Austria in August?

For the mountain areas of Austria it is the best time...not to hot and not too cold. If you go to Vienna it will be hot, but usually bearable...a great time is to be had sitting out in an heuriger garden on a nice Viennese evening sipping some wunderbar Austrian wine.

It's a great time to go to Austria and Switzerland. You've just go to be ready for any situation, including it raining in the mountains virtually every afternoon between 5:00 and 6:00.

But I actually was in a snow storm 8/24/1970 in Zurich.

I have to admit that I have no idea where I was in August of 1970. The 60's were very, very good to me and I was just coming in from the fog about that time. I can advise you that while in Vienna or anyplace else at low elevations in Austria to be dang sure that your accommodations have good air conditioning. I don't mean European, what you're complaining because the rooms is 29C air conditioning! I mean cure the salami and warm the globe American Style a/c. If you have that in your accommodations then at least you will have one place to run and escape because public anything with decent a/c is rare and far between. When we are in the region we stay in a 700 square foot apartment fitted with two one ton (12,000 btuh) units and on those 90F days our neighbors beg to come and be social. On the other hand the weather can be quite nice, even in August. Care to gamble?

August is the month when all of Europe goes on vacation. They generally flee for the hills and let the tourists take over. As a result, this time of year tends to be crowded and you will have less local contact. This is also a very popular time for tourists from South Asia and the Middle East to visit the cooler Alps. This past August we went to Seefeld, just north of Innsbruck, and the weather was in the 50s. We actually had to go into Innsbruck to buy coats. Vienna and lower areas will be warmer; some places may be closed if the owners are among those that have "fled for the hills." Personally, September would be much better, in my opinion.

Even late Sept?

All of September is great!

We don't go to Vienna that often but we are in Central Europe at least three times a year; mostly Hungary, Slovakia; sometimes Vienna. The weather in Budapest is nearly identical to Vienna and my absolute favorite time of the year to be in Budapest is late September and early October.

September will a fine time to go.Take some time to enjoy some fine Austrian wine and if you go in September be sure to have some Sturm. Personally and academically, I would consider Austria, as it is today, part of Western Europe.

Alex, I disagree about your assessment of location in the context of my reply. But it is one of those discussions one has just for the sake of bantering around ideas and has little practical application.

We are going in Sept. On a Rick Steve's My Way tour. Thanks for your help. I will need more help in planning our days there. We are extending 3 days in Vienna and 2 days in the Rhine Valley.

Patricia,
You will love Vienna if you need any more help, post specific questions that you have. There are many here that can help.

Hi,

If you are visiting Vienna in the latter half of August going into Sept, it will be hot. You can almost bet on it. If you go further east to Budapest, expect it to be just as hot or even few degrees hotter. Track the temperatures in each city on each day of your visit.

My first time to Vienna was the first week in Sept. 1971 when I can distinctly recall that oppressive heat while visiting Schönbrunn. Unlike now no such thing as air condition at the hostel then. You just had to put up with it.