Summer 2017’s top 10 U.S. destinations: Did your city make the list?

Still wondering where to go for one last summer splash? According to Orbitz data, these were summer 2017’s most booked U.S. hotspots and it’s not too late to hit one up for a Labor Day fling. Orbitz is offering savings of at least 20% on select hotels for Labor Day at Orbitz.com/LaborDay. Book by August 20th using promo code “TRAVELTIME” for an additional 15% off of hotel stays completed by December 31, 2017. Your summer needs you. Now.

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10. Miami

People moan and groan about how muggy and awful Florida must be in summer, but Miami‘s average relative humidity in August is virtually the same as NYC. Besides, summer in Miami means lower room rates at top hotels, afternoon showers to cool things off and way fewer tourists. There’s also nighttime pool parties, the Miami Music Festival, megawatt foodie fest Miami Spice, the beginning of NFL season (Labor Day weekend), and so much more. All that, plus the visual eye candy of Art Deco architecture and beautiful people everywhere, was enough for Miami to crack our top ten.

9. San Francisco

Visitors to SF in summer come in two varieties: Those who despise summer’s relentless blue skies and intense heat/humidity and those who have no idea the city is famously foggy and cool during much of July and August. You can spot the latter as they’ll spend their stay swaddled in “I left my heart in San Francisco” sweatshirts purchased from souvenir shops in Fisherman’s Wharf. That’s not to say that summer is the wrong time to visit. North Beach Festival, Renegade Craft Fair, Pride Weekend, Giants games, Opera in the Park and the J-POP Summit are all top draws, plus this summer the city celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love with numerous hippie happenings around town.

8. Orange County

The “OC,” an oft jeered, sometimes cheered jumble of 34 incorporated cities sprawled across nearly 1,000 square miles, has apparently found the winning combination for luring summer travelers: theme parks and beaches. There’s no doubt that Disneyland and sibling park Disney’s California Adventure along with Knott’s Berry Farm and Soak City represent a lion’s share of visitors, but coastal Orange County (aka the California Riviera) is no slouch. A half million people converge upon Huntington Beach annually for its US Open of Surfing, Newport Beach attracts the well-heeled while artsy Laguna Beach epitomizes breezy SoCal beach life.

7. Washington, DC

Anyone who’s ever stepped into the furnace that is DC in July (they don’t call it a swamp for nothing) will tell you that summer is not the best time to go. So why is it so busy? Simply put, when school’s away the mice will play, and the nation’s capital remains a top destination for families seeking a theme park antidote. Think free concerts on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Jazz Festival, swimming and sunbathing in Yards Park and more. Let’s not forget that DC is only a stone’s throw from wineries, Shenandoah National Park and Chesapeake Bay beach towns. Oh, and we’re pretty sure 4th of July in DC is kind of a big deal.

6. San Diego

San Diego will always be a top 10 summer fave for one reason and one reason alone: Comic-Con. Seriously. The mother lode of all things related to sci-fi, horror and fantasy, San Diego Comic-Con is the largest convention of its kind in the world (no joke) and brings so many nerds—um, passionate fans—to the city each August that you’d be lucky to find a last-minute hotel room within 20 miles of the convention center. It doesn’t hurt either that the average daily high in August—the hottest month of the year—is a balmy 77 degrees or that the city is blessed with beaches catering to every traveler type. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, it’s sunny here…every darn day.

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5. New York

Surprised hot and sticky NYC made #5 on this list? Then you’ve never experienced the dog days of a Gotham summer. As Manhattan and Brooklyn worker bees make a mad dash for the Hamptons and Fire Island, the city becomes a visitor’s playground where folks snatch up impossible-to-get theater tickets, saunter into the city’s top restaurants sans reservations and enjoy city views from the room of their discounted hotel. In short, everything is easier in New York in the summer. Plus, there’s the Pinknic festival, Summer Restaurant Week, Panorama and the Barefoot Ball. In short, awesomeness all around.

4. Orlando

Inland Florida? In August? No, thanks you might say. Of course, you’re probably not a 9-year-old child whose only summer dream is to have a picture taken with a Disney Princess. Despite its humidity, Orlando‘s busy season happens when schools are out and the gates of its theme parks are flooded each morning by tens of thousands of excited children and their imminently bedraggled parents. And Disney isn’t the old game in town; there’s also Universal Studios, LegoLand, Discovery Cove, and many more. Plus, Orlando is a relative stone’s throw from the Kennedy Space Center, swimming with manatees in Crystal River and both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. But yeah, for sure book a hotel with good A/C.

3. Chicago

Isn’t Chicago weather notoriously terrible? Um, yeah, in winter, but Memorial and Labor Day bookend three solid months of summertime bliss in which locals and visitors alike barnstorm the city’s 27 miles of lakefront beaches, ubiquitous beer gardens and rooftop patios for a 90-day marathon of beaching, boozing and neighborhood block parties. That is, when they’re not partying at Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Market Days, Jazz Fest, Taste of Chicago or one of literally dozens of other festivals. Seriously, no other city does summer quite like Chicago. Bonus: On hot summer nights, the neighborhoods fill up with fireflies.

2. Los Angeles

The promise of never ending blue skies, 75-degree beach days and urban hikes into the city’s most undiscovered corners are part of the reason why LA is summer’s penultimate hotspot. Sure, it’s easy to ding the city for its traffic and smog, but come July (June is notoriously overcast) Los Angeles really epitomizes summer. Think nonstop day and night pool parties (The Standard DTLA, Hollywood Roosevelt and Mondrian host them, to name a few), cinema under the stars (at the beach, the Rooftop Cinema Series or at Cinespia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery), wine tasting at Barnsdall Art Park and Malibu Safaris, food truck hopping at Smorgasburg, downtown gallery hopping and watching the sunset in Malibu. Sure it’s nice here all year around, but Los Angeles really is about summer, baby.

1. Las Vegas

If you’re wondering what happened to the days when you could have all of stifling Sin City (the average daily temperature in July is an unbearable 106 degrees) to yourself, blame the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. In 2003 it dropped Rehab, a heady poolside swirl of loud music, hard bodies and drunken tomfoolery, onto the city and gave Vegas a new phrase for its lexicon: the day club. Pool parties are now such a ubiquitous staple that hotels now haul in megawatt DJs (Skrillex, David Guetta, Diplo, etc.) and millennials rush to pay hundreds of dollars for a poolside cabana their squad can call home for the day. Move over coastal US: In summer, Las Vegas in king.

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Tagged: Feature, Top 10 Lists