Summer is the season of long days, warm evenings, and cities at their most alive and colourful. The following five cities, with our recommendation of the best places to stay when you get there, are at their absolute best when the sun is high; and each offers a distinct version of what makes summer travel so exciting. 

Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi in summer is one of the world's most compelling cities at its most vivid. The old city's carved balconies, the sulphur bath district of Abanotubani, the ancient Narikala fortress above the Mtkvari River, and the wine bars of Vera and Fabrika are best experienced on the long, warm evenings summer brings. Georgian cuisine — the dumplings called khinkali, the cheese-bread khachapuri, the extraordinary array of natural wines from the Kakheti region — is reason enough to visit, and the city's creative scene has developed remarkable energy over the past decade.

• Fabrika Tbilisi is a former Soviet sewing factory in the Chughureti district, reimagined as a multifunctional urban space of bars, boutiques, studios, and hostel-style accommodation. The young, creative atmosphere and the large open courtyard — always buzzing with locals and travellers — give it an energy that more conventional hotels cannot replicate. It is certainly not a luxury hotel, but it is one of the most genuinely alive spaces in the city.
• Stamba Hotel is Tbilisi's most iconic property: a former Soviet-era printing house in the Vera district transformed by the Adjara Group into 62 rooms of industrial-luxe magnificence. Raw concrete beams meet lush hanging plants and antique chandeliers; double-height spaces are made intimate with buttery leather sofas and floor-to-ceiling shelves of vintage books. Rooms have McIntosh hi-fi systems, La Marzocco coffee machines, and gilded freestanding brass bathtubs. The restaurant, bar, bookshop, and co-working space are as popular with locals as hotel guests, and the overall atmosphere is of a hotel that belongs entirely to its city.
• Communal Hotel Plekhanovi is a Michelin-selected boutique hotel in the historic Chugureti district — a creative neighbourhood near Marjanishvili Square and Tbilisi State University — with just 14 rooms in a beautifully restored period townhouse. The design blends original architecture, classic elements, and a modern colour palette with considerable skill, and the hotel's intimate scale creates a convivial atmosphere without feeling crowded. The Weller restaurant serves lunch and dinner, and there's a lovely bar and terrace.
• Rooms Hotel Tbilisi is the Adjara Group's first Tbilisi property and one of the most celebrated design hotels in the South Caucasus. The building — a former Soviet research institute — has been converted into a space with eclectic interiors that draw on Georgian craft, Soviet-era aesthetic nostalgia, and a strong art programme. The restaurant, the bar, and the outdoor terrace overlooking the garden are all excellent, and the hotel's sense of community, with guests and locals sharing the same spaces, is a defining quality.

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn in summer is one of the great surprises of European travel: a medieval walled city in exceptional condition, sitting on the Baltic coast with long midsummer evenings that give it an almost otherworldly quality. The Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has Gothic town halls, limestone towers, cobbled streets, and merchant houses that look barely changed from the 15th century. Outside the walls, the Kalamaja neighbourhood — a district of wooden Art Nouveau houses converted into cafés, studios, and restaurants — has become one of the most interesting areas in the city. Estonian cuisine has emerged as genuinely worth eating, the craft beer scene is excellent, and the digital infrastructure (Tallinn gave the world Skype) is the best in Europe.

• The Burman is a boutique hotel in the historic Old Town with individually designed rooms, warm service, and a position that puts the main medieval sights within easy walking distance. Its intimate scale and the care taken with the interiors create a genuinely personal atmosphere in a part of the city where this is increasingly rare.
• Iglupark is a design hotel in a restored historic building in the Old Town, with a strong creative identity and rooms that blend the building's original character with contemporary Scandinavian design sensibility. The bar and café draw a neighbourhood crowd, and the hotel's approach to hospitality is warm and unfussy.
• Regent Hotel is the most traditionally grand of the four options, a luxury property in the Old Town with well-appointed rooms, good service, and the facilities of a larger hotel — spa, restaurant, bar — in a historic building. For those who want the security of a full-service hotel alongside the character of the old city, it is the sensible choice.
• Oru Hub Hotel is a newer addition to Tallinn's hotel scene: a design-forward property in the Kalamaja neighbourhood that puts guests in the city's most creatively interesting part. The neighbourhood's wooden houses, independent coffee shops, and proximity to the Telliskivi Creative City make it the right base for those who want to experience Tallinn's contemporary life as much as its medieval one.

Vancouver, Canada

Summer is when you really get to enjoy Vancouver at its very best: the mountains behind, the Pacific in front, Stanley Park's old-growth forest ten minutes from downtown, and a food scene driven by exceptional Pacific seafood, Asian influence, and a serious local produce culture. June and July bring long, reliably warm days and the city's outdoor culture — the seawall, the beaches of English Bay and Kitsilano, the kayaking in Indian Arm — comes fully into its own. The Granville Island Public Market, the Museum of Anthropology, and the neighbourhoods of Gastown and Commercial Drive all deserve time too.

