I've moved to Bordeaux. Or so I thought.
My wife says it's just too hot here in the summer now, and wants to spend our summers in more reliably temperate places like Scotland and Scandinavia. So that's what we'll do.
Interesting perspective she's given me, but I have to agree that I stay more active and healthy in cooler temperatures.
We have neighbors who moved here from Portland, Oregon, to the south of France, less than a year ago. They're looking at Ireland.
As I am sure you know, temperatures fluctuate year to year and not always in a set pattern that they have followed before. And this summer has been particularly hot in Europe. At another time, she may feel differently. Or just be like people all over the wealthy world and be a snowbird. Winters in Bordeaux, summers somewhere North?
Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is a French destination that is quite pleasant if you don't like the heat. :-)
How about early May? Was it too hot then?
Scandinavia is about 2x as expensive as France. Wine is outrageous and also beer. The food is far less interesting and is much more expensive. We went to Norway and Denmark. I was finally able to drink a beer without checking my mortgage when we got to Germany. We'll never go back, but I'd return to France, Germany, or Italy tomorrow.
There were quite a few rainy days in the Southwest in early May, while the last ten days of the month saw the start of the first heatwave.
Next Sunday, temperatures will reach at least 40°C (105°F) in Bordeaux and Toulouse.
This summer was the coolest one we'll have for the rest of our lives.
I really want to move to Scotland or Norway, too. Or Sweden or Denmark. I can't take it here much longer.
Europe has decided that air conditioning is for sissies. Well, these temperatures may convince some people to change their views. Family members live in Phoenix AZ, where summer temps are commonly 110+ (40C). Everyone has air conditioning.
Europe has NOT decided anything of the sort.
“ Europe has decided that air conditioning is for sissies.”
Europe has decided no such thing. I don’t need it myself due to the favorable direction in which my house is built and the fact that it’s well insulated, but I know plenty of people who have airconditioning in their houses. Not only to keep things cool in the summer, but also to warm up in the winter. And last time I checked, the Netherlands was still very much part of Europe.
It has been such a hot summer down here. And one more heatwave. Sigh. It is unusual to be this hot, this often and for this long in the Gironde. Every summer we do have heatwaves but they are usually followed by periods of freshness and a bit of rain. This year the weather has been trying for everyone in our area. You might take a look at Ireland as well as Scotland.
OP, the alternative rock singer Feist has apparently bought a Bordeaux property. Her nanny is the daughter of a close friend, so we'll probably get updates about her take on living in that area.
Oh and just today, we too looked into Scotland (where another close friend just relocated) plus Norway for next summer--our Toronto summers have vexed me for years now. *Be aware of the summer midges laddie!
I am done. the heat
I have spent most of this summer in Scotland. (I'm still there.)
I did the same last summer. It's my way of getting out of the heat.
On many days, I needed a light jacket. My friends here complain about the heat when the temperature reaches 75 degree F. We did have a few days where it hit 80 degrees but that is rare. (SE Scotland.)
Just be aware that it is rare to find air conditioning in most structures including older hotels. And, it does rain.
I lived in Scotland for a period that included four summers and four very damp chilly summers was plenty for me. I suppose some people may enjoy that but I really didn't like not having a proper warm, sunny summer (tho otherwise it was a wonderful place to live).
Also, I have said this before, but we do not have air conditioning in the UK as it's really not needed. Maybe in future it will be and we can reassess but even this summer in my flat we were absolutely fine with just a fan and open windows. It's not accurate to say there's no air conditioning in Europe as it's commonly found in e.g. Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.
Midges only affect a small part of Scotland and then only in certain conditions and at certain times of the year.
Where the vast majority of the population live, and in the vast parts of the country not usually visited by people on this forum they are not a problem.
Comments picked up in click-bait articles and repeated are simply gratuitous since they lack knowledge or subtlety.
These heatwaves were fairly rare, Kimberley, even in Bordeaux, until the past ten years. It’s global warming.
As Kim wrote, this is the coolest summer we’ll have. Vineyards are being planted further and further north, while crops and trees from Africa are now being introduced, at least in France. France and other countries in Europe are preparing.
As Kim wrote, this is the coolest summer we’ll have.
Good to know that you and Kim can do better long-range forecasting than mankind has ever previously achieved.
We got the info from the climatologist and weather reporters on France 2 TV. That's what they said. They've been correct so far.
ISN, thank you for midge clarification. Its been a thousand years since I've been to Bonnie Scotland.
Fun fact: seems Icelandic midges don't bite.
