weather in August

The Alps mountains in Switzerland. Denmark. Norway. Sweden. All those countries have places that are pleasant to be at, and wonderful people. But those countries are expensive for travelers.

Iceland...no heat or humidity there. Although be prepared for the sun not to set - there will be almost all daylight.

Laurie, We have spent the past 3 summers in Europe during July and August and have looked for places that are cooler than Florida in the summer. The Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Austria have all given us cooler temps (especially Ireland!). With the exception of Ireland, all the other locations had two or three days of warm/humid weather that turned cooler/dryer. Sweden et al have attracted our attention but it's too #$#@% expensive for our budget these days. I would avoid Italy, Spain...any place in southern Europe.

I would go in july or august at the drop of a hat. I could care less when I go, I just love to go, and most times for various reasons I do end up going in summer.. and really its only been Rome that I have found to be consistently hot in summer, any other place ( Paris, London, etc) its a roulette wheel, I have been hot and cold in both places in summer.. August is a good month for Paris as many hotel have lower rates then. Go when you can go , and go where you want to go ( I wouldn't not go to place I have always wanted to see just because of heat or crowds, but then I can handle that stuff, some people find it too much ) .. obviously north is cooler then south..

Well, if that's when you have to go then that's when you have to go. Maybe the thing is to learn how to deal with the heat and go where you want to go to instead of where you think that rainy and cold weather will be better. There are reasons why people in hot places like Spain and Italy shut down for the afternoon and come back out in the evening. Go with the flow. If you want to go to Italy, Spain or Greece then go - just do it smartly. It is rare but sometimes we have to get the fans out even here in England. I have known a very hot June in Germany. The problem with trying to beat the weather is that often the weather wins.

Britain is lovely in August. Last August it was not too hot or rainy down south. Scotland had some rain every day but it always cleared up.

Laurie, coming from California as you do you can't be all that heat sensitive. I agree totally with Pat, go where you've always wanted to go and what makes the most sense for the amount of time you have and your budget (also take into consideration where it's easiest to fly to). I spent all of last August in Paris and weather was not bad at all - maybe 3 days of rain all month and heat was bearable (even without A/C), however you may want to go for the A/C just in case wherever you decide to go. I wouldn't hesitate to go anywhere in Europe in August, just be prepared that it might be hot and humid, but as Pat said it could be cool, you just never know.

Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions. It's the humidity that mind not so much the heat.

Three best ways to beat the humidity: -Get a hotel with A/C -pace yourself during the day, if it's really humid don't do too much, stop often to rest in the shade and drink lots of water, visit a museum on those days, it's usually cooler inside -eat gelato often

I registered on the site just to post a "me too", with regard to going where you want to go and not worrying about the temperature too much. We took our kids to Europe for the first time a couple of years ago, so we were restricted by the school schedule in the time of year we could go. We wanted them to see some of Italy, so we went to Florence and Rome, in August. Florence was warm, Rome was downright hot. So, we visited museums and other sites in the morning, had a nice lunch somewhere shady, then went back to the wonderfully air-conditioned hotel room to relax. Around dinner time we'd venture back out to enjoy the more strolling-around type of scenery, and it'd be cool enough not to wear us out. We had booked a private tour of Rome for our first day there, in which we were driven to various locations and given time to stroll around at each. That turned out to be awesome, since that day turned out to be one of the hottest, and after seeing the St. Peter's keyhole view and other sights, we'd jump into a delightfully cool car to be whisked to the next place. The driver had a bunch of water bottles in a cooler as well, which was great. (I generally like doing an "overview" tour of a new-to-me place on the first day, so that we can find areas we want to visit further in the following days and trips. Bicycle tours are great for that, as are Segway tours.) You do have to be careful to stay hydrated, etc. during the hottest hours, but taking the kids to the Uffizi, the Trevi fountain, and so much more, is so worth the heat. Have a great trip, wherever you go!