Coolcations Trend: New Index Ranks Europe’s Coolest Summer Destinations

A new travel index, the “Summer Heat Escape Index”, has been launched by the Polarsteps app to help tourists avoid increasingly hot summer weather. The index evaluates 25 European countries using six factors – daytime and nighttime August temperatures, lowest sea‑water temperatures, forest cover, population density and legality of wild‑camping – and normalises them to a score out of 100.

The ranking shows Iceland at the top with a score of 83.81, thanks to average daytime highs of only 10.7 °C, cool nights, low population density and legal free‑camping. Finland follows (77.02) with extensive forested areas and pleasant 17 °C midsummer highs, while Norway (76.06) and Sweden (75.14) complete the Nordic podium. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom round out the top ten.

The index reflects a shift in traveller behaviour: a recent Polarsteps survey found 35 % of British tourists this year chose a cooler destination, and more than one‑in‑five did so for the first time. Growing heatwaves across Europe are prompting vacationers to seek milder climates in the Alps, Scandinavia and the Baltic states, a trend dubbed “coolcations”.