(voice of tiny insect)
"Yeah man, like we're not paid to do that, right?!"
I am done. the net over the head
“ Europe has decided that air conditioning is for sissies.”
Obviously not true. The following are Italian links, Spain is worse off.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/world/europe/italy-air-conditioning-heat.html
"Many Italians Long Resisted Air-Conditioning. Then Europe Got Hotter."
https://johnhendersontravel.com/air-conditioning-growing/
[snip]
Today 56 percent of Italian households have air conditioners. That’s double what it was in 2013 and amounts to one-third of all usage in the European Union. Appliance stores in Rome are selling out. Italian health officials are cautioning residents about overuse.
edit: add:
"Inside Italy’s reluctant embrace of air conditioning: ‘How can you live without it?’"
"For generations, many Italians treated chilled air as a threat to their health – until now"
European countries have at least 2,000 years of history in house building, during which the priority was protecting against the cold. The heat was only an issue for a very small part of the year. That's why they built houses with thick walls and small windows.
In North Africa and Southern Europe, people didn't wait for AC to find simple, natural ways to cool their homes.
A large part of American buildings and houses date from after the invention of AC, in my opinion, they're the sissies who couldn't handle the heat or figure out how to protect themselves from it without electricity. :-)
"A large part of American buildings and houses date from after the invention of AC, in my opinion, they're the sissies who couldn't handle the heat or figure out how to protect themselves from it without electricity."
Oh, they know how. I grew up in (and left) the American South. Screened porches where people slept in hot weather were common. And other ways to adapt as well. IMNSHO, it was money that caused the change. It was cheaper to build poorly insulated cookie cutter boxes and let heating/air-conditioning cover the multitude of sins.
The effects of climate change are more complex than that. Certainly, there will be hotter summers, but that won't necessarily be always the case. Climate is a matter of averages, it doesn't predict isolated events.
Furthermore, heat is not only a question of temperature. At the same temperature, water contains much more heat than air. This is why one of the consequences of global warming will be thunderstorms, storms, and floods. We will also have very bad summers.
It's true that summers will be hotter on average. It's false to say that there will never be another summer colder than this one.
My apologies; I did not intend my post to trigger debate on exactly what climate change entails, what its cause(s) is/are, whether the US or Europe is managing it better, etc. Just one couple's response to its effects as experienced in the summer of 2026. And believe me, I wish things were different, as I really love Bordeaux.
jphbucks.....you should know by now that sometimes asking a simple question will start heated debate, sometimes defensive, about the subject you asked about but has nothing to do with the answer.
If you're hot, you're hot. It doesn't matter what causes it, who predicts it, what is was like ten years ago, you're hot. And only you can decide if you're hot or not. Nothing wrong with looking for someplace you believe will be cooler and making you more comfortable.
Rick used to say that in the summer he suggested staying north of the Alps but even that is getting hot. He also said that he finds it tough to sightsee when the temperature reaches 82 F/28C. He's from the Pacific Northwest where really high temperatures are not as common as say in Florida.
What a person believes is too hot for them really depends on what they are used to.
As far as airconditioning goes and whether you need it or not....it's simple....if you are used to air conditioning then you probably need it. If you are not used to air conditioning then you probably don't need it. Except there will be a point where most people will want air conditioning of some type. (I said most people, I'm waiting for those who don't like A/C to respond for the kill.)
I too am not a fan hot summers. Sorry to hear about everyone getting hot over the heatwaves.
Bordeaux, France
Decade. Days Reach 30°C (86°F) or Above
1950. 12 days
1960 13 days
1970 15 days
1980 18 days
1990 22 days
2000 26 days
2010 32 days
2020 39 days
2030 (Estimate)45 days
2040 (Estimate)52 days
2050 (Estimate)60 days
I looked at the hot day pattern (see above) and indeed it is going to need to be factored. All my life I always thought San Diego had the best climate, summer or winter! Have you considered Southern California? Scotland, hmm? I hear some are calling it the new Miami! Whatever you pick, good luck. Let us know how it works out.
Happy travels
Look at the Baltics. Your costs in Estonia vs costs in Scandinavia are going to be far less.
Thank God the warmer European countries have embraced AC. I can't imagine traveling to Italy or Greece without it!
