Top Summer Destinations 2026 Revealed by Leading Travel Agent Opodo

Jun 18, 2026 - 10:04

Leading online travel agent Opodo (part of eDreams ODIGEO) launches its 2026 summer travel report, uncovering British traveller’s top destinations – and also diving deep into travel patterns for July and August compared to last year.

Want to check out the full summer report? See Opodo’s latest blog post here.

Top summer city destinations booked by Brits

Opodo’s report reveals that Brits are most keen on short haul sunny breaks this summer. The OTA’s data shows that these popular cities rank as top destinations:

Barcelona
Amsterdam
Malaga
Lisbon
Faro

Data for bookings globally shows a similar preference for short-haul summer destinations for European travellers: with Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Paris, London and Madrid taking the top five spots.

Aside from our favourite city destinations, Opodo has also analysed the countries Brits are most keen to travel to during July and August, and the rankings are revealed:

17% – Spain
8% – Greece
6% – Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom
5% – France, Germany
4% – Netherlands

New summer destinations for Brits in 2026

There are also rankings both for brand new destinations and the top growth destinations for British travellers in 2026. Both reveal an increase in interest for hidden gems and off-the-beaten-track destinations.

New destinations for Brits this summer:

Preveza – Lefkada, Greece (+230%)
Valencia, Spain (+160%)
Zakynthos (Zante), Greece (+61%)
Mykonos, Greece (+55%)
Funchal, Portugal (+25%)

Opodo’s data also shows top new destinations for global travellers include Podgorica, Montenegro (+99%), Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (+45%), Oviedo, Spain (+28%), Warsaw, Poland (+20%), and Toulouse, France (+8%).

Top growth destinations for Brits:

Bilbao, Spain (+39%)
Alicante, Spain (+28%)
Tirana, Albania (+6%)

Globally, growth destinations show a mix of long and short haul destinations, including Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (+21%), Seville, Spain (+14%), Funchal, Portugal (+12%).

Travel booking habits for Brits

Opodo also looked in detail at our booking habits including the length, duration and booking windows favoured by the Brits for summer travel. The data shows that there continues to be a strong preference for short and medium haul journeys.

Short haul: 46%
Medium haul: 40%
Long haul: 14%

Booking windows remained similar in 2026 to the previous year with Brits favouring booking ahead rather than waiting until the last minute.

90+ days: 73%
61 – 90 days: 21%
31-60 days: 6%

Opodo’s data also analysed how long Brits are planning to be away for summer holidays this year. Their data shows a strong preference for weekend breaks as well as 1–2-week getaways.

7-13 days: 27%
3-4 days: 26%
21+: 14%
5-6 days: 13%
14-20 days: 12%
2 days: 8%

Incoming travel to the UK

Opodo investigated which nationalities have booked their summer trips to the UK this season – revealing:

Spain (25%)
Germany (17%)
France (13%)
Italy (9%)
Denmark (7%)

Finally, which UK cities are attracting the highest volumes of incoming tourism? The most popular UK destinations include London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, and Bristol.

About Opodo

Opodo is one of the world’s leading online travel brands, offering customers tailored travel deals across a broad range of products including flights, rail, hotels, dynamic packages, car rental and more. With Opodo Prime, the first and largest travel subscription programme, all Opodo customers benefit from easy and convenient booking processes, excellent value for money and access to a wide international network of travel partners. Opodo is part of eDreams ODIGEO, the world’s leading travel subscription platform, serving millions of customers globally.