The suitcase is unpacked, the out-of-office is off and summer is supposed to be over. But what if it doesn’t have to be? New research from Holafly reveals the destinations where travellers can keep the summer feeling going into September and October, combining lingering sunshine with lower prices and flights that still make getting there easy. And surprisingly, the best places to extend summer aren’t necessarily the hottest.
The Holafly Post-Holiday Blues Index 2026 analysed 50 destinations across Europe, North Africa and the Americas to identify where travellers can best extend the summer experience into autumn. The study combines how much summer weather remains, changes in flight and accommodation prices, traveller demand and how easy destinations remain to reach once the traditional peak season ends.
The findings come as shoulder-season travel becomes more mainstream. According to the European Travel Commission, 81% of Europeans plan to travel between June and November 2026, with affordability and climate increasingly shaping where they choose to go. The organisation has also reported growing interest in shoulder-season trips as travellers look for better value and alternatives to peak-season travel.
Nice beats the Mediterranean’s classic summer hotspots
If you’re not ready to say goodbye to summer just yet, Nice and the French Riviera may be the best place to keep it going. The destination tops the ranking with 68.6 points, ahead of Mallorca (66.1), Antalya (65.5), Cape Verde (65.0) and Madeira (61.9).
But Nice doesn’t win by being the hottest. Temperatures in September and October retain around 83.8% of their summer levels, well below Cape Verde (106%) or Madeira (96.8%). Its advantage comes from what happens once the August crowds disappear: search interest is up 41% year-on-year, the strongest growth of any destination in the European sample, while flight prices drop by 44.4% after the summer peak.
- Nice / French Riviera (Score: 68.6)
- Mallorca (Score: 66.1)
- Antalya (Score: 65.5)
- Cape Verde (Score: 65.0)
- Madeira (Score: 61.9)
- Naples / Amalfi Coast (Score: 60.9)
- Málaga (Score: 60.7)
- Hurghada (Score: 60.1)
- Sicily (Score: 57.7)
- Valencia (Score: 57.5)
For guaranteed warmth, however, Cape Verde is hard to beat. September and October are actually warmer on average than June to August, with temperatures retaining 106% of their summer levels, while flights remain widely available. There is a catch: waiting until autumn won’t save travellers nearly as much money. Accommodation prices fall by just 10.3% and flights by 18.8%, giving Cape Verde the smallest overall off-season price drop among the 25 destinations analysed.
And some of Europe’s most iconic summer escapes tell the opposite story. Corfu (37.3), Dubrovnik (37.8) and Santorini/Mykonos (40.4) sit at the bottom of the ranking, despite retaining between 81% and 88% of their summer temperatures. The problem is getting there. These destinations see some of the steepest declines in direct routes and scheduled airline capacity once peak season ends. For Santorini and Mykonos, direct routes across the four source markets analysed fall from eight in summer to just three in September and October. The sunshine may still be there, but many of the flights are not.
The Caribbean dominates the Americas - but there’s a catch
Across the Atlantic, Punta Cana is the best place to keep summer going, topping the Americas ranking with 73.0 points. San Juan follows with 70.1, ahead of Cancún and the Riviera Maya (69.1), Jamaica (68.2) and Tulum (68.1).
- Punta Cana (Score: 73.0)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (Score: 70.1)
- Cancún / Riviera Maya (Score: 69.1)
- Jamaica / Montego Bay (Score: 68.2)
- Tulum (Score: 68.1)
- Puerto Vallarta (Score: 68.0)
- Los Cabos (Score: 65.3)
- Cartagena (Score: 63.4)
- St. Lucia (Score: 62.9)
- Nassau (Score: 61.0)
If warmth is the priority, the Americas have a clear advantage. Destinations in the sample retain an average 97.8% of their summer temperatures into September and October, compared with 86.8% across the European sample. In other words, while the Mediterranean begins to cool, much of the Caribbean barely does.
But warmer doesn’t always mean better. Cancún has the highest flight-intent score in the Americas and accommodation prices fall by 35.7%, yet it records the weakest climate score of all 50 destinations analysed. Temperatures remain at 94.9% of their summer levels, but September and October also fall within the most active part of the Atlantic hurricane season, while average rainy days actually edge up from 22.4 to 22.8.
That doesn’t mean travellers should expect a storm, but it does make timing more important. NOAA identifies August through October as the peak period for Atlantic tropical cyclone activity, with the climatological peak occurring around 10 September. For travellers tempted by lower autumn prices, the trade-off is clear: the Caribbean can keep summer going almost unchanged, but those savings can come during a more unpredictable weather window.
“Travelling outside the traditional summer peak can completely change the experience of a destination,” said Daniela Prado, Brand Director at Holafly. “You may find the same sunshine for less, but price alone doesn’t tell the whole story. What matters is finding the right balance between weather, cost and how easy it is to get there, so travellers can choose the moment that works best for them.”
Methodology
The Holafly Post-Holiday Blues Index 2026 ranks 25 destinations across Europe and North Africa and 25 across the Americas using four weighted dimensions: Climate Persistence (30%), measuring changes in temperature, sunshine and rainfall between June-August and September-October; Demand Signal (25%), based on year-on-year search growth and flight intent; Affordability Shift (25%), measuring changes in accommodation and flight prices; and Accessibility (20%), based on the retention of direct routes and scheduled airline capacity from major source markets. Variables were normalised using min-max scaling. Where insufficient search volume prevented a destination from receiving a Demand score, its weight was proportionally redistributed across the remaining dimensions.
