---
title: "What Are the Hottest Travel Destinations Summer 2026"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/0eec007c-3ea6-4a42-bebc-63519a9ff384
source_url: "https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a71782561/one-percent-summer-vacation-trends-2026/"
stack: https://stacklist.com/stack/66a251d5-ec96-44fa-92e2-30bd00c84265
summary: "Trends in Summer Vacations for the One Percent in 2026 highlights the rise of ultra-luxury cruise bookings and Mediterranean destinations among wealthy travelers. The article reveals a 184% increase in luxury cruise bookings, with high-net-worth individuals increasingly combining yacht experiences with traditional villa stays at iconic properties like Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and the Amalfi Coast."
tags: "luxury-travel, summer-vacations, mediterranean, ultra-luxury-cruises, affluent-destinations, yacht-culture, five-star-hospitality"
key_entities: "St.-Tropez (location), Monaco (location), French Riviera (location), Amalfi Coast (location), Portofino (location), Venice (location), Sardinia (location), Marbella (location), Mallorca (location), Rovinj (location), Piran (location), Town & Country (organization), Fora (organization), JK Travel (organization), Heartfelt Travel (organization), Four Seasons (organization), Ritz-Carlton (organization), Belmond (organization), Henley Vazquez (person), Jesse Katz (person), Jaclyn D'Esposito (person), Aerin Lauder (person), Laura Dern (person), Helena Bonham Carter (person), Yannick Alléno (person), Orient Express Corinthian (technology), Monaco Grand Prix (event), The White Lotus (event), ultra-luxury cruise bookings (concept), five-star hospitality (concept)"
classification: "analysis"
content_hash: "sha256:cedceb351cb410d437288b973a3707ef16029dfa1f1f64306e7f52913b190156"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 2772
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# What Are the Hottest Travel Destinations Summer 2026

Cala di Volpe/Marbella Club/Belmond La Residencia/Airelles Palladio/Villa Treville/Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. 6 min read As the Monaco Grand Prix wrapped up in early June, attention shifted to St.-Tropez, where those in the know knew to get to those beach clubs before the summer mobs swarmed the peninsula. Filming was under way for the next season of The White Lotus , but there was one newcomer that caused more commotion than Oscar winner Laura Dern swooping in to replace Helena Bonham Carter: the world’s largest sailing yacht, the Orient Express Corinthian , which easily dwarfed the pearly white megayachts holding court like chess pieces in St.-Tropez’s cerulean bay. “The surprise this summer is what’s happening at sea,” says Fora co-founder Henley Vazquez, referring to the 184 percent year-over-year increase in ultra-luxury cruise bookings at her agency. “The clientele that once anchored itself to a villa in Tuscany or a suite at Le Sirenuse is increasingly adding on something that moves.” Alixe Lay The hottest suite to book this summer is on a cruise. A good one, like the new Orient Express Corinthian. In the past, guests may have gone from a week yachting around the French Riviera to a villa stay at Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat , a Four Seasons Hotel, but five-star hospitality brands— the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons among them—have transported their concepts to the water so you don’t need to compromise. You can dine on multi-Michelin-starred cuisine by Yannick Alléno or retreat to a Guerlain spa while sailing to Cannes or Monte-Carlo. Even yacht owners are booking cruises on these ships. “The surprise this summer is what’s happening at sea.” “They’re driven by a desire to explore destinations that traditionally may not have otherwise had strong five-star accommodation options,” says Jesse Katz, founder of JK Travel . Places like Rovinj in Istria, Croatia, or Piran, the subdued star of the Slovene Riviera, for example. Plus, there is the convenience of not having to pack and change hotels every few nights. As for those who prefer to stay on dry land, we polled the one percent’s most trusted travel advisors—as well as a few of our supremely well-traveled friends around the world—on what’s top on the list of PJ routes this summer. The Mediterranean (Surprise!) Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc No matter how hot or crowded it gets, everyone still craves a Côte d’Azur summer. And they want to stay at the Hotel du Cap. Heatwaves and crazy crowds be damned, the usual suspects still reign: the French Riviera, the Amalfi Coast, and Portofino. Among their smattering of luxe properties the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc remains the undisputed prize. Except now everyone wants it on six days’ notice (perhaps to keep tabs on the weather?). “I’ve never seen last-minute demand like this,” says Jaclyn D’Esposito, founder and lead advisor at Heartfelt Travel , whose team is currently booking itineraries for trips departing the same week, at Hotel du Cap and similarly hard-to-score places like Il San Pietro di Positano ; Belmond’s Splendido in Portofino; Villa Treville Positano on the Amalfi Coast; and the new Airelles in Venice. Aerin Lauder counts among the Amalfi fan club —she was smart to get there early in the season, to celebrate the launch of her brand’s latest fragrance, Mediterranean Honeysuckle Soleil. “It’s one of my favorite destinations to visit, especially in the summertime,” she says. “There is nothing more magical than the sunshine, the delicious food, the turquoise waters, and the incredible culture.” For those keen on avoiding the Riviera-Amalfi-Portofino triangle altogether, other hotspots, according to our sources, include Marbella (for the Marbella Club ), Mallorca (for the Belmond La Residencia ), and Costa Smeralda (for Hotel Romazzino , also a Belmond). Speaking of, suddenly everyone you know will probably be in Sardinia at some point this month (at either the Romazzino or Hotel Cala di Volpe ). The Hamptons of Portugal Vermelho Hotel #LKRBs love Christian Louboutin’s Vermelho. The charms of Comporta are no longer much of a secret. Still, for now, the coastal idyll is just the right sort of scene to appeal to hush-hush chic cliques in search of “a destination that offers respite from the Instagram crowd and people dripping in logo-ed resortwear,” says luxury travel designer Alexandra Stockton. If she’s not booking her clients into villas, she is sending them to Sublime Comporta —or Christian Louboutin’s boutique gem, Vermelho , in nearby Melides. “These are the same types of people who enjoy José Ignacio or stay at Hotel Esencia in winter.” International real estate advisor Rosi Walden and her partner, designer Luca Faloni , agree: “Among our friends, we’re seeing a move away from places that have become too crowded or overtly sceney,” she says. “They prefer Menorca, Pantelleria, and Antiparos, as well as quieter parts of Tuscany that continue to appeal because they offer privacy, authenticity, and a slower pace. Capri and Ibiza are still popular but are increasingly becoming somewhere people visit for a few days rather than spend an entire summer.” And for the low-key types who won’t give up their dreams of an Italian summer—yet refuse to do the whole Amalfi thing—there is Forte dei Marmi. “Long loved by Italian families, it offers a more discreet and sophisticated seaside experience than many of the Mediterranean’s best-known destinations,” says Carolina Perez, founder of the Duco Travel Summit. Recent new hotel openings—like Pensione America , Hermitage Hotel & Resort and Principessa Forte dei Marmi —have made it all the more attractive for the international set. Beyond Europe Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel South Africa has gotten more popular than France. Trade tales of Big Five sightings at the bar at the Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel. “Italy clearly hasn’t changed, but our traveler’s definition of what makes a trip worth taking has,” says Stephen Durkin, senior traveler care advisor at Zicasso . “Our high-net-worth travelers want experiences that are more remote, more specific, and harder to replicate.” Like safari, for instance. Luckily, the height of summer also coincides with the Great Migration in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as dry season in South Africa (prime time for Big Five sightings), drier spells in Rwanda (ideal for gorilla trekking), and peak water levels in the Okavango Delta for water-based Botswana safaris. “ Safaris are a mainstay of our clients’ summer travel, but we saw an increased demand for this summer,” says Stockton, who is also adding on day trips from Cape Town to Antarctica for the more adventurous: “They see the $16,500 per person cost as a small price to pay to give their family a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” At Zicasso, South Africa has lately become a top-three request (dethroning France). Those who wanted to visit Rome or Santorini three or four years ago are now requesting fly-in camps in the Skeleton Coast, private concessions in the South Luangwa Valley, and multi-country circuits that move from Sabi Sands into the Okavango Delta by bush plane. “They see the $16,500 per person cost as a small price to pay to give their family a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” “The fact that Namibia and Zambia have become the second- and third-most requested destinations among our repeat travelers is, to us, the clearest signal of where ultra-luxury travel is heading,” Durkin says. “It points to the same instinct: understanding where to be and when, for the trip they want, that has nothing to do with what everyone else is doing.” Or Just Stay Home? Rosewood Resort/Douglas Friedman As comfortable as home, but in Hawaii, at the Rosewood’s Kona Village on Big Island. Of course there are those—spurred by some combination of geopolitical instability, airspace closures, and, yes, the weather—who are skipping Europe altogether and staying on this side of the Atlantic. Hawaii experienced a surge for the first time since the pandemic, with demand for Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort on Big Island and the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach on Oahu. Fraser , the world’s leading yacht brokerage company, is even seeing a shift in where superyachts are cruising, with an unexpected destination—Costa Rica—joining the ranks in recent years. “What makes it special is that it is remote enough to feel completely wild, yet still accessible—that combination is rare,” says charter broker Vicky Whitehouse. “The Gulf of Papagayo is home to a luxury full-service marina surrounded by secluded bays and dramatic landscapes; you are not anchored off a polished beach club, you are exploring one of the most biodiverse landscapes on Earth.” With great resorts, too, should you want to stay the night, either at Nekajui , the year-old Ritz-Carlton Reserve, or Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo . If we want to debate semantics, though, the ultra-rich may really be just staying home. “It’s the younger people with money who want to show off that are staying at these insanely priced hotels and putting it on Instagram. The ultra-rich are buying homes and going there,” says a London-based filmmaker whose friends are renovating newly purchased villas in Ibiza or returning to their holiday homes in Cannes or St.-Tropez this summer. “It’s more about the asset, less about the destination.” This happens to be Lauder’s plan, too. “For the rest of the summer, I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends at our home on Long Island,” she says. “That is my ultimate paradise.” Lane Nieset Lane Nieset is a travel journalist who has spent the past decade living between Paris and the South of France. Her work has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler ,  Travel + Leisure , T: The New York Times Style Magazine , Food & Wine , and Vogue , among others. Follow her on Instagram @lanenieset . Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Readers Also Read Prince Harry Reacts to Meta Settlement From Town & Country for Sutherland The Craft of Block Printing Meets Sophisticated St David Zaslav Loses $80 Million Bid for Camp Mohawk The Best Beauty Launches of Summer 2026... So Far Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Inside Wendy and Eric Schmidt’s Georgetown Home The 2026 San Francisco Opera Guild Runway Show Princess Beatrice’s Husband Gives Rare Interview The Full List of the 2026 Emmy Nominations <em>The Gilded Age</em></i> Season 4 Has Wrapped Filming" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a73365534/gilded-age-season-4-wrapped-filming-carrie-coon-2026/" data-vars-ga-ux-element="Transporter" href="/leisure/arts-and-culture/a73365534/gilded-age-season-4-wrapped-filming-carrie-coon-2026/" class="ee4ms354 css-1sbu0ok e1socmtw0"> The Gilded Age Season 4 Has Wrapped Filming How Bama Rush Changed the University of Alabama A Snob’s Guide to Copenhagen A Snob’s Guide to North Carolina Advertisement - Continue Reading Below