Quick Answer
Where to go in August 2027, the peak of the summer
August is the one month where the sea is warmest and the calendar is worst. Every European school system checked on this page is on holiday for at least part of it, and most for all of it.
So the question is not only where it is warm. It is where the heat is pleasant rather than punishing, and which week carries the fewest other travellers.
VoyageHacks last verified the facts and figures on this page on 2 October 2026.
The August table, from the met services
VoyageHacks pulled every figure below from the national meteorological service that publishes it, on 2 October 2026. Each row states its own normal period, because the agencies do not share one.
| Destination | Mean daily max, Aug | Mean temp | Aug rainfall | Source and period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seville airport | 35.5 °C | 27.9 °C | 5 mm | AEMET, 1981-2010 |
| Antalya | 34.1 °C | 28.5 °C | 4.3 mm | MGM, 1930-2025 |
| Athens (Hellinikon) | 32.2 °C | 28.2 °C | 6.2 mm | HNMS, 1955-2010 |
| Corfu (Kerkyra) | 31.5 °C | 26.6 °C | 21.7 mm | HNMS, 1955-2010 |
| Palma de Mallorca airport | 31.3 °C | 25.1 °C | 17 mm | AEMET, 1981-2010 |
| Málaga airport | 30.8 °C | 26.0 °C | 6 mm | AEMET, 1981-2010 |
| Rhodes | 30.7 °C | 27.3 °C | 0.2 mm | HNMS, 1955-2010 |
| Faro, Algarve | 29.2 °C | 24.6 °C | 3.0 mm | IPMA, 1991-2020 |
| Heraklion, Crete | 28.8 °C | 26.3 °C | 0.9 mm | HNMS, 1955-2010 |
| Lisbon | 28.8 °C | 23.8 °C | 5.4 mm | IPMA, 1991-2020 |
| Barcelona airport | 28.5 °C | 24.4 °C | 62 mm | AEMET, 1981-2010 |
| Split (Marjan) | not published | 25.9 °C | 41.3 mm | DHMZ, 1948-2024 |
| Dubrovnik | not published | 25.4 °C | 65.0 mm | DHMZ, 1961-2024 |
DHMZ’s station pages publish the mean temperature and a count of hot days, not a mean daily maximum. They record 17 days at or above 30 °C in an average August in Split and 13 in Dubrovnik.
Three numbers in that table carry the decision.
Seville’s 35.5 °C. That is an average, not a heatwave. Inland Andalusia in August is a sightseeing trip you schedule around the middle of the day, not a beach trip.
Faro’s 29.2 °C. The Atlantic keeps the Algarve and Lisbon the coolest beach coast in the table, with 3.0 mm and 5.4 mm of rain. IPMA counts 12.4 days at or above 30 °C in Faro in August, against 17 in Split.
Barcelona’s 62 mm. Barcelona is the wettest Spanish station in the table, more than ten times Málaga’s 6 mm, across about 4.5 rainy days. AEMET still records 278 hours of August sunshine there.
The warmest sea of the year
The Turkish State Meteorological Service publishes a monthly sea-water average for each of Turkey’s four seas, running from 1970 to 2025. August is the warmest month in all four:
| Sea (MGM, 1970-2025) | July | August | September |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mediterranean (Antalya coast) | 26.7 °C | 28.1 °C | 27.0 °C |
| Aegean (Bodrum coast) | 24.2 °C | 24.6 °C | 23.3 °C |
| Black Sea | 23.0 °C | 24.3 °C | 22.5 °C |
| Sea of Marmara (Istanbul) | 23.4 °C | 24.2 °C | 22.3 °C |
What follows from those rows:
- The Turkish Riviera is the warm-water pick. At 28.1 °C, the sea off Antalya is warmer than the air in Edinburgh, Dublin or Oslo in the same month.
- The Aegean is 3.5 °C cooler. Bodrum, Santorini, Mykonos and the Cyclades sit in the same sea at about 24.6 °C. Refreshing, not warm.
- September keeps most of it. The Mediterranean is still 27.0 °C in September, which is why the September guide is the better pick for anyone not tied to school dates.
