Best places to travel in August

August is the hottest, busiest month on Europe’s coasts, and also when the sea is at its warmest. The best places to travel in August are the ones that are worth the crowds, and the ones that quietly cost less: Faro instead of Lagos, Pula instead of Dubrovnik, Valencia instead of Barcelona.

These are the best places to travel in August, picked from our city guides using their own weather, crowds and daily costs. Almost all of them are in peak season, so book beds as early as you can.

🌍 The best places to travel in August

📍 Paros, Greece

☀️ 28° average high👥 very busy💶 about €46 a day

August is peak season on Paros, at about 28°, and the island’s big festival falls on the 15th. A harbour town around a Byzantine church and a fishing port turned fashionable sit between Naxos and Mykonos in both geography and price. A shoestring day is about €46.

📍 Corfu Town, Greece

☀️ 32° average high👥 very busy💶 about €45 a day

Corfu is at its hottest in August, at about 32°, and celebrates Saint Spyridon on the 11th. Venetian, French and British in turn, the town has arcaded streets, two fortresses and a cricket pitch in the main square, and the greenest island in Greece starts at its edge. Budget about €45 a day.

📍 Faro, Portugal

☀️ 29° average high👥 very busy💶 about €33 a day

Faro is in peak season in August, at about 29°, but our guide says it’s far less extreme than Lagos. The walled old town and the lagoon of sandbar islands come at prices a third of what Lagos charges, and a shoestring day is about €33, the cheapest pick of the month.

📍 Ericeira, Portugal

☀️ 25° average high👥 very busy💶 about €43 a day

Europe’s only World Surfing Reserve is forty minutes from Lisbon, and in August, at about 25°, it’s at its busiest. Book weeks ahead and expect crowds in the water. Seven reef breaks run along four kilometres below a whitewashed fishing town. Budget about €43 a day.

📍 Valencia, Spain

☀️ 31° average high👥 busy💶 about €41 a day

Our Valencia guide marks August for La Tomatina, with highs of about 31°. Eat paella where it was invented, cycle the park in the old riverbed and spend the afternoons on the city beach, with fewer crowds than Barcelona. A shoestring day is about €41.

📍 Lecce, Italy

☀️ 32° average high👥 very busy💶 about €46 a day

August is peak season in Lecce, at about 32°, with the feast of Sant’Oronzo and the Taranta. The Baroque carved like lace into golden limestone is the base for the Salento, with two seas and some of the best beaches in Italy. Budget about €46 a day on a shoestring.

📍 Pula, Croatia

☀️ 28° average high👥 busy💶 about €41 a day

Pula is busy and hot in August, at about 28°, with concerts most weeks in a Roman amphitheatre whose outer wall is completely intact. At the tip of Istria, it’s a cheaper Croatian base than Split or Dubrovnik, at about €41 a day on a shoestring.

📍 Kotor, Montenegro

☀️ 31° average high👥 very busy💶 about €38 a day

Boka Night makes August Kotor’s busiest month, at about 31°. The Venetian walls and the climb to the mountain fortress are best at dawn, before the heat and the cruise crowds. Budget about €38 a day.

🏖️ Best places for a beach trip in August

Our guides with a beach and a beach-weather high in August, the most hostels first.

1. 1PhuketThailand31°, quiet
2. 2Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam32°, quiet
3. 3GoaIndia29°, very quiet
4. 4Koh TaoThailand32°, busy
5. 5CangguIndonesia30°, very busy
6. 6Koh SamuiThailand32°, very busy

💸 Cheapest places to travel in August

Good weather in August and the lowest shoestring budget.

1. 1VaranasiIndia€13 a day
2. 2PushkarIndia€13 a day
3. 3KolkataIndia€14 a day
4. 4HanoiVietnam€15 a day
5. 5VientianeLaos€15 a day
6. 6DarjeelingIndia€15 a day

🤫 Quietest places to visit in August

Good weather and quiet or very quiet in August, which is rare this month.

1. 1KathmanduNepal28°, very quiet
2. 2GoaIndia29°, very quiet
3. 3RishikeshIndia32°, very quiet
4. 4VaranasiIndia32°, very quiet
5. 5MumbaiIndia30°, very quiet
6. 6KrabiThailand32°, very quiet