Europe's northern capitals have been booming this summer. Thomson Cities reports a 30% increase in combined sales to Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Reykjavik, Tallinn and Riga.

"The safe and clean appeal of Scandinavia has countered previous perceptions that it is too expensive," says managing director Jane Colledge. "Another factor is the proactive approach of the tourist boards promoting Stockholm and Reykjavik as funky, designer cities."

While the traditional city break destinations, such as Prague and Budapest, have suffered from the summer floods, southern cities have also been attracting visitors. Sales to Malta have doubled while Naples has also enjoyed a healthy rise.

Turkey has been popular this summer, despite concerns that the British might be worried about visiting a Muslim country. The bucket-and-spade companies have had an average season but the specialists selling the more interesting or unusual properties have done well.

This has been helped by the weakness of the Turkish lira and the unpredictable weather in the western Mediterranean. Simply Turkey "exceeded expectation" while Tapestry had "their most successful year to date".