Best time to go
Where to go in August
24 vetted destinations are at their best in August, across 16 countries. Each one is rated from ten years of daily temperature and rainfall recorded at that city's own coordinates — so this is a weather answer, not a popularity ranking, and the figure beside every place is the actual average it earns that rating on.
A rating of “ideal” means the month lands in that destination's comfortable band for both heat and rain. It says nothing about crowds or prices, which move on school holidays rather than on the weather — a city can be at its climatic best and still be at its busiest, and several here are both.
- Paris · FranceComfortable days around 25°C, and little rain (61mm rain).
- London · United KingdomComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- Vienna · AustriaComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (86mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceBeach weather at 30°C, and dry (2mm rain).
- Amsterdam · NetherlandsComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (78mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainBeach weather at 29°C, and dry (53mm rain).
- Zermatt · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (55mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalBeach weather at 28°C, and dry (2mm rain).
- Dubrovnik · CroatiaBeach weather at 30°C, and dry (67mm rain).
- Prague · CzechiaComfortable days around 25°C, and little rain (103mm rain).
- Berlin · GermanyComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (47mm rain).
- Kraków · PolandComfortable days around 25°C, and little rain (110mm rain).
- Oaxaca · MexicoComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (149mm rain).
- Antalya · TürkiyeBeach weather at 35°C, and dry (8mm rain).
- San Francisco · United StatesComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (0mm rain).
- Sicily · ItalyBeach weather at 33°C, and dry (14mm rain).
- Mont-Saint-Michel · FranceComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (69mm rain).
- Edinburgh · United KingdomComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (92mm rain).
- Wachau Valley · AustriaComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (103mm rain).
- Athens · GreeceBeach weather at 33°C, and dry (12mm rain).
- Keukenhof · NetherlandsComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (71mm rain).
- Mallorca · SpainBeach weather at 33°C, and dry (35mm rain).
- Zurich · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (136mm rain).
- Porto · PortugalComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (19mm rain).
Where to skip in August
These are worth going to — just not now. The same ten-year record puts each of them outside its comfortable band this month, and every one has a better window on its own guide.
- Delhi · IndiaPunishing heat, around 33°C (137mm rain).
- Hanoi · VietnamVery wet — 449mm rain across the month (32°C).
- Madrid · SpainPunishing heat, around 34°C (10mm rain).
- Grand Canyon · United StatesPunishing heat, around 36°C (19mm rain).
- Chichén Itzá · MexicoPunishing heat, around 34°C (142mm rain).
- Jungfraujoch · SwitzerlandCold, around 3°C (113mm rain).
- Chiang Mai · ThailandVery wet — 449mm rain across the month (29°C).
- Pamukkale · TürkiyePunishing heat, around 38°C (1mm rain).