The Best Places to Travel in June, from Yosemite to Provence
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, June brings about the official start of the summer season—and this year’s vacation prospects have us more excited than ever. As more countries start to open their borders, we are slowly easing back into international travel—whether it’s exploring the beaches of Spain or hiking to gorilla sanctuaries in Rwanda.
But we’re equally excited for all the domestic events and openings happening this June, from the outdoor splendor of Alaska and Yosemite National Park to Pride celebrations around the country. If you want to kick off this season in style—or simply need an excuse to clear your head—here are the 11 best places to travel in June.
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GettyRwanda
Rwanda continues to be one of the best places to travel in June, thanks to one main reason: gorilla trekking. (The month marks the start of the dry season, which is ideal for hiking.) Obtain a permit to enter Volcanoes National Park, where you can spot some of the world’s remaining 880 mountain gorillas; and book a stay at Singita Kwitonda Lodge, the only camp that directly borders the park.
Aside from its stellar location, the lodge is equal parts luxurious and sustainable, with most of the building materials sourced locally. Each of the eight suites has a terrace with heated plunge pool and outdoor fireplace, plus floor-to-ceiling windows looking directly out to the forest. A sense of excitement and mystery shrouds the entire experience, knowing that the gorillas are just beyond the mist-enveloped trees.
Heckfield Place/Derwood PhotographyEngland
England will be in a festive mood this summer, as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (a celebration marking 70 years of Her Majesty’s reign) unfurls over a long weekend from June 2 to 5. You can head to London for some of the biggest parties, including The Queen’s Birthday Parade, races at Epsom Downs, and circus events at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.
If you want to celebrate away from the crowds, head to Heckfield Place, a Readers' Choice Awards- and Hot List-winning Georgian manor estate turned luxury hotel in Hampshire. The hotel has its own line-up of events planned over the bank holiday, including elegant Jubilee dinners, flower crown workshops, cake-decorating competitions, and live music performances.
shaunl/GettyKetchikan, Alaska
Just a two-hour flight north of Seattle, Ketchikan deserves to be on every traveler’s radar this summer. Located at the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s famous Inside Passage, the town is surrounded by incredibly beautiful vistas and an abundance of wildlife—most famously, salmon. (The town is known as the “salmon capital of the world.”)
Summer is the season to witness Alaska’s annual salmon migration, in which millions of fish return to the state’s freshwater rivers from the ocean to spawn. It’s a natural event you really have to see to believe. Get the full experience at Salmon Falls Resort in the Tongass National Forest, which provides fishing equipment, fish processing (like cleaning and cutting), chartered boat and seaplane tours, and wine tastings with salmon roe.
GettyNew York City
The start of summer is the perfect time to visit New York City, if for no other reason than to enjoy some al fresco dining and rooftop bars. There’s no shortage of vantage points to choose from when it comes to the latter, but one of the absolute best is Harriet’s Rooftop & Lounge, a 4,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor venue atop 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge. Sip some old-fashioned cocktails and revel in some of the city’s most cinematic views, spanning the Statue of Liberty all the way up to uptown Manhattan.
June also marks the city's annual, all-out celebration of Pride Month. The theme of NYC Pride 2022 is “Unapologetically Us,” which pays homage to the community’s resilience and individuals' journeys to explore their true selves. Among the major events are a three-day music festival called Pride Island, held on Governors Island from June 24 to 26 and headlined by transgender icon Kim Petras; plus, the NYC Pride March on June 26.
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Jason deCaires TaylorThe Great Barrier Reef
Australia finally reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers in February, which means you can finally make that Great Barrier Reef trip you’ve been dreaming about. June is probably the best month to visit the natural wonder—it’s when many boat operators start their season, and the lack of rain means calmer waters and lower humidity.
There are a couple exciting attractions that have opened in the GBR in the past few years, both of which are underwater. The first is the Museum of Underwater Art (MoUA), a permanent art museum that showcases fully and partially submerged art along the Queensland coast. There are several installations already up (or, under), including Coral Greenhouse by Jason deCaires Taylor, a completely submerged greenhouse-like sculpture that you can only reach by scuba diving. (You can find a list of approved dive operators on MoUA’s website.) After, rest up at Reefsuites, an underwater hotel that’s basically like sleeping in a luxurious aquarium.
Brzozowska/GettyProvence, France
June is an excellent month to visit France, as the weather is near-perfect and the summer crowds have yet to descend upon the cities and beaches. But the best reason to travel to France this time of year? Lavender. Mid-June marks the start of the flowering season for lavender in Provence, which continues to bloom into the more crowded months of July and August.