• The Burrard is a lovingly restored 1956 motel in the West End with a pool, 72 bright, well-designed rooms, and a garden that gives the property an entirely unexpected sense of retreat in the middle of the city. The Burrard has developed a strong following for its mix of mid-century character, excellent service, and a price point that makes it one of Vancouver's best-value boutique options.
• L'Hermitage Hotel is a boutique all-suite property in the downtown core with 60 suites, each with a kitchen, living area, and the comfortable spaciousness of a well-appointed apartment rather than a hotel room. The service is highly attentive, the location is central, and for those who want to spend more than a few days in Vancouver, the kitchen facilities make a considerable difference.
• The Douglas is a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel in the Yaletown neighbourhood with a strong design identity drawn from the Pacific Northwest's nature (think birch wood panels, stone, organic forms), and a very good restaurant and bar on the ground floor. The neighbourhood puts guests close to the False Creek seawall and the city's best independent restaurants.
• Wedgewood Hotel & Spa is an independently owned boutique property in downtown Vancouver, one block from Robson Street and close to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Its 83 rooms and suites feature European-style decor, quality furnishings, and a warmth larger hotels cannot match. The Bacchus restaurant and lounge is one of Vancouver's more reliable dining experiences, and the hotel's longevity (it has been in the same family since 1984) gives it a character and consistency that is increasingly rare.

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich in the summer months is the Swiss financial capital at its most relaxed and enjoyable: the lake is warm enough to swim in by July, the old town is full of outdoor tables and sunlit squares, and the city's extraordinary concentration of museums (Kunsthaus, Rietberg, Museum für Gestaltung), opera house, and live music venues are operating at full capacity. Zurich's reputation as expensive and somewhat stiff has been steadily overtaken by a more creative, convivial reality, the Langstrasse neighbourhood's bars, the waterfront swimming pools called badis, and the summer Sunday markets along the lake are all genuinely good.

• Hotel Josef is a design hotel in the Langstrasse neighbourhood with 66 rooms spread across two buildings connected by a generous courtyard, a pool, and a café that draws in locals as well as hotel guests. The design is Swiss in the best sense — precise, functional, warm — and the location in Zurich's most interesting after-dark neighbourhood makes it an excellent base for those who want to experience the city beyond Bahnhofstrasse.
• Hotel Seehof is a boutique hotel on the Utoquai lakefront with views directly across Lake Zurich to the Alps. The 61 rooms are well-appointed, and the location (the building sits right on the water) is exceptional in summer, when the lake-swimming pools (the Utoquai bad) are open directly in front. The hotel is within walking distance of the Kunsthaus and the old town.
• Townhouse Boutique Hotel is a small, design-focused property in central Zurich with individually decorated rooms and a strong sense of personality. The hotel's commitment to design quality and personal service makes it stand out in a city where the larger properties tend toward corporate efficiency.
• Marktgasse Hotel is a well-established boutique hotel in the Old Town, in a beautifully restored building with 39 rooms, a popular bar and restaurant, and the kind of position — in the heart of the Niederdorf old town, steps from the Grossmünster — that makes it a natural base for exploring Zurich's historic centre on foot.

Biarritz, France

Biarritz is at its most elegant and enjoyable during the peak summer months. It's a historic resort town where Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie holidayed and where the surfing culture that arrived in the 1950s has given the city an entirely different energy from any other French beach destination. The Grande Plage, the Côte des Basques beach (the best surf break), the fishing port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz 20 minutes south, the tapas bars of San Sebastián across the Spanish border 45 minutes away, and the Basque cuisine — pintxos, merluza, gâteau Basque — make the area one of the best summer destinations in Europe.

• Hotel Le Garage is a boutique hotel in a converted Art Deco garage in central Biarritz, with a strong personality and a relaxed, stylish atmosphere that suits the town's surf-and-chic character. The rooms are individually designed, the bar is popular with locals, and the hotel feels entirely rooted in a town that knows how to be both fashionable and genuinely relaxed.
• Hotel de Silhouette is a beautiful mid-19th-century villa in a residential district with 20 individually designed rooms in a range of styles (some garden-facing, some with sea glimpses) and a rooftop terrace with Atlantic views. Its intimate scale and warm service make it one of the more personally run hotels in town.
• Regina Experimental brings the Experimental Hotels brand's reliable design sensibility and cocktail-bar culture to a magnificent Belle Époque building on the Grande Plage. The rooms feature art deco-influenced furniture and vintage finds, the bar programme is excellent (as expected from the Experimental group), and the position — directly facing the ocean and the promenade — is outstanding.
• Hotel de L'Océan is a classic Biarritz property facing the Côte des Basques beach with the kind of setting that makes it the obvious choice for those who have come to surf or swim. The rooms are comfortable and unpretentious, the beach is directly accessible, and the hotel's simplicity is a virtue in a town that can occasionally take its own glamour too seriously.

Still not sure? 

• Browse through our full list of accommodation options in Zurich,
• Refine your search to include our recommendations for the Top Resorts in Canada or the best places to stay in Tallinn
• Alternatively, you could contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.