Хотя путь был долгим, по сравнению с прошлым летом этот отдых получился спокойнее.

Хотя means although / even though and introduces a subordinate clause.

So in:

Хотя путь был долгим, ...

the part Хотя путь был долгим is the although-clause, and the main clause comes after it:

... этот отдых получился спокойнее.

Russian normally separates this kind of subordinate clause with a comma, just like English often does with Although... , ....

Here долгим is in the instrumental case, and this is very common with predicate nouns and adjectives after forms of быть and some similar verbs.

So:

• путь был долгим = the journey was long
• literally, it is structured in a way Russians often use for describing what something was like

You may also see nominative in some cases, but with full adjectives after быть, the instrumental is very common and natural, especially in statements describing a condition or characteristic.

So for a learner, the safest takeaway is:

• after был / была / было / были, a full adjective used as the predicate is often in the instrumental
• therefore: долгий → долгим

Russian often distinguishes between:

• долгий = long in time / duration
• длинный = long in physical length

A путь can sometimes be thought of as a route, but here the idea is that the trip/journey took a long time, so долгий fits better.

So:

• долгий путь = a long journey
• длинная дорога can refer more to a road that is physically long

In this sentence, долгим is about how long the journey lasted, not how many meters it measured.

По сравнению с means in comparison with / compared with.

It is a fixed expression, and с here requires the instrumental case.

That is why you get:

• с прошлым летом

not:

• с прошлое лето
• с прошлым лета

So the pattern is:

• по сравнению с + instrumental

Examples:

• по сравнению с зимой = compared with winter
• по сравнению с прошлым годом = compared with last year
• по сравнению с прошлым летом = compared with last summer

Because лето is neuter singular, and after с in по сравнению с it must be in the instrumental singular:

• лето → летом
• прошлое → прошлым

So:

• прошлым летом = with last summer / compared with last summer

A learner may notice that прошлым летом can also mean last summer as a time expression by itself:

• Прошлым летом мы ездили в Сочи. = Last summer we went to Sochi.

But in your sentence, it is part of the comparison phrase по сравнению с ..., so the instrumental is required by the preposition.

Этот отдых is the subject of the main clause, so it is in the nominative case.

• отдых = rest / holiday / vacation
• этот agrees with it:
  • masculine
  • singular
  • nominative

So:

• этот отдых = this vacation / this holiday

It is the thing that получился спокойнее.

That’s a very common learner question.

Here получиться does not mean to receive. It means something like:

• to turn out
• to come out
• to end up being

So:

этот отдых получился спокойнее means:

• this vacation turned out calmer
• this holiday ended up being more peaceful

This is a very natural Russian use of получиться for events, plans, meals, trips, and situations.

Examples:

• Ужин получился вкусным. = The dinner turned out tasty.
• Поездка получилась короткой. = The trip turned out short.
• Отдых получился спокойнее. = The vacation turned out calmer.

Because the verb agrees with отдых, which is:

• masculine
• singular

So in the past tense:

• получился = masculine singular
• получилась = feminine singular
• получилось = neuter singular
• получились = plural

Since отдых is masculine, we use получился.

Compare:

• поездка получилась — because поездка is feminine
• путешествие получилось — because путешествие is neuter

Спокойнее is the standard comparative form of спокойный:

• спокойный = calm / peaceful
• спокойнее = calmer / more peaceful

Russian often prefers the simple comparative form when possible.

So:

• отдых получился спокойнее = the vacation turned out calmer

You could also say:

• более спокойным

but that would fit a different structure, for example:

• отдых был более спокойным
• отдых получился более спокойным

That is grammatical, but спокойнее is shorter and very natural here.

As for спокойней: that form exists in speech and poetry, but спокойнее is the standard form learners should use.

Because the comparison is already expressed by по сравнению с прошлым летом.

Russian can show comparison in more than one way:

1. comparative + чем

   • спокойнее, чем прошлым летом

2. comparative + по сравнению с

   • по сравнению с прошлым летом ... спокойнее

In your sentence, the second method is used, so чем is unnecessary.

You could rephrase it as:

• Хотя путь был долгим, этот отдых получился спокойнее, чем прошлым летом.

That would also be natural.

Russian word order is flexible, and this phrase is placed where it sounds natural and where it highlights the comparison.

The sentence is:

Хотя путь был долгим, по сравнению с прошлым летом этот отдых получился спокойнее.

Placing по сравнению с прошлым летом before этот отдых helps frame the main statement right away: the speaker wants you to interpret the vacation specifically in comparison with last summer.

Other word orders are possible, for example:

• Хотя путь был долгим, этот отдых по сравнению с прошлым летом получился спокойнее.
• По сравнению с прошлым летом, хотя путь был долгим, этот отдых получился спокойнее.

But the original version sounds smooth and natural.

In Russian, отдых can cover several related ideas:

• rest
• recreation
• holiday
• vacation

In this sentence, it most naturally refers to the vacation / the time off / the trip as a whole, not just the abstract idea of rest.

That is why этот отдых получился спокойнее sounds like:

• this vacation turned out calmer
• this holiday ended up being more peaceful

So even though the basic dictionary meaning is often rest, the real meaning depends a lot on context.

Not exactly. Путь literally means path, way, journey, route.

In this sentence, путь был долгим refers specifically to the journey getting there or the way there, while этот отдых refers to the vacation itself.

So the sentence distinguishes between:

• the travel/journey: путь
• the vacation/holiday: отдых

That contrast is important:

• the journey was long,
• but the vacation itself turned out calmer than last summer.

So English may translate путь here as the journey or the trip there, depending on context.