Summer city breaks – are they getting too risky?

Summer in the city: one of the true joys of travel. Whether you are in Manchester, Milan or Montreal, July and August are special times. These are densely populated, hard-working business cities. But come summer, many of the locals leave town and create a vacuum that tourists can fill with ease.

Life for visitors, as well as residents who have stayed behind, spills out into the streets and squares, with picnics the common denominator. For all the passing travellers, the city feels spacious.

The very first 48 Hours in … city-guide article took shape because of a special deal that I picked up in July 1989. I was a budding freelance. A semi-student deal was on sale for £109, including flights from Gatwick on Caledonian Airways and two nights’ accommodation in Istanbul.

My first report in what would become a decades-long series was all about what you could do in 48 hours in Turkey’s biggest city; editors at The Independent speculated that prescribing what you should do in great cities might have some legs, and I started pounding the streets of many cities in search of hidden gems.

I returned to Istanbul for the umpteenth 48 Hours last year, this time with a film crew.

Capitals are arguably even better summer destinations than the average city, because the solemn business of government takes a break. Berlin and Brussels are particularly appealing.

From 31 July, when parliament rises, Westminster will be handed over to tourists, who will turn it into their urban playground as they sprawl happily from Trafalgar Square down Whitehall and into St James’s Park.

For outbound British travellers, summer is a marvellous opportunity to trespass gleefully in someone else’s city. I am a fan of British Airways’ summer city breaks, which typically provide return flights from London Heathrow plus accommodation for a lot less than the air fare alone.

Take a look to find urban escapes in August to a vast range of European cities for the opening price of £179 per person. The idea is to fill planes whose business travellers are currently sunning themselves beside the Med or the Atlantic. I look forward to easyJet Holidays emulating the idea.

Yet perhaps the summer city break has had its day. This year aviation chaos has been a regular weekend feature. Looking on Saturday evening at the flights cancelled to great cities, I see British Airways has grounded flights from Heathrow to Bologna, Brussels, Copenhagen and Nice, while easyJet has axed links from Gatwick to Geneva and Split at short notice.

Other airlines are available – but on Friday, with the IT outage at its horrible height, both Ryanair and Wizz Air grounded flights to Naples, as did easyJet and BA (twice).

A summer city break should be the epitome of anticipation: deliciously awaiting the chance to revel in urban bliss. But an unholy trinity of air-traffic control staff shortage, summer storms and IT failures potentially stand between you and metropolitan indulgence.

Many of us try to squeeze a short break between Friday and Sunday. Who wants to have their travel dream taken away as you queue at the gate at Heathrow or Gatwick, or being forced to find workarounds if the planned flight home vanishes?

Recent events undermine confidence; apprehension is not an emotion that sits easily with travel.

Having said all that, this time next week I aim to be in my favourite summertime city: Paris. A sporting event is taking place, but most “normal” tourists are staying away during the Olympics. I look forward to a city en fete – yet, for one summer only, strangely empty.

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.