9 Historic Vacation Spots That Shaped Black Travel
Before luxury travel groups, before the 'gram, before "hot girl summer" was even a thing, Black folks were out here creating their own paradise. From the shores of Martha's Vineyard to the Colorado Rockies, Black families, artists, and tastemakers carved out spaces to rest and celebrate. And if you haven't put a few on your summer travel goals list yet, do it!
Here are 9 historic Black vacation destinations where we showed up and showed out.
1. Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
If you know, you know. Oak Bluffs has been a summertime institution for Black professionals, creatives, and families for over a century. Those iconic gingerbread Victorian cottages where porch parties build community? Pure charm. The Inkwell Beach? Family reunion and homecoming vibes. But the signature event of the summer season is the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF). Now in its 23rd year and held annually in August, the festival is Oscar-qualifying in the short film category and draws over 2,000 attendees every year.
If you're brave enough, the Polar Bears do their daily morning swim at the Inkwell all summer long. Upscale, cultural, unforgettable, Oak Bluffs is that girl and always has been.
2. Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York
The communities of Azurest and Sag Harbor Hills have been Black-owned coastal luxury since the 1940s. The one big extended family energy in the “Black Hamptons” of Long Island is unmatched. Highlights of the summer include the Annual Summer BBQ on July 4 and the Annual Azurest/Sag Harbor Hills/Ninevah Picnic on Labor Day. It’s the most elevated family reunion you've ever attended.
Multiple generations, deep roots, coastal views, and the kind of joy that only comes from decades of shared legacy. This is what being out for the summer and thriving looks like.
(Cover Photo Sag Harbor: Wikimedia Commons)
3. Highland Beach, Maryland
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Tucked along the Chesapeake Bay, Highland Beach has a founding story that’s powerful. Charles Douglass, son of thee Frederick Douglass, was turned away from a nearby resort and decided: fine, we'll build our own. And he did. This community honors that legacy every summer with Founders' Day, a celebration of the town's history. Centered around the Frederick Douglass Museum & Cultural Center which is located in the family's original summer home right on the water. While the beach is residential and doesn’t have public access, it's the kind of place where history lives in the bay air. For a more intimate look at this iconic location check out these porch stories.
Ready to travel in style and carry the culture with you?
The Vintage Vacation Collection was made for exactly this — pieces that honor the history of Black leisure and celebrate the joy of showing up, fully yourself, wherever the journey takes you.
4. Idlewild, Michigan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
They called it "The Black Eden" and if you had seen the energy of this place back in the day, you would understand why. Founded in 1912, Idlewild was where the Black middle class owned land and exhaled into their leisure time. At its peak, legends like Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, and the Four Tops graced the stages in town. Now, the community at the heart of this location is building that legacy of tourism back up and inviting visitors to discover its allure again.
For 2026, Idlewild's summer calendar is stacked:
- Black Eden Weekend (June 18–21): Four days of culture, wellness, music, and nature
- Live at Idlewild Music Festival (June 28): World-class jazz and R&B on historic grounds
- Grier Music Fest (July 4): Live music and local vendors at Meeks Park — free and open to the public
- Mid-Michigan Idlewilders Summer Soul Festival (July 18): A major cultural gathering with organized transportation from downstate Michigan
- Return of Idlewild Retreat (July 23–26): Four days of rest, creativity, and community connection
The Idlewild community members have always been there. But tourism is making a comeback and we are absolutely here for it!
5. Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
"The Black Pearl" knows how to throw a party, period.
Atlantic Beach, a small town on the Grand Strand, is home to one of the most iconic events in Black travel culture: the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival. In 2025, it celebrated its 45th anniversary, drawing hundreds of thousands of riders for a weekend of custom bikes, live music, food, and non-stop energy. And nearly half of all attendees are women! Black girl magic travels for real.
The town also hosts a Gullah Geechee Festival, honoring the rich cultural heritage of the descendants of enslaved Africans who have called this coastline home for generations. Atlantic Beach is where the culture shows out, every single year.
6. Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach, California
The story of Bruce's Beach is one of resilience and reclamation. In 1912, Charles and Willa Bruce opened a beach resort on the Pacific — one of the only places where Black beachgoers were welcome along the California coast. The city of Manhattan Beach seized the land in 1924 through eminent domain, but the legacy of what the Bruces built never left. In 2022, after a years-long fight for justice, the land was officially returned to the Bruce family's great-grandsons, a historic act that made national headlines.
Although the Bruce heirs later sold the land to Los Angeles County for $20 million, the legacy lives on. Today, Bruce's Beach Park stands as a living monument at 26th Street and Highland Avenue. Every Juneteenth, the community gathers there for ceremony and celebration — speakers, special guests, and a gospel choir honoring the Bruces right on the sand where it all began. Its story isn't finished. It's still being written.
The OGs: The spots that made history and made a way
Not every destination is still with us for the same purpose, but they played an important part in shaping travel and leisure, too. These three helped build the table we're eating at today.
7. American Beach, Amelia Island, Florida
Abraham Lincoln Lewis, Florida's first Black millionaire, created American Beach in 1935 with a vision — recreation and relaxation without humiliation. For decades this beach thrived as a community of businesses, entertainment, and the beloved Nana Dune, one of the tallest natural sand dunes in Florida. Families traveled here to claim their slice of sun and fun. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this classic began a quiet decline. Once all beaches, hotels and other travel-related facilities were open to Black Americans, vacationers spread out across the coast. Most businesses closed by the late 1960s. The legacy lives on through preservation efforts and the A.L. Lewis Museum.
8. Lincoln Hills, Colorado: The Oasis of the West
Most people think of African American vacation history as just the east coast but the Rocky Mountains had their own paradise. Founded in 1922 near Rollinsville, northwest of Denver, Lincoln Hills was the largest resort for African Americans west of the Mississippi. Tucked into a valley along South Boulder Creek, it was a place where Black families could buy a lot for $50, build a cabin, breathe the mountain air, and just be free. Harlem Renaissance luminaries like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and W.E.B. DuBois came to hold literary salons. Duke Ellington and Count Basie came to relax after performing at Denver jazz venues. Generations of Black families from across the country made Lincoln Hills a multi-generational heirloom — some cabins are still owned by the same families today. Like American Beach, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gradually opened other outdoor spaces to Black Americans, and Lincoln Hills wound down by 1965. The legacy lives on through Lincoln Hills Cares, co-founded by philanthropist Robert F. Smith, which uses the historic land to connect youth of color to the outdoors today.
9. Hillside Inn, Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
Sometimes the mountains call. And for generations, Black travelers answered at the Hillside Inn, a family-owned high-class Pocono retreat that became the destination for a glamorous mountain escape. Legends like Lena Horne and Sammy Davis Jr. performed there, and its New Year's Eve parties were the stuff of Black society legend. Folks were serving looks, ringing in the new year with elegance. The inn closed permanently in 2009, but the image of Black excellence in those Pocono hills? That lives forever.
These destinations are proof of the beauty and joy that Black people create for communities when allowed the space to thrive. Every cookout, film premiere, music festival, and morning swim is a continuation of a legacy started long before us and will carry forward long after.
Anyone else inspired to do a tour of each location?