Europe in August! Oh no.

Hi Dennis,

I was in Europe last August and had a great time. In Paris the whether was actually cool. I wore pants and a sweater there the whole time, and I didn't notice and anything being closed. Rome was hot and humid (high 80s), but definitely doable. There was plenty to see and do. I also visited Florence and had a great time in Venice. I was worried about crowds, things being closed, and the heat, but I had a great trip.

-Karen

Well, I don't know if anyone says not to go in August. It is just that August can be less than an ideal time -- that is all!! You just to be prepared for the weather -- mostly hot -- and some crowds. You may not be able to see as much as you might if it was April or October. Just plan to be indoors during the heat of the day and adjust your schedule accordingly. Northern Europe will be cooler but Italy will be hot.

The Rhine and Bavaria would be perfect places to travel by train and to save on transport. Daypasses for families cost under 30 Euros within states (like Bavaria); on Sat or Sun you can travel across states throughout the country as a group for 33 Euros on a daypass called the "Happy Weekend Ticket".

So let's say it's Saturday and you want to travel from Bacharach (Rheinland-Pfalz) to Rothenburg (Bavaria), typical Rick Steves strongholds. If you bought regular tickets at the counter it would cost about 50 Euros each for about 4 hours worth of train rides with the fastest connections. If you rent a car and pay around $6-7/gal for gas, well, you'll need to figure that yourself, but it's not cheap. But if you use the HW ticket, it costs you about 5 hours - the RE and RB trains you can use with the HW ticket are a bit slower - but it's 33 Euros total.

Lee (contributor on this board) has done some excellent work that bucks conventional advice for Bavaria and shows how cost-effective train travel in Germany can be if done wisely. Perhaps he'll advise you further here. But beyond that, trains take away the drudgery of driving in heavy traffic, the expense of parking and radar tickets, the time you'll lose finding your way, getting and returning the car, etc. Having done it extensively both ways myself, I'll never return to the car except under the most unusual of circumstances.

Dennis - we have done our Europe trips in July and August for the past 10 years because of kids school/camp committments. Okay, so not the ideal time, but not horrible by any stretch.

My top suggestion is to book your accomodations ahead of time. Not sure if you are actually traveling with your daughter or just the two of you - yes, two may have it much easier than 3, but still, not worth the time you will need to spend on the days you are looking for a hotel. So - plan carefully, start booking now (but only places you can cancel for no $), and then tweak when late spring comes along.

Our last trip that was in August actually was Austria/Germany/Prague. One important thing is that even in the northern countries you can still have very hot weather. We (husband & I anyway) don't sleep well in hot weather. A second tip would be to spend the additional money to have A/C in ALL hotel rooms that are in cities. We were able to do just fine in the small B&B outside of Salzburg - it was still pretty warm, but there was a fan and we had the window open. This would NOT have worked for us in Prague & Vienna - too much street noise and the air was just too still, so look at the various places you are staying and consider seriously the A/C upgrade. You'll need it in Italy for sure.

Otherwise, you will be on vacation with the rest of Europe, so what a great time to go! We met our English friends in Cornwall during one of our late summer trips - their kids don't even get out of school till late June - and we've been back a few times to meet them in other cities, also in July/August. It will be wonderful!

I can only really add to the Italy end of the trip. Don't drive on the high ways in August. Especially on friday, saturday or sunday. You'll be stuck in traffic for hours. If Venice gets too hot, hop on a boat and take a ride to the islands(in ricks books). It is a nice break to be away from the crowds and to have the sea air to cool you. Also don't spend all your time in St. Marks or the other tourist areas. Too many people to enjoy the city. Florence can be hot. The gardens behind the Piti Palace is a nice place to get away from the city heat and smell.
Oh and in Bavaria take the sleds down the ski slopes. It should be in the Rick Steves books. If you rent a car anywhere I would do it to get around Bavaria to see all the little sites. Plus it is a nice area to drive.

Dennis: Rome can be surprisingly hot and sticky in August (and I mean hot). Unlike here where 100% of hotels have AC, don't make that assumption in Italy, in Rome (and also Florence and maybe Venice, I haven't been to Venice in August so not sure) it's worth the extra money to book a hotel in August that clearly says your room will have AC, so you can sleep at night.

http://www.holidays-info.com/School-Holidays-Germany/2009/school-holidays_2009.html

Use this calendar to find out when the school vacations are in Germany. This will help you decide if you want to drive a car and risk being in gigantic traffic jams (can be 30-40 km long) or take trains. Honestly, taking the trains while in Bavaria or along the Rhine makes way more sense then renting a car.

I almost always have to travel to Europe in July or August,, it not a big deal to me, yes, , Rome can be hot as Hades,, but most other places can be very nice. I have found Paris weather can be totally hit or miss, I have been in August heatwaves and also spent 9 days there two years ago where it rained and was cool for almost the whole visit..

I don't know why no one else has mentioned this, but wow, you are sure going to be travelling alot,, you seem to be just passing through alot.. I would cut out one or two of your places, sometimes the more you travel the less you see.. just a thought.

I'll second what Michelle said about driving in August. The drive from Frankfurt to Salzburg took us 7 hours instead of 5. But the way back was worse -- 11 hours. With a newly-pottytrained 3-year-old in the car. I was really glad that the hotel had beer in the vending machine when we got there.