Fill up your camera roll with purple photos, then book a stay at Coquillade Provence Resort & Spa. Home to its own share of lavender, the 11th-century hamlet with located on a huge estate studded with vineyards, cypress trees, and 300-year-old olive groves. The resort’s 63 rooms and suites are the epitome of farmhouse-chic, while guests also have access to three restaurants, a winery, and a spa that uses lavender oil and grape-based products from the surrounding vineyard.
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Paul James Campbell/GettyYosemite National Park, California
Yosemite is pretty spectacular no matter the time of year, but June is undeniably the best month to enjoy the national park. By this time, all the snow has melted along the Tioga Pass route (which is inaccessible from November through May), but it’s not so hot that the waterfalls have dried up yet. It’s also when the park’s wildflowers are at their most beautiful and bountiful.
When it comes to accommodations, you can’t do much better than Château du Sureau, a nine-acre castle resort about 16 miles from Yosemite National Park. The Provencal-inspired property features ten elegant rooms (and one private villa), a full-service spa, an outdoor pool, and expansive gardens. Its Elderberry House Restaurant features an excellent wine list and a menu of local, seasonal, and organic ingredients. All in all, we can’t think of a better place to rest up between waterfall hikes.
GettyRichmond, Virginia
For travelers interested in exploring Black history, Richmond, Virginia will be a major destination for Juneteenth (a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States), which was marked as an official state holiday for the first time last year. The city’s Hardywood Park Craft Brewery will present “Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration” all day on June 19, featuring live music, dance performances, and food from local vendors.
While you’re in town, you can also check out some of Richmond’s Black-owned businesses. Ruby Scoops is an ice cream shop that recently opened in Brookland Park, with owner Rabia Kamara serving up inventive flavors like sweet corn and Old Bay caramel. Fill up on New American food at Lillie Pearl and soul food at Ms. Girlee’s Kitchen.
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Travelstoxphoto/GettyBali
Bali no longer requires visitors to quarantine upon arrival (although there are still some testing requirements), which makes a summer vacation to the Indonesian island all the more appealing. June is much calmer tourist-wise than the rest of the summer months, and it also has lovely weather (hovering around 80 degrees) and decent hotel rates.
The island welcomed a slew of new hotels and restaurants during the pandemic, so June visitors may also get to sample some new venues before anyone else. Raffles Bali is the probably the buzziest newcomer, with chic villas (complete with butlers and infinity pools) and farm-to-table dining. Buahan (the first property under Banyan Tree’s new Escape brand) will open at the end of May, with 16 open-air villas plopped right into the jungles near Ubud. On the dining front, check out the six-course menus at FED by Made, smoothie bowls and avocado toast at Woods, and natural wines at Bar Souvenir.
Courtesy Grand HotelMackinac Island, Michigan
A long-beloved vacation spot for midwesterners, Mackinac Island is a lovely, car-free destination that comes alive in the summer months. One of the island’s biggest celebrations is its annual Lilac Festival, a 10-day celebration (June 3 to 12, 2022) of the purple bloom. Mackinac has some of the oldest and largest lilacs in the country, reaching over 100 years in age and 40 feet in height, and the week’s festivities include a parade, walking tours with flower experts, and the coronation of the Lilac Festival Queen.
The Grand Hotel (the island’s most famous attraction) is offering a Lilac Festival Weekend package from June 10 to 12, which includes accommodations, daily breakfast and dinner, tours of the hotel’s garden, nightly entertainment, and—best of all—free lilac ice cream. And honestly? We’ll use any excuse to spend a few evenings out on the hotel’s iconic porch.
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Ritz-CarltonTenerife, Spain
United Airlines is launching a bunch of new routes in May and June, but we’re particularly excited about the flights to Tenerife beginning June 9. Tenerife is the largest of the seven Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa—and currently not served by any U.S. airlines—popular amongst beach bums and astrotourists (an excellent observatory sits on the volcanic peak of Mount Teide).
The island also happens to be home to one of the best hotels in the world, The Ritz-Carlton, Abama. More like a small village than a resort, this retreat stuns with its rosy-pink facade, golf course, white beaches, and Michelin-starred dining. But the joy here is just being: hiking along the rugged coast or floating from pool to pool, as the sun casts lines of shadows over pink stucco walls and eventually settles behind the peaks of La Gomera.