Ten Summer Destinations You Should Consider

It’s finally summer, and with the world going more slightly towards normal, it’s becoming more possible to travel again. Here, I want to offer you ten places I think make great summer destinations, especially for long weekend trips.

This list is going to be a personal one, as I’m only going to list places I’ve been and liked: with each of them I’ll offer a general overview, as well as a specific recommendation to help you get the most of out of your summer travel from the perspective of someone who has been there and done that.

When you think of summer, the idea of 100-degree heat doesn’t appeal to everyone. But, these days, it’s about that hot everywhere so I recommend hitting up Miami in the summer. One big benefit is that you’ll also miss the shoulder-to-shoulder spring break crowds in this sprawling metropolis.

One recommendation for summer is to check out both Wynwood and the Design District: both have great collections of art, cars, and a bustling outdoor food scene. The people-watching is excellent, and if you go to either on a weekend the locals often bring out their cars for photoshoots with the art and buildings.

This medium-sized Midwestern city is an eclectic mix of destinations that make it popular for all kinds of folks in the summer. It’s downtown, which is very walkable, often hosts festivals, and is home to a growing brewery scene that’s worth checking out. Additionally, I’d recommend trying some of the hole-in-the-wall restaurants stuck around, some of the best diners in the world are in Kalamazoo.

For the outdoors fans, Kalamazoo is centrally located enough to drive to hiking trails, Lake Michigan, and some beautiful rolling hills for the cyclists. In the summer, the midwest is really at its best.

Back down south, Key West can be excellent in the summer as well. The ocean breezes keep the heat down to a more bearable level, and the massive shade trees over a lot of the streets help with that, too. Like Miami, timing a trip to Key West in the summer helps to dodge the crowds.

If you can, get in touch with one of the local companies that do eco-friendly snorkeling tours around the key: the water this time of year tends to be clear and the reefs are some of the most gorgeous in the world.

This industrial powerhouse has lots of cool history, and tons to do. The jazz and food scenes are world-renowned, so fans of either should check this one out in summer when walking down by Lake Michigan is an awesome way to begin or end a day.

I’d recommend staying at one of the many hotels and rentals within walking distance of Navy Pier: it’s a relatively affordable city and being able to walk instead of driving will help you get a much better sense of the sheer vertical scale of the place.

While it’s not the biggest city on the list, Indianapolis has, perhaps, the most heart. It’s a city that’s home to several universities and maintains a lot of that charming college town feel, while a growing waterfront district along the river offers not only upscale restaurants but also relaxed spots to sit and watch the water and boats go by.

I’d recommend heading straight downtown: you’ll know you’re there when you get to the big roundabout with the marble statues. Then, park the car and explore on foot: don’t forget to pop into a local brewery for lunch.

In my opinion, New Orleans is the coolest city in the South. As a saxophone player myself, it’s about the last city left where I have a decent chance of meeting someone or scoring a gig just by making conversation at the bar. That welcoming atmosphere extends to the rest of the city, and most people are more than happy to promote local goings on to people new in town, so long as you don’t act like a blackout drunk tourist by noon.

I’d recommend skipping the big hotels and renting a place from a local through one of the many services to do so: that will put you in a neighborhood in the city instead of outside of it and needing to commute in to enjoy this charming town.

One of the smaller ones on this list, Traverse City is stunningly beautiful in the summer. I’d recommend timing out your visit with the Cherry Festival which brings out the best in local products. Regardless of when you go, think about doing a winery tour or two as well: the area is getting known globally for producing some of the best wine in the US, and the drives between wineries are often along some of the most picturesque scenes I’ve ever seen.

Tucked away south of Tampa, there are some gorgeous little towns along Florida’s Gulf Coast. One of them is Sanibel, which is a little town that has some hidden gems. Here, the main attraction is the water, so I recommend getting lunch or dinner at one of the many local restaurants that are on the water.

The main road to Sanibel is I75, but when you get close, take any exit: there are a lot of hidden gems in the area, from flea markets to places that sell local fish, that you’d never see driving by them at 70mph. Instead, get off the highway and take your time with the area.

With the past year being rough for a lot of small businesses, it might be a great time to take the chance and get back out to a new one that managed to survive the pandemic, or, even better, support someone new making a go of it.

No matter where you live in the US, there are certain to be interesting things to do, that you haven’t done, near you. So, I’ll leave you with a challenge: this weekend, find something to do near you that you’ve never done before.