Europe.

If you want a vacation where there's a good chance of the weather being a bit crap in summer, come to the UK.

I was in Scotland in June and the proprietor of the cafe in Forres was telling me that it had been -2°C (28.4°F) overnight in Grantown On Spey. I had to borrow my mother's hat and scarf and brace against the wind to have an evening walk on the beach in Nairn. Still fine by me though. Maybe that might be what folks are looking for? :P

Maybe we'll see that? There are already quite a lot of tourists from further south in Europe in the summer, mostly from Germany and the Netherlands. And there has been some reports on the news about an increased number of tourists looking for a nicer climate.

And it's been a lovely summer so far. It's been around 22-23°C today and I've had a nice afternoon with a bike trip along the nearby river.

Ohhh, I did a Coolcation last summer with the trip to Orkney and Shetland. It was heaven getting out of the heat. Here in North Idaho we do have some 100F degree days and more 90+F days so the highs in the 60's F were awesome.

I'd guess north of about 55° North (Edinburgh is 55°57'), Shetland is 60°. Stockholm is 59°. Alaska works too, Anchorage is 61°.

Scheduled again next July....

In Stockholm right now. Had no idea I was doing something "trendy." I'm a little depressed about that.

I've been doing this for years. I didn't know there was a name for it.

I'm not a fan of high heat. When I was in the US in early July, it was in the 90's (F) every day and I went from air conditioned building to an air conditioned car and back.

This summer I'm spending the time in the UK. I can go for daily walks and sometimes I even need a light jacket.

As long ago as 1990, we happened to hit a very hot 2 weeks in Scandinavia. No air conditioning anywhere.

mikliz97, wow! Your husband has skills.

We've had a severe drought in the Shenandoah Valley with temperatures approaching 100F for much of late June and July. The relentless heat kind of grinds you down a bit over time.

Carlos, thanks for the lol regarding the "military campaign" of some travelers. That could be us at times, but I know my wife well after 40 years and pace ourselves. On the flipside every evening after dinner is downtime to just stroll around, have a couple of drinks, and relax after a hectic day. Having said that there is no better place than along the Seine, imo.

Bike Mike--Yes he does! He is going again in two years, but for about 5 weeks of straight sailing. We too would fall into most peoples idea of "military" traveling, of course my husband is retired military, lol. I am the one though that does the planning and wants to cam in as much as possible. Like you, the evenings are our downtime. It works for us, so that is all that matters.

I agree with picking travel destinations based on time of year. Some places are more comfortable in certain months.

I've been to Sweden a couple times, both times in summer, July/August. Sweden was my first post-Covid trip. I haven't seen near as many tourists in Scandinavia in-season as, say, Italy has off-season.