MGM’s own breakdown shows recent years running warmer: its Mediterranean annual average for 2014-2025 is 22.3 °C, against 21.5 °C for the whole series. The met services for Spain, Greece and Croatia publish air normals on the pages we checked, not sea normals, so those coasts have no sea row here.
The Mediterranean in August, country by country
Turkey: the warmest water, the driest month
Antalya gets 4.3 mm of rain in an average August across 0.55 rainy days, with 11.1 hours of daily sunshine, by MGM’s 1930-2025 series. Add the 28.1 °C sea and it is the most reliable warm-water beach week on this page.
The trade is the heat: a 34.1 °C mean maximum. Cappadocia and Istanbul work as a city leg, with Istanbul on the cooler Sea of Marmara.
Greece: dry everywhere, hot in Athens
Greece barely sees rain in August: HNMS records 0.2 mm on Rhodes, 0.9 mm at Heraklion on Crete and 6.2 mm at Athens. Athens is the hot one at 32.2 °C. Crete is the mildest big island at 28.8 °C.
The Ionian side is the exception: Corfu averages 21.7 mm across about 3 rainy days. Check the Greek ferries guide before building an island-hop in peak season, and the cheapest Greek islands if price is the filter.
Spain and Portugal: go to the Atlantic for comfort
Seville at 35.5 °C and Andalusia inland are the hottest stops in this guide. The coasts are gentler: Málaga 30.8 °C, Palma 31.3 °C.
The Algarve and Lisbon stay under 30 °C on average, with almost no rain. Porto and Madeira are the milder Portuguese options for anyone who wants summer without the heat.
Croatia: dry, sunny and at capacity
August is the Adriatic’s real summer. DHMZ records 332.7 hours of sunshine in Dubrovnik in August and only about 5 rainy days at both stations, with a 25.9 °C mean in Split. Hvar and Zadar share the same coast.
Dubrovnik still averages 65.0 mm in August, but across only about 5 rainy days, against 19 clear ones. Peak season means island ferries and old-town rooms are worth booking early.
Ferragosto: 15 August in Italy
Ferragosto is the day of the Assumption, 15 August. Italy’s Law 260 of 27 May 1949, as published on Normattiva, lists “il giorno dell’Assunzione della B. V. Maria” among the country’s public holidays.
In 2027 it falls on Sunday 15 August. The law ties public holidays to a full holiday schedule, so plan for public-holiday opening hours across Italy on that weekend. It sits inside every Italian’s summer, so expect the Amalfi Coast, Sicily and the lakes to be booked well ahead for that weekend.
The practical move: be in a city such as Rome or Florence on 15 August and at the coast either side of it, and book everything in advance.
Where to go in August for cooler weather
If the Mediterranean numbers above read as a warning rather than a promise, go north or go up. These come from the national met services on the WMO World Weather Information Service:
| Destination | Mean daily max, Aug | Aug rainfall | Source and period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavik | 13.0 °C | 61.8 mm | Icelandic Met Office, 1961-1990 |
| Bergen | 17.4 °C | 190 mm | MET Norway, 1961-1990 |
| Edinburgh | 18.9 °C | 60.2 mm | Met Office, 1981-2010 |
| Dublin | 19.2 °C | 73.3 mm | Met Éireann, 1981-2010 |
| Oslo | 20.1 °C | 89 mm | MET Norway, 1961-1990 |
| Zurich | 22.0 °C | 133 mm | MeteoSwiss, 1961-1990 |
| Stockholm | 22.1 °C | 66.2 mm | SMHI, 1991-2020 |
| Innsbruck | 24.4 °C | 111.3 mm | GeoSphere Austria, 1971-2000 |
The catch is rain. Bergen’s 190 mm is the wettest figure in this table, about three times Edinburgh’s 60.2 mm. Zurich and Innsbruck are wet too, at 133 mm and 111.3 mm, so pack a rain layer for mountain days.
- Iceland is the coolest option: 13.0 °C in Reykjavik. Pack for 10 °C, not for August.
- Edinburgh is cool but not quiet: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 6 to 30 August 2027, its 80th edition. Book rooms early or stay outside the city.
- Stockholm and Oslo are the warmest northern capitals, at 22.1 °C and 20.1 °C.
- Switzerland and the Austrian Alps give 22 to 24 °C valley days and cooler mountains above.
