Summer trips to escape the heat
Looking for a cooler summer vacation? Try these states.
Traveling over the summer doesn’t always mean going somewhere hot. While most of the U.S. faces high temperatures, there are opportunities to find something a little cooler, and a little different.
These states might not be where you’d typically go for a summer vacation, but they’re worth exploring if you want to beat the heat.
🚣 Vermont: Although a popular skiing destination in the winter, Vermont transforms once the snow melts. “Vermont comes alive in the summer and offers everything from peak adventure to ultimate relaxation,” said Jennifer Greene, marketing manager for the Stowe Area Association. “The Green Mountain State truly lives up to its name this time of year with some of the most stunning mountain scenery.”
- Cities like Stowe, Burlington and Woodstock provide a great sampler of what’s best about Vermont. But, it’s not all about the mountains.
- According to Greene, “Stowe offers the charm and serenity of a coastal summer destination,” while Burlington, Vermont’s biggest city, sits along Lake Champlain, New England’s largest lake.
🏞️ Montana: Montana is special for many reasons, most of all its access to Yellowstone National Park. The North Entrance is the only year-round gate open to private vehicles. It’s a great way to see this national wonder from a less-crowded perspective.
- Gardiner, which sits near the park entrance, serves as a great base of operations. It also positions you nicely for plenty of side trips outside Yellowstone, like scenic drives and wildlife exploration, according to Robin Hoover, Yellowstone Country executive director.
- Inside the park, you can visit Mammoth Hot Springs, walking along boardwalks to get closer to thermal features and local wildlife.
🚢 Read more: Other unexpected places to escape the summer heat
The best restaurants in every terminal at the Atlanta airport
Airport food has a bad rap. But if you know what to look for, you can find some true gems among the standard fare. With that in mind, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Food and Dining team recently put together a list of their 20 favorite restaurants at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Here are a few that made the list:
📍 Vino Volo (Gate T17): This wine bar tucked at the end of the concourse is a lovely way to pass an hour or two. You will have friendly service and a wide selection of wine, cocktails and local beers. Each section of the wine menu offers pours by the glass or as a flight of two or three. If you’re in the mood for a snack or a smaller meal to complement the wine, cheese boards offer three types of cheese, plus nuts, jam and optional cured-meat add-ons.
📍 Goldberg’s Bagel Co. and Deli (Gate T12): For a quick bagel or sandwich, Goldberg’s Bagel Co. and Deli can’t be beat. The bagels are fresh and chewy, with abundant toppings and a generous amount of cream cheese. The sandwich menu includes classic deli sandwiches like pastrami and Reuben, along with the restaurant’s signature po’boy. (A Goldberg’s po’boy is a high stack of assorted deli meats, Swiss cheese and pickles on traditional po’boy bread, not a New Orleans-style sandwich.)
📍 Southern National Pizza Boxx (Gate T21): Next to Vino Volo is the Southern National Market. The market offers local tchotchkes and a few snacks, but the real winner is the Pizza Boxx counter-service restaurant inside. It’s a version of Summerhill’s Pizza Boxx, a restaurant within a restaurant in Southern National. Choose from pizzas like the Hotlanta Buffalo chicken (smoked chicken, three cheeses, buffalo sauce and jalapenos), a fungi pizza pie (mozzarella, mushrooms and pickled onions) or “pigs in heat!!” (bacon, sausage, pepperoni, jalapenos and a freshly made hot sauce).
✈️ Read more: Check out the full list of the Atlanta airport’s best restaurants
Atlanta FIFA World Cup events, parties and festivals
If you’re staying closer to Atlanta this June, you can still tap into some global energy. Festivals, watch parties and screenings will soon mobilize across metro Atlanta in celebration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
While bars and restaurants around the metro area will switch their channels to soccer, city centers and local developments are getting in on the fun with soccer festivals and family-friendly programming.
Atlanta Beltline Fest
Head to Pittsburgh Yards for a free, two-day celebration of soccer, music, food and community along the Atlanta Beltline’s Southside Trail. There will be live match screenings throughout the weekend, including a headlining watch party for Spain vs Saudi Arabia on June 21.
Throughout the festival, attendees can expect live music, local food and retail vendors, soccer clinics, cooking demos, cultural art performances and DJ sets, according to a news release.
Match programming includes:
- Netherlands vs Sweden, 1 p.m. June 20.
- Germany vs Ivory Coast, 4 p.m. June 20.
- Spain vs Saudi Arabia, noon June 21.
- Belgium vs Iran, 3 p.m. June 21.
10 a.m.-7 p.m. June 20-21. 352 University Ave. SW, Atlanta.
Decatur WatchFest
The city of Decatur will launch a 34-day celebration for FIFA World Cup with 14 free concerts on Decatur Square, plus three ticketed concerts featuring the Kickoff Celebration headliner Big Boi, as well as the War and Treaty and Indigo Girls later in the festival.