The coastal region of the Pacific Northwest still has mostly acceptable summer temperatures. Should be a good location in 2029.
jphbucks - just head up into the nearest mountains (Pyrenees in your case) for the hottest months? We live at 1000m a.s.l. in the Alps. This summer was hotter than other summers but still ok (30 maximum midafternoon and blissful cool breeze at night). We're just over an hour's drive from cities like Brescia where temperatures were 37/38 for weeks......Apart from air conditioning this is a solution for many Italians at least during the school holidays. No midges either
I used to live in Lyon for work. It's warm there in the summer.
After I retired, We moved to a small, picturesque town in Bourgogne for its lower cost of living and laid back atmosphere. It's warm there in the summer.
After a few years there, we decided to move north to be in a climate more like what we enjoyed in the U.S. in the Pacific Northwest.
Originally we focused on Bretagne, but we found Normandie had a better balance of cost for properties near the coast. We ended up on the Cotentin Peninsula about 15 minutes from its west coast. It's cool here. It can get warm briefly during heat waves -- don't get me wrong -- but it's generally quite cool. I like it. It's why we moved here. I like the topography and small towns of southern France. but I don't like the climate. Here, it's cool and green and quite pleasant most of the time.
When I was a kid Summer was something that happened every 4 year or so, and it lasted a long weekend. So yes, we didn't install AC.
Europe builds houses very differently from the US. Europe builds in stone, and a stone house will normally not heat up that much during the day. You just keep windows and shutters closed. But of course this relies on cool nights so the house can cool down. Where I live this still works, so I don't see the need for AC.
Because European houses are build of stone, heating is also usually hydronic. And you don't easily add AC to that. In the US you have often central air. Adding central AC is easier there.
Hearing what's happening in the next room through the ducts is a thing in the US, but not in Europe...
Last week I travelled to Hannover. The AC in the hotel was set to "American" and the first thing I did was switch it off.
Europe builds in stone, and a stone house will normally not heat up that much during the day.
I dont know about "Europe" but the homes i have seen under construction in Hungary and Germany and Romania and elsewhere that i observed new construction, were not being built out of stone; and probably haven't for hundreds of years.
I suspect in most of Europe from 1800 to WWII brick was common and post WWII structural clay tile became common. Structural Clay Tile is hollow so I doubt it contributes much to the thermal mass that is required for substantial decrement delay (slowing transfer through the walls
).
Neither US nor European homes when constructed new are more suitable for ducted air vs individual room fan coil units. As retrofit, fan coil units are often easier.
Properly designed, air ducts do not carry sound. It's new technology in Europe, maybe they are still learning.
Concrete in France, Mr. E, and most of the Mediterranean.
Mr É: This is a semantic question. I mean "Stone" as opposed to "Wood". That means natural stone, artificial stone, bricks, concrete...
For example artificial sandstone is very popular in the Netherlands.
And yes, ugly mini splits can be installed anywhere, if you do not mind how your house looks... I can imagine that the organs watching over historical town centres would frown on buildings in eg. Amsterdam being covered in AC units...
Have you considered Brittany? I am there right now. Sunday was warm but not unbearable. Tomorrow the weather breaks and we are back in the low teens.
Actually I'm British but I live in Ireland. I love Ireland but the weather can be very very grim. Rain and wind can set in for weeks. We've had a lovely summer this year, but 2023 and 2024 were washouts. Be careful what you wish for! (Oh and yes, I tend to go northwards in June, July and August. South in May and September. Stockholm in late June was just perfect.)
Homes around the world are typically built from readily available materials. That is the primary reason.
And yes, ugly mini splits can be installed anywhere, if you do not mind how your house looks... I can imagine that the organs watching over historical town centres would frown on buildings in eg. Amsterdam being covered in AC units...
And yet quite a few in Europe do it. And they are beautiful on a 38C day. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTO4GujWSXcAX2cwTGlL-bFojUGXBfj9DvNPipywcFljw&s=10.
I live on a UNESCO World Heritage zone and I solved the issue with through wall units. The only thing exposed on tgr outside are two 6" diameter grills.
Just about every residential construction project in Europe that I have noticed used structural clay tile. Germans i think call it Ziegel. You might need a 4 foot thick wall to get the same thermal properties as a 2 foot thick "stone" wall.
And yes, ugly mini splits can be installed anywhere, if you do not mind how your house looks
I'm sorry your esthetic sense is so bothered by mini split systems. They don't bother me in the least.
I would not want to see the facades of canal houses in Amsterdam festooned with ACs. And neither do the people of Amsterdam...
Anyway. The solution to heat is to go up. You can stay in France or Italy or Spain, but head for the mountains. The advantage of higher altitudes is that the nights are pleasantly cool, even in a heat wave. Look for a place about 1300m or so.