Long-haul in August: Kenya, Bali and Japan
| Destination | Mean daily max, Aug | Aug rainfall | January rainfall | Source and period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narok, for the Maasai Mara | 23.3 °C | 24.2 mm | 79.3 mm | Kenya Met Dept via WMO, period not stated |
| Denpasar, Bali | 29.6 °C | 25 mm | 345 mm | BMKG via WMO, 1961-1990 |
| Tokyo | 31.3 °C | 154.7 mm | 59.7 mm | JMA via WMO, 1991-2020 |
| Sapporo, Hokkaido | 26.4 °C | 126.8 mm | 108.4 mm | JMA via WMO, 1991-2020 |
Kenya: the Mara River crossings
Magical Kenya, the Kenya Tourism Board’s site, describes the Great Migration as year-round, with its most dramatic stage from July to October, when wildebeest and zebras cross the Mara River into the Maasai Mara. The weather agrees: the Kenya Meteorological Department gives Narok, the Mara’s county town, 24.2 mm in August against 79.3 mm in January.
Nights are cool: Narok’s mean minimum is 9.3 °C. Pack a fleece for the early game drives.
Bali: the driest month of the year
BMKG’s normal for Denpasar shows August as the driest month of the year in Bali: 25 mm across about 4 rainy days, against 345 mm in January. That makes it the most reliable Bali month, and also the busiest one. See the Bali itinerary and the where to stay guide.
Japan: hot, humid and on holiday mid-month
The Cabinet Office lists Mountain Day on Wednesday 11 August 2027. Around it sits Obon, the family-visit week that is not a public holiday but fills Japan’s trains anyway. JR East counted 4.864 million shinkansen and limited-express riders on its main routes across its Obon period of 7 to 16 August 2026, 102% of the year before.
Tokyo is 31.3 °C on average in August. Hokkaido is the cooler Japanese option at 26.4 °C in Sapporo. If Japan is the plan, the start of August or its last week avoids the Obon peak.
Long-haul to avoid in August
| Destination | Aug rainfall | Rainy days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai | 546.8 mm | not published | IMD via WMO, 1951-2000 |
| Goa | 518.7 mm | 13.3 | IMD via WMO, period not stated |
| Kathmandu | 314.2 mm | 22 | Nepal DHM via WMO, period not stated |
| Phuket | 282.8 mm | 19.1 | Thai Meteorological Department via WMO, period not stated |
| Nassau, Bahamas | 235.5 mm | 19 | Bahamas Department of Meteorology via WMO, 1971-2000 |
South Asia’s west coast is in full monsoon. Mumbai’s 546.8 mm in August compares with 15.1 mm in January. Goa is similar, and Kathmandu sees rain on about 22 days of the month. Sri Lanka is milder: Colombo averages 119.5 mm in August.
The Caribbean is entering hurricane peak. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center puts the Atlantic season from 1 June to 30 November, its peak on 10 September, and most activity between mid-August and mid-October. On average, the first hurricane of the season forms by 11 August and the first major hurricane by 1 September. The hurricane season guide covers which islands sit outside the main belt.
The August 2027 holiday calendar, week by week
No week of August is free of school holidays. Here is how the official calendars fall in 2027:
- 2 August. Scotland’s summer bank holiday, per GOV.UK. Bavaria’s summer holiday starts the same day and runs to 13 September, per the KMK calendar.
- 6 August. Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland finish their summer holidays. The Edinburgh Fringe opens.
- 11 August. Japan’s Mountain Day. Hamburg’s holiday ends the same day.
- 9 to 15 August. The fullest week: 9 of the 10 school calendars on this page are on holiday. Ferragosto is Sunday 15 August, and Japan’s Obon falls around it.
- 14 August. Berlin’s holiday ends.
- 22 August. The Dutch north region returns, per Rijksoverheid.
- 23 to 29 August. The lightest full week: 7 of 10 calendars on holiday. Still out: England (Greenwich), France, the Dutch middle and south regions, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia.
- 30 August. Summer bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Fringe closes.
- 31 August to 5 September. North Rhine-Westphalia ends on 31 August, the Royal Borough of Greenwich returns on Wednesday 1 September, French schools return at the start of September, and the Dutch south region on 5 September.
