Italy in August?

It’s very hot in August and many Italians go on vacation during the month of August.

As noted, many Italians go on vacation in August, including those who work in the tourist infrastructure (i.e., hotels and especially restaurants). And the weather tends to be really hot. However, don't let that discourage you! Italy is a wonderful country and if August is the time that works with your schedule, go for it.

I'm more of an independent (i.e., non-tour) traveler so I don't know about tours offhand, but if you let us know how many days you intend to be in Italy and which Italian cities or regions are your top priorities, I'm sure some of the kind people on this forum can advise you.

There are plenty of hotels and restaurants open in August. The only thing is that they are full and to get a good price at this period, you’d better reserve soonest as possible. On the weekend of 15 August many museums will be closed however. On the other hand there are many festivities going on. So these can also be nice to attend.
The heat? Well it’s summer in a Mediterranean country. The temperature should be between 26 and 40 degrees Celsius in the hottest part of the day. If too hot, sit on a terrace and ask for a glass or a bottle of water.

40 only on some days, Italy is not Australia.

Lisa, even if the tour operators (don't know who you looked at ) don't offer packages for August, you certainly can go on your own, and I can almost promise it'll be less expensive that way. As said above, August is the hottest time of the year for Italy so that's probably a contributing factor for lack of tours. Although many citizenes do vacation during that month, plenty will be open (ALL major attractions) so that's not a concern.

I do have a concern, though? In your previous post you said that you had "probably 7-10 days" to work with, that those 7-10 "probably" included arrival and departure days, and that your "...current choices are Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Amalfi coast." Counting NIGHTS on the ground in Italy versus days, and subtracting your travel days, this leaves you with just 5 nights/4.5 sightseeing days if you have 7 days: enough for one location only. If you have 10, you'll have 8 nights/7.5 sightseeing days: enough for only two locations.

5 nights is REALLY short for a trip of this distance (guessing you're coming from North America?) so I'd definitely push for more nights; airfare is going to be one of your biggest, if not your biggest, singular expense so get the good of it! Those .5 arrival days are very likely to be a jet-lagged fog so don't really count as quality time either. Flying into one location and out of another will reduce the need for any backtracking; often a factor for Amalfi Coast.

Add in the August or July heat and you don't want to over-schedule; allowing enough time to slow down and take breaks will help manage both the temperature and crowds..and yes, there will be crowds.

Anyway, with just 5 nights, I do JUST Rome: fly in and out of Rome. With 8 nights, you might be able to add the Sorrentine /Amalfi area: fly into Rome and take a train directly to that region (it's a bit more complex than that but details can be covered later). Stay 4 nights (3 fULL sightseeing days) there and finish your final 4 nights/3 FULL sightseeing days in Rome; fly home from there That's only one hotel change and transfers only to/from a location on the coast so you wouldn't be eating a bunch of time/money to moving around. If you could fly into Naples and out of Rome, even better.

It'll be really hot in both places: book a hotel with a pool in Sorrento or the Amalfi and plan to spend the hottest parts of the day in it. Beaches in this region are sort of so-so, can be a hike to get from a hotel, and what they do have will be mobbed in August. Expect hotels to be quite expensive. Rome? Do the majority of outside sightseeing in the mornings and indoor sightseeing in the afternoons. Except for the Vatican Museums, for which you might consider a Friday night late opening, many indoor attractions, like churches and some other museums, will offer shade and cooler temps.

Rome + Florence or Rome + rural Tuscany (with a car; which is a different topic) are also possibilities, although getting to rural location on arrival day might present some challenges. Anyway, just a thought?

26 and 40 degrees Celsius

80F-104F

Think DisneyWorld at same time of year, but no iced beverages.

Kathy- Thank you for your very informative response! We are looking at a guided tour which begins on 8/2 in Venice and ends on 8/11 in Sorrento. So 10 days/9 nights and we would probably fly in a day early to recover from jet lag.

Italy is hot in the Summer, but if you are from a warm climate, as we are (South Georgia), it is no big deal.

Italy is hot in the Summer, but if you are from a warm climate, as we are (South Georgia), it is no big deal.

South Georgia is roughly the same temperature as Northern Hell.

I'd stay as far north as possible. We were in Rome one August and it was 105 the two days we were there.

40 only on some days, Italy is not Australia.

Obviously in depends where in Italy but these days 40c is not uncommon. Frequent heatwaves, not only in Italy, often result in temperatures hitting 40c. I recall a heatwave in Nice (and surrounding areas) a couple of years ago which lasted almost the entire two weeks we were there and almost every day hit 40c or very close.

South Georgia is roughly the same temperature as Northern Hell.

I remember quite vividly a drive from Hilton Head Island to Orlando in August during which we stopped at a Wendy's!!!!! (the kids were pestering me) somewhere in South Georgia and the wall of heat and humidity that hit me as I stepped out of the air conditioned car was unlike anything I'd experienced before, including August in Andalucia. The briefest of walks from the car to the restaurant was enough to convince me that a Georgian summer is not for me.

We are looking at a guided tour which begins on 8/2 in Venice and ends
on 8/11 in Sorrento. So 10 days/9 nights and we would probably fly in
a day early to recover from jet lag.

Not impossible, maybe, but I've my doubts about guided tours which begin in Venice and end in Sorrento, especially for just 9 nights and especially for those exact dates. For one thing, most tours end in a city with an airport (or at least good rail service to one) and the closest port to Sorrento - which only has battered commuter rail which doesn't serve the airport - is in Naples. It's not as if you can't get there by various means of transport but Sorrento isn't an especially convenient location for catching an A.M. flight (been there, done that.) Anyway, it's often recommended to spend pre-flight nights in Naples (or Rome, if flying out of Fiumicino.)

But any way you shake it, Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento is WAY too much for 9 nights. If intent on a guided tour, I'd scrap Sorrento, be flexible with your dates, and look at this classic 10-day RS tour of Venice, Florence and Rome.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome

They have one from Jul 24–Aug 2 (Fr–Su) or Aug 24–Sep 2 (Mo–We) and both still have room on their rosters. I absolutely would recommend flying into Venice the day before the tour starts so you'd need 10 nights on the ground in Italy: 9 for the tour + pre-tour night. As many (most?) flights to Italy from the U.S. are overnight, add an 11th night for that.

Hi again, Lisa -
Out of curiosity, is this the tour you're looking at?

https://www.tourradar.com/t/164892

While it's the exact dates you'd listed (which is why I believe it is what you're considering) I'd think long and hard before booking it. It's a much bigger group size (44) than most here would be happy traveling with, and covers too much ground in too little time (e.g. only 1 full day is seriously shorting Rome, and Florence as well, IMHO.) I'm guessing you also have to be up and at 'em early in the mornings; a requirement that may not sit well with your teenagers.

I'd avoid Venice in August. I went to Venice in August and the combination of the heat (a nasty sticky heat because of the canals), massive amounts of tourists, and many of the restaurants I had researched being closed made it the low point of that trip. If it were me, knowing what I know now, I'd save Venice for an off-season visit.

Like geovagriffith, we're used to hot weather (100 in Oct this year). Our first trip to Italy was in August on a guided tour with a tour director from England and we are still laughing at his complaints about how hot it was-89! JC, you should visit in January or February when the South usually has at least a week with highs in the 60's.