The times when overtourism was your biggest worry during a European summer feel like a distant memory now. As 2026’s peak season gets into full swing, you likely have more pressing concerns: Will you get there? Will you make it back? And can you stay healthy while you’re there?

“The reality of travel is very different now,” says Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO at the Advantage Travel Partnership, and one of the European travel industry’s big beasts. “We’re having to operate in a very different geopolitical environment and there are big, macro topics that are impacting everything — not just vacations but our way of life, our weather, everything. That’s just our world now.”

So how to make your 2026 vacation a summer to remember for all the right reasons? We asked industry professionals how to navigate this tricky year of travel.

Unfriendly skies

The recent Middle East crisis has created instability in the price of aviation fuel.
The recent Middle East crisis has created instability in the price of aviation fuel.
Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images

There’s a new specter hovering over European bookings this summer: fuel shortages. In May, 13,000 flights were removed from rosters worldwide according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

But don’t panic, says Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at Dow Jones Energy. Although the global oil situation is dicey — supplies are limited despite the Strait of Hormuz being partially reopened following President Trump’s peace deal with Iran — he thinks a total supply crunch is unlikely.