Summertime is simply the best. Longer days mean more time to explore, unwind, chase new adventures, or spend long afternoons relaxing near water. If you’re a video creator, travel influencer, or part of the hospitality world, it’s more than just peak season — it’s your moment to shine.
Travel and Summer time footage
High-quality stock travel footage is a great time-saving tool for video creatives who want to capture the vibrancy of summer, without the generous budget or schedule. Plus, saving time and money on production means you’ll have more freedom to enjoy those longer, sunny days. With Artlist’s vacation collection, you can explore the world without ever boarding a plane. Here are some of our favorite cinematic, timeless clips to bring your summer stories to life.
We watch two friends hop off a cliff into an aqua swimming spot and then switch to an underwater view with tons of tiny bubbles. This GoPro shot is a versatile one that could easily work for a travel vlogger’s social media reel or a mountain resort looking to highlight the area’s recreational activities. The framing of this shot would work well for a variety of formats too — vertical, horizontal, or square.
This clip features a classic view from the side mirror of a car on a winding desert road. This particular piece of stock footage was shot in Zion National Park, and the area’s distinct red rocks are prominently featured. This clip is useful for any business that serves visitors to these National Parks or as a transition clip for a vacation reel.
A waitress walks by holding a tray of appealing drinks in an upscale hotel bar. The brass pineapple beverage gives the impression that we’re somewhere tropical, but the actual location remains ambiguous. Stock clips like this one are great because they can really be used anywhere. We could see this one being useful in a video reel for a hotel or a cocktail lounge.
The epic POV shot shows a surfer’s perspective as a tube wave crashes over him. We love the vibrant color of the water and the unique perspective. This 14-second clip would work well to promote a surfing school, activities at a resort, or a summertime recap video.
A vertical POV shot featuring two relaxing hikers clinking metal mugs with a spectacular view. The vertical shot makes it perfect for use in a reel. This travel footage would be useful for outdoor brands, a lifestyle content creator, or a travel vlogger.
We love the unique perspective in this summer stock clip. It begins with a view through a pair of sunglasses, then shifts as the man in frame takes them off, revealing a pristine, sunlit beach. The playful framing perfectly captures the carefree vibe of the season. While it was filmed in Cyprus, the shot feels intentionally location-neutral, making it ideal for telling a visual story about any beach, anywhere.
A stunning piece of underwater footage featuring a woman snorkeling through a big school of fish. The vertically shot footage is ideal for a social media reel. This clip would be useful for seaside resorts or snorkeling schools looking to attract new customers through social media. This type of aspirational b-roll footage is a great choice to show potential customers what their own vacation might look like.
This short clip captures the energy of summer love. It features a man and woman sitting next to a small beach bonfire, sipping beers and playing guitar. This clip could be used as a useful b-roll for any business in a resort town or as a wide shot for a regional beer company — the bottles are far enough from the camera that you don’t see any distinct labels, so a smaller brand could mix them with existing branded footage to create a short online ad.
It’s a simple vertical shot of the edge of a pool, but its simplicity is what makes it such a versatile piece of summer stock footage. It’s best suited for a vertical reel, but something this universal is great for all types of content creators — small businesses, micro influencers, or big brands.
It wouldn’t be summer without a little bit of nervous anticipation before you head out on that great vacation. This clip of a child looking out the window at an airport captures just that. This could be a great opening shot for a vacation recap video or an airline advertising low-price summer fares. In this particular shot, you don’t see the child’s face, which makes it a great addition to a project that mixes stock travel footage with existing production-shot footage.
Save time with templates
Once you’ve downloaded your footage and made an edit, add one of Artlist’s summer-inspired templates to give it that final polish.
This simple 3D animation is a good choice for an opening sequence, so viewers and potential clients know exactly who made the summer-inspired video.
Looking for something simpler? Check out these cute summer-inspired animated icons. They feature hand-drawn elements and can be used to add emphasis in your summer travel videos.
How does Artlist’s licensing work?
Artlist makes licensing high-quality travel footage easy if you have an Artlist subscription, and a variety of subscription levels are available.
A Footage and Templates plan lets you download unlimited stock footage from the catalog and takes the hassle out of negotiating usage rights with individual creators. You can then use that footage in your projects and publish on any platform worldwide. The licence includes social-media usage and commercial projects.
Looking to explore Artlist’s LUTs, royalty-free music, and AI-generated features? The Artlist Max subscription covers it all.
Are you on the creative team of a business with more than 50 employees? Contact the Artlist Business team to customize a license to cover your specific needs.
Add royalty-free music and SFX
Artlist’s curated Summer royalty-free music catalog makes it easy to find the perfect song for your video creations.
This vintage-summer inspired playlist is filled with upbeat bops that are sure to inspire nostalgia. Perfect for videos about long road-trips, lazy days on the beach, or a low-key hang at a backyard BBQ.
“Get Hit” by Monako has an old-school, uplifting vibe that reminds us of the DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s classic “Summertime.” This track’s carefree groove makes it a great fit for vacation recaps, timelapses, and video content looking to inspire viewers.
High-quality SFX can give your vacation reels and summer stories an extra creative boost. The stock footage of folks relaxing on the beach will really come to life once you add in some crashing waves and kids laughing in the background.
This SFX combines the sounds of a wave crashing on the shoreline and some birds chirping in the background. This versatile SFX manages to catch the wave at different intensities, which will make it easier to match with your stock footage.
Looking for something a bit more lively? This SFX sonically captures the chaotic joy of a hot day at a local swimming pool — splashes, excited laughter, and a bouncing ping pong ball.
Check out the Artlist summer SFX catalog to explore more classic summertime sounds.
Summer-inspired LUTs
LUTs are a video editor’s best friend when it comes to elevating the look and feel of your summer footage. LUTs can be particularly useful when you are mixing together different pieces of stock footage, because they will give the project a unified look and feel.
Look for LUTs with vibrant tones for summer-time projects. Warm-toned LUTs will help you recreate the dreamy, golden-hour light we associate with summer.
Artlist’s AI-powered search function lets you explore LUTs by style, tone, temperature, and contrast.
Sit back and unwind
Artlist’s collection of summer stock video footage, summer templates, SFX, LUTs, and royalty-free music has everything you need to make an epic summertime video project. Working with stock travel footage can also save you time and money, which means you can squeeze in one last day of leisure time before the summer slips away.
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