In addition to the musical programming, Decatur WatchFest will have outdoor screenings of matches, and fans can catch other games inside Decatur’s restaurants, breweries and pubs.
June 11-July 19. 509 N. McDonough St., Decatur.
FIFA Fan Festival
Centennial Olympic Park will be the home of the official FIFA Fan Festival for 18 days during the World Cup, with live screenings of matches, music, games and vendors. The festival will be free to attend, but participants should register in advance online.
The Fan Fest will include several different zones of programming, including a main stage with a 40-foot screen broadcasting matches, live music, entertainment and games; a family-oriented playground with face painting and other activities; a community soccer pitch for small matches and podcasting; and a stretch of Georgia-based vendors offering food, crafts and products from across the region.
More details on event programming and performances will be announced in the coming weeks.
June 11-July 15. 265 Park Ave. W. NW, Atlanta.
⚽ Read more: A running list of soccer festivals and events this summer.
June in Atlanta: 20 free things to do in the metro
Also, if you’re kicking off summer closer to home, there’s plenty to explore across the metro. From comedy shows and museums to quiet green spaces, there are lots of free activities in the weeks ahead:
- Historic Oakland Foundation 50th Anniversary Celebration: This is your chance to give back to Oakland Cemetery. As part of the 50th Anniversary of the Historic Oakland Foundation, there will be a week during which volunteers can take time to do much-needed work on the grounds. On June 2, work will take place on the gardens, and on June 3, the project will be headstone cleaning.
- Underground Comedy Club: Come out and enjoy some great local comedy at Underground Atlanta. The Underground Comedy Club presents open mic comedy June 5 on Dolo’s Stage. Laugh the night away — or you might end up performing.
- Museums on Us: Bank of America cardholders can receive one free general admission ticket to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights as part of the Museums on Us program June 6 and 7. Tour immersive exhibits detailing life from the Reconstruction era right up to the human rights challenges still facing us globally today.
- Virginia-Highland Summerfest: This two-day celebration in one of Atlanta’s best-loved neighborhoods is back. June 6-7, you’ll find activities catering to every member of the family, with live music, a 5K road race and tot trot, an artist market with a kids’ zone, and plenty of food and drink options.
☀️Read more: Check out our full list of free things to do across metro Atlanta this June
Ebola screening expands to the Atlanta airport
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced May 23 that it has expanded enhanced public health entry screening for Ebola to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
This is in addition to enhanced screening that started on May 20 at Washington Dulles International Airport and began May 26 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston as a response to an Ebola outbreak earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The risk of Ebola domestically is low,” according to a news release from the CDC, but enhanced public health entry screenings are one component of the CDC’s “layered approach” to public health in addition to “overseas exit screening, airline illness reporting and post-arrival public health monitoring.”
The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services issued an order on May 22 that allows them to suspend entry to the U.S. of non-U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who were in the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within 21 days before arrival.
U.S. citizens who were in those countries within 21 days are able to enter the U.S., but passengers will be rebooked through the Houston, Atlanta or Washington airport to undergo enhanced public health entry screening, according to a Department of Homeland Security notice.
Enhanced public health screening includes a questionnaire about a passenger’s travel history and symptoms and an evaluation for signs of illness by CDC staff. Passengers not displaying symptoms can continue to their final destination, but their contact information will be shared with state and local health departments.
⚕️ Read more: What to know about the most recent strain of Ebola detected in the Congo
An important update for Savannah’s horse-drawn carriage tours
The skirmish between the City of Savannah and its horse carriage tour operators is heating up again as the summer tourist season kicks into gear and temperatures climb.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge John E. Morse Jr. issued a temporary restraining order May 26, suspending a city heat ordinance, and set a hearing for June 5.
The ordinance, which passed last August and went into effect in January, closes down horse-drawn carriage tours when temperatures reach 85 degrees or the heat index reaches 100 degrees. Tour operators have complained the ordinance could put them out of business. Last year, the temperature reached 85 or above on 143 days in Savannah.
The tour operators sued the city May 18, seeking to block the enforcement of the ordinance, arguing a recently amended Georgia state law prohibits local temperature restrictions for carriage tours.
“The injunction is significant for us,” said Cara Marshall, owner of Carriage Tours of Savannah, one of two horse carriage companies in the city. “Our business is nearly 50 years old. We have operated an estimated 150,000 carriage rides and served more than 1.5 million guests. That’s just my company. There has not been one heat-related incident in all of that time.”
Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo, who helped spearhead the ordinance in the steamy coastal city popular with tourists, said in an email that he “cannot comment on pending litigation at the moment.”
⚖️ Read more: Animal rights group Ban Savannah Horse Carriages is weighing its next steps.