The calendars checked: England (Royal Borough of Greenwich), France (all zones break up on Saturday 3 July), the three Dutch regions, and Berlin, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen. Your own departure country is the one that matters most to your fare.
What to pack for a trip this month
Four picks from our gear guides that fit the trips above. Each card opens the live Amazon price; the links below lead to the full comparisons.
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Check price on Amazon Live price on AmazonThe default for iPhone owners. 31.9 mm across, 11.8 g, IP67, a user-replaceable CR2032 that Apple rates at more than a year, a speaker Apple says is 50% louder and up to 1.5x the Precision Finding range. Four tags cover every checked bag and a daypack.
Check price on Amazon Live price on AmazonThe reliable all-rounder: one USB-C and four USB-A ports, plugs for 200+ countries, and a built-in fuse with a spare. The adapter most people should buy.
Check price on Amazon Live price on Amazon7-inch 300 ppi glare-free screen, 211 g, IPX8 (2 m of fresh water for 60 minutes), adjustable warm light, up to 12 weeks per charge. Shipping now: the waterproof pick for a trip before 28 October, best bought on a Prime event discount.
Check price on Amazon Live price on AmazonWhere August goes wrong
You booked inland Spain or Athens for a city break
Seville averages 35.5 °C and Athens 32.2 °C as a mean, before any heatwave. Sightsee early, rest at midday, or move the city leg to Lisbon at 28.8 °C.
You ignored the wildfire guidance
Greece’s Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection publishes daily fire hazard forecast maps and asks visitors to respect signs prohibiting access to areas in periods of high risk, and never to use open-air barbecues near dry vegetation in summer. Check the day’s risk before a forest hike, and follow 112 alerts.
You arrived in Italy on Ferragosto weekend
Sunday 15 August 2027 is a public holiday under Law 260 of 1949. Book trains and rooms well ahead, and check opening hours for anything you plan that day.
You picked Mumbai, Goa or the Caribbean for a beach week
Mumbai averages 546.8 mm in August. In the Caribbean, NOAA’s season peak is three weeks away. Bali, at 25 mm, is the long-haul beach that works.
You expected Edinburgh to be quiet
The Fringe runs from 6 to 30 August 2027. Edinburgh is cool in August, not calm.
Sources
VoyageHacks checked every figure on this page against the organisation that publishes it, on 2 October 2026. None of these numbers are forecasts. Where a figure comes through the WMO World Weather Information Service, the national met service named in the row supplied it.
- Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM), Akdeniz, Ege, Karadeniz and Marmara deniz suyu sıcaklık 1970-2025, https://www.mgm.gov.tr/FILES/resmi-istatistikler/denizSuyu/2025-Akdeniz.pdf, checked October 2026
- Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM), Antalya il ve ilçeler istatistik, 1930-2025, https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=A&m=ANTALYA, checked October 2026
- AEMET, Valores climatológicos normales, stations Sevilla Aeropuerto, Málaga Aeropuerto, Palma de Mallorca Aeropuerto and Barcelona Aeropuerto, 1981-2010, https://www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos, checked October 2026
- Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Normal Climatológica Faro and Lisboa 1991-2020, https://www.ipma.pt/bin/file.data/climate-normal/cn_91-20_FARO.pdf, checked October 2026
- Hellenic National Meteorological Service, climatic data by city, stations Rodos, Heraklion, Athens Hellinikon and Kerkyra, 1955-2010, http://oldportal.emy.gr/emy/en/climatology/climatology_city?perifereia=South%20Aegean&poli=Rodos, checked October 2026
- DHMZ, Srednje mjesečne vrijednosti, Split Marjan and Dubrovnik, https://meteo.hr/klima.php?section=klima_podaci¶m=k1&Grad=dubrovnik, checked October 2026
- WMO World Weather Information Service, climate data for Reykjavik, Bergen, Oslo, Edinburgh, Dublin, Stockholm, Zurich, Innsbruck, Narok, Denpasar, Tokyo, Sapporo, Mumbai, Goa, Kathmandu, Phuket, Colombo and Nassau, https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/home.html, checked October 2026
- NOAA National Hurricane Center, tropical cyclone climatology, https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/, checked October 2026
- Magical Kenya, The Great Migration, https://magicalkenya.com/experience/the-great-migration/, checked October 2026