On Sundays in Germany, the big trucks aren't allowed to drive on the autobahn, so all the car travelers take advantage of this and travel on Sunday. I swear that all of Holland hooked up their campers and drove to Austria on the day we did and drove back the next week with us, too.

Hello Dennis. Do you plan to fly from the U.S.A. to Amsterdam, and fly from Rome to the U.S.A. ? Being away from your home for a total of 21 days, travelling in five countries, to all the destinations that you mentioned, can be done. But, reading your tentative itinerary caused me to feel exhausted. I think you would not have time for a day trip from Florence. When reading a travel guide book written by Rick Steves, ignore the suggested itinerary. Rick's suggested itineraries are for moving through Europe at a fast speed. If you will go to all those destinations that you mentioned, I think driving a car is not a good choice for you, at any place. You would not have time for driving through Bavaria in a car. In Germany : if you go to both the Rhine River (hotel at St. Goar or Bacharach, two whole days), and Bavaria, in Bavaria you might have time to visit Neuschwanstein, but probably not more than that. So, I suggest : travel from St. Goar (or Bacharach) in trains to Fussen, in one day. Be at a hotel in Fussen two nights. And travel in trains from Fussen to Venice in one day. You might want to ask an other question here : What is the quickest and best travel route for travelling in trains from Fussen in Germany to Venice in Italy ? (in the month August). I recommend : reserve rooms for overnight accomodations in the cites, this week (for August).

Thanks everyone for all the helpful tips and suggestions ... particularly about train travel v. cars in Germany.

A few other side notes -- yes, the itinerary is ambitious, and I expect it will either be pared down or the trip will be closer to 4 weeks than 3. We will hit either the Rhine or Bavaria (not both), may skip Bruges (which was just a one day stop anyway) if we do the Rhine, and plan only a quick hit in Venice and Rome, where we expect crowds and heat. We'll spend 3-4 nights each in Paris and Florence, 2 or 3 in Haarlem and Bavaria/Rhine, and 1 or 2 everywhere else. We are also looking for a couple downtime stops along the way to substitute for other spots on the trip, and are considering Lake Como or the Cinque Terre instead of a longer stay in Florence.

We are traveling with a family of 5 -- "kids" 20, 17 and 11 -- and while the two of us have been to Europe before (at a less hurried pace), the kids have not. We are planning to fly into Amsterdam and out of Rome, and stop in Paris along the way. Everything else is, as they say, negotiable!

Hello Dennis. You are wise, asking for advice for planning a long trip in Europe. I think a good trip in Europe is a trip that is well planned. Your most recent travel plan, in your reply dated 1/16/09 , looks good. If you will be in Europe more than 21 days, I think you could go to both the middle Rhine (Bacharach or St. Goar - 3 nights) and Bavaria in Germany. And, you could rent a car in Bavaria one day (recommended, if you want to visit the small towns in Bavaria). You said you are looking for "down time stops". I recommend the Cinque Terre in Italy for that. Those villages are at the Mediteranean Sea coast. There will be very many people (including very many Italian people on vacation) at the Cinque Terre villages in August. Thus, you might stand in the train cars going between villages. That is not bad. A train ride between villages can be 3 Minutes. I think being at Lake Como or Lake Maggiore in August would be worse, because thousands of vacationing Italian people will be there at the Lakes, and if you will be at one of those Lakes for two or three days I guess you would want to ride in a boat and/or bus there : those boats and busses will be very crowded with people. And being in a big town (resort location) in August can be unpleasant because of the crowded conditions.
I understand your reason for wanting your visit in Rome (in August) to be brief, because of the summer heat, but for your family to feel satisfied, I recommend being at Rome 3 nights (2 whole days). I think the places of high priority to visit in Rome are : St. Peter's Basilica, Villa Borghese art galleries, Trevi fountain. And, more than one Gelato shop. (Smile). Hotels in Rome are expensive, but I recommend being in a good hotel (3 Stars rating) that has air conditioning in the room, in Rome.

Go to Paris in August, yes it can be hot, but not guaranteed. Hotels are cheaper and crowds are smaller (not eliminated. Parisians take August as their summer holiday and many leave town for southern France or overseas. We were there in late August 2005 and the hotel we stayed in raised their rates 50% on September 1, the day we left.

Go to Paris in August, yes it can be hot, but not guaranteed. Hotels are cheaper and crowds are smaller (not eliminated. Parisians take August as their summer holiday and many leave town for southern France or overseas. We were there in late August 2005 and the hotel we stayed in raised their rates 50% on September 1, the day we left.

Dennis-Relax, its not that bad. In August 07 we traveled Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Budapest, and Salzburg by train; then Rothenburg, St. Goar, Bruges, and Haarlem by rental car. Three+ weeks overall. For us the biggest issue was lodging. Some hotel bookings were made a couple months in advance, some just a few days. The hotels reserved just a few days before arriving were not our first choice and cost us more than we'd budgeted. The largest crowds were at the major sites (e.g. Auschwitz) so just be prepared. My suggestion: make a schedule and get hotels before leaving home. Happy travels.