Ingredients for the perfect summer vacation

While on vacation, our absolute top priorities include food (52%), relaxing (47%), our hotel (38%), the weather (34%), and outdoor attractions and landmarks (31%).

But according to a chunky 67%, a vacation can only be considered 'perfect' if you can completely relax and recuperate, while 63% say it’s all about creating meaningful moments with others, and 62% like to travel with friends or family they get along great with (well no one likes a holiday spat, do they?)

Two in five of us (41%) think our vacation is only perfect when they can check off bucket list items, like seeing landmarks and going to local attractions, while a whopping 92% have ‘make-it-or-break-it’ stipulations, meaning if even one thing goes wrong, it would ruin everything. That’s tricky business!

The top culprits that can derail an otherwise perfect vacation were unexpected costs (45%), travel hiccups (44%), local weather (41%), if your hotel is annoyingly far from local attractions (40%), lack of temperature control (35%) and bad food (34%).

Other vacation-ruiners include a bad bed (31%), if your accommodation doesn't have public amenities (25%), not getting into must-visit attractions and landmarks (19%), poor water pressure in the hotel room (18%), bad entertainment experiences (12%), poor shopping options (11%) and if the hotel isn't pet-friendly (11%).

In contrast, 88% said there's something they'd give up in order to guarantee that ‘perfect’ vacation. Top compromises include having a direct flight (15%), sleeping in (14%), having their preferred airline seat (11%) and an extra day of paid time-off work (9%).

“The idea of the ‘perfect’ vacation can feel overwhelming. Luckily, you don’t need to travel halfway around the world to find this,” says Judy Gauthier, Chief Commercial Officer at Go City. “Our research shows it’s often the simple things that matter most—spending time with loved ones, feeling relaxed, and making memories—even if you have to make a few concessions along the way.”

The results also revealed the specific trade-offs many of us would make to have a better vacation.

Nearly a third said they’d be willing to give up luxuries like a more expensive hotel (33%), splurge spending for three months prior to traveling (32%) and extra leg room inflight (28%) if it allowed for on-the-ground enhancements.

Those enhancements include more time to relax and unwind (29%), more money to spend on food and drinks (28%), or an upgraded hotel room with a gorgeous view and free breakfast (27%) while on vacation.

Respondents also said they'd be willing to spend big on the perfect vacation. Per person, respondents said they'd spend up to $1,502 on airfare, $331 for wellness treatments and spa days, $330 for sporting events, $294 on interactive experiences and $275 on tours.

The grand total for these activities and experiences comes to $3,883, on average — nearly half of their $8,800 budget.

"Every vacation deserves to be 'perfect,'" continued Gauthier. “What really makes the difference is knowing how to travel smarter to make your trip as stress-free as possible. A well-planned trip that balances activities and downtime with little indulgences like skip-the-line passes, flexible reservations, and an upgraded view can turn a good trip into a great one.”

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Fair use

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans who traveled in the past 12 months; the survey was commissioned by Go City and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Apr. 30 and May 7, 2025.

When using this data and research, please attribute by linking to this study and citing https://gocity.com/en.