- Normattiva, Legge 27 maggio 1949, n. 260, Disposizioni in materia di ricorrenze festive, art. 2, https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:legge:1949-05-27;260, checked October 2026
- Cabinet Office of Japan, national holidays, https://www8.cao.go.jp/chosei/shukujitsu/gaiyou.html, checked October 2026
- East Japan Railway Company, お盆期間のご利用状況 (Obon period ridership, 7 to 16 August 2026), published 17 August 2026, https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000001498.000017557.html, checked October 2026
- Hellenic Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, forest fire guidelines and daily fire hazard map archive, https://civilprotection.gov.gr/en/odigies-prostasias/dasikes-pyrkagies?lang=en, checked October 2026
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, https://www.edfringe.com/, checked October 2026
- GOV.UK, UK bank holidays, https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays, checked October 2026
- Royal Borough of Greenwich, school term dates 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028, https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-term-dates/term-dates-2026-2027, checked October 2026
- Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, calendrier scolaire open data, https://data.education.gouv.fr/explore/dataset/fr-en-calendrier-scolaire/, checked October 2026
- Kultusministerkonferenz, Ferien im Schuljahr 2026/2027, https://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/Dateien/pdf/Ferienkalender/FER2026_27.pdf, checked October 2026
- Rijksoverheid, Overzicht schoolvakanties 2026-2027, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/schoolvakanties/overzicht-schoolvakanties-per-schooljaar/overzicht-schoolvakanties-2026-2027, checked October 2026
What changed
- 2026-10-02: first published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the sea warmest in August?
Off southern Turkey. The Turkish State Meteorological Service puts the 1970-2025 average for its Mediterranean coast at 28.1 °C in August, the warmest month of the year, against 26.7 °C in July and 27.0 °C in September. The Aegean is cooler at 24.6 °C, so the Bodrum coast and the Greek islands are refreshing rather than bath-warm.
Where can I go in August to escape the heat?
North and up. On the WMO World Weather Information Service, the national met services give Reykjavik a 13.0 °C mean daily maximum in August, Bergen 17.4 °C, Edinburgh 18.9 °C, Dublin 19.2 °C, Oslo 20.1 °C, Zurich 22.0 °C and Stockholm 22.1 °C. The trade is rain: Bergen averages 190 mm in August and Zurich 133 mm.
What is Ferragosto and when is it in 2027?
Ferragosto is 15 August, the day of the Assumption, which Italy’s Law 260 of 1949 lists among its public holidays. In 2027 it falls on a Sunday. Expect public-holiday opening hours across Italy that weekend, and book coast and lake stays early.
When are the August 2027 bank holidays and school holidays?
GOV.UK lists the summer bank holiday on Monday 2 August 2027 in Scotland and Monday 30 August in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. French schools break up on Saturday 3 July and return at the start of September. The Dutch holiday runs 10 July to 22 August (north), 17 July to 29 August (middle) and 24 July to 5 September (south). Bavaria is off from 2 August to 13 September.
Is August a good time for a Kenya safari?
Yes. VoyageHacks checked Magical Kenya, the Kenya Tourism Board, which places the most dramatic stage of the Great Migration, the Mara River crossings into the Maasai Mara, between July and October. The Kenya Meteorological Department gives Narok, the Mara’s county town, 24.2 mm of rain in August against 79.3 mm in January.
Which long-haul destinations should I avoid in August?
South Asia’s west coast and the Caribbean. The India Meteorological Department gives Mumbai 546.8 mm of rain in August and Goa 518.7 mm. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center puts the Atlantic peak on 10 September, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October.
Ready to price an August trip?
Decide first whether you want the warmest water or the coolest air, because August offers both at opposite ends of Europe. For the sea, the Turkish Riviera and the southern Greek islands; for comfort, the Atlantic coast of Portugal, Scotland, Ireland and the Nordics.
Then pick the week. In 2027, 23 to 29 August has the fewest school calendars on holiday, and 9 to 15 August the most.
Next in the calendar: where to go in September, when the sea is nearly as warm and the schools are back, then October, November and December. Earlier in the year: May. The full list is on the when to go hub, and the hotels hub has the stay-side guides.