August destination - not too hot!

[Parapapampam]

We are a very pale family who do not cope well with heat or blazing sun.

Every time we book a summer holiday to somewhere warm, even south of France, Spain etc. we regret it as we spend the whole time hiding under umbrellas or in air conditioned buildings.

The last few years we have done our holiday to such places at Easter, and done a UK holiday in the summer, but this year would like to travel abroad.

Where would you recommend that is likely to be around 20-25 degrees in August (aware this is unpredictable!)? We are open to most types of holiday, city, beach, countryside.

Do you think Berlin could be a good choice?

Thanks!

Norway is beautiful, we had an amazing not too hot trip there in August several years ago.

I’m off to the Azores end of August temperature looks ok!

Please don't even consider Lake Garda. We went there in July last year and the heat was unbearable. I'm fair skinned and keeping out of the sun was a real trial.
Iceland on the other hand is fabulous in August. Warm but not hot and you have 20 hours of daylight every day for exploring. July and August are the peak months for whale watching in Iceland. Although the sea is cold you have the heavenly blue lagoon and many other thermal pools to swim in.

"Please don't even consider Lake Garda. We went there in July last year and the heat was unbearable."

I'm sure the people on this thread are mostly cranks trying to get the OP burned to a crisp 🤣

The canaries and lake Garda ffs

If anyone mentions Spain or Italy just completely ignore it , will be hot. Focus on the suggestions of Scandinavian, Netherlands, northern Germany.

Like a pp I'm also going to suggest Mauritius, it should be 20-25 max and cooler in the evenings as August is their cooler season. It's also quite good value in August compared to Greece etc because lots of people want hotter weather.

We went to Lake Garda in August and it was mid 20s. I used to run (and I hate running in heat) and it was bearable. Maybe we were lucky that year.

We took the children to the north Belgium coast to Sun Parks, there are also Center Parcs and had a couple of great holidays. The beaches were amazing.

You need to go to Slovenia. Absolutely perfect for you in the summer months. We stayed in a little village in the foothills of the Julian Alps, on the border with Austria and Italy, and it was one of my favourite holidays ever. Just warm enough to swim in the lakes but not so hot that we couldn’t go for long hikes and explore the sights without melting.

How many years ago was that? Lake Garda was super hot last few Augusts. Italy had massive heatwaves

I know you said abroad but west coast of Scotland could be an option for the second half of August (quieter as Scottish schools have gone back).

Caribbean like white beaches and sea warm enough to swim in, history, good seafood. Very variable! But you could get lucky and never over mid 20s. Arisaig, Uist, Kintyre, Mull.

@Parapapampam we are also a fair/hear hating Yorkshire family. After many years of Scottish holidays, we got the ferry to The Netherlands last summer (Hull/Rotterdam) and it was sunny but coolish. Last week of August.

We did this last summer. Really good holiday!

OK, I'll bite.
Try a location in the UK.

As Lola says: "I live near Berlin and August is very hot these days".
"These days". Quite.

We are seeing an unprecedented rise in temperatures as a result of global heating, which is exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels, flying being a big contributor. Many former favourite holiday destinations are now uncomfortably, or even dangerously hot, with huge impact on the resident population, let alone those who simply strike it off their list of potential places to take a vacation.

Summer wild fires rage from the southern Mediterranean to the north of Sweden, ravaging tinder-dry landscapes dessicated by ever rising summer temperatures, and people ‐not necessarily you, OP, as I can see you are considering destinations closer to home‐ continue to fly for leisure and recreation.

My region of northern Scandinavia was burnt to a crisp in climate related wildfires; irreplaceable heritage lost forever, livelihoods and habitats gone. Ancient, majestic forests up in smoke.
I avoid flying at all costs.

In the summer of 2022 we went to Orkney. Whilst the majority of the UK had heatwave, we were having highs of 16 degrees C.

We did the Venetian coast in 2019. The coast was manageable temperature wise but Venice itself. Oh my life. Just too hot and unmanageable.

Debki in Poland? Ryanair flys Leeds to Gdańsk so easy to get to as well!

I would recommend Jersey, but summer 23 we were in cold windy conditions whilst the rest of Europe had a heat wave, so maybe not so much.

Obviously weather is not wholly predictable and blue skies and 25 degrees are not going to happen everywhere. Temperatures have gone up and looking at guide books with average temperatures is a waste of time. What is should be and what it will be are not the same. Rain is also a feature of northern France, UK and Channel islands in the summer.

Many of us try hard to live and reduce global warming. We have heat pumps, solar panels with batteries and an electric car. But I fly for holidays. For France I would take the ferry.

We do need to accept some areas do depend on tourists and their money.

But Tizer, we know that tourism as is, is no longer sustainable. Local economies may be locked into dependency on tourist revenue, but to perpetuate the cycle without taking our share of responsibility and being agents of change is to contribute to economic and ecological devastation in the near, mid and long term. We do not support long-term solutions by maintaining the status quo.

Besides, our flying and gratuitous travel impacts communities across the globe who are not interfacing with tourism, through crop failures, flooding, desertification and displacement. Our impact thinking cannot remain localised.

Agree, it is a difficult situation. But I do think the idea of an essential annual holiday or two travelling on a plane needs a rethink, there are other ways to live. I have contributed to this impact in the past so cannot judge. But for several years we have been happy spending our holidays exploring some beautiful parts of the UK. Another benefit is that it is rarely too hot. We've been to the Lake District for parts of our holidays over the past 2 years in the summer and it is truly spectacular.

Bookmarking as DH and I have same issue but child is more heat proof.

We had a nice week in Madeira a couple of Augusts ago. Lovely climate.

Netcam, "the idea of an essential annual holiday or two travelling on a plane needs a rethink" -absolutely. In a nutshell. The perception that travelling abroad on holiday is somehow essential is problematic.

We need to bloom where we are planted. Or where we plant ourselves ‐I have made a choice to live away from my country of origin, but don't consider myself to have some inalienable right to burn an inordinate amount of fossil fuels in order to fly there, despite it being a relatively short flight, especially when another mother like me, with children just like mine, living in the global South, will never get anywhere near burning the same amount of fossil fuels, but will be impacted all the same.

I'll see you in the Lake District.

And Tizer, I meant to add: "Many of us try hard to live and reduce global warming. We have heat pumps, solar panels with batteries and an electric car." I really am grateful to those who, like you, are able to make lifestyle and consumer choices which minimise climate impact. It is no small feat, and so important.

Not berlin.. I went in June and it was touching 40 degrees.

San Sebastian and bilbao are nice. Can rain a little.

Scandinavian countries and Iceland also a good shout.