Which City Break - Aug 2025 (Paris/Barcelona/Rome/Athens)

[Queenbee2709]

Hi We are looking to go away for 4-5 nights in Aug 2025 to a European City. It will be the first city experience for our 7 year old (normally all inc beach type holidays taken previously). Which would you pick and why?

I'm not sure i'd do any of them in August, they're likely to be very hot! Paris might be bearable but I wouldn't pick any of the others.
Barcelona is amazing but i'd go at May or October half term.

As above. I wouldn't chose August for a tiring city break with lots of walking. Purely because of weather, I would choose Paris. Second choice would be Barcelona as there is a beach.

I’d agree - none of those places will make for a good city break in August, all will be very hot, Paris being the coolest and still all the Parisians clear out for the beach. Can you go another time?

Otherwise maybe look at Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm or Berlin? All great cities and much nicer in August.

None of them! Paris would be best weather-wise, but the city is deserted in August.
Go at October half term instead - most children love Rome.

If it had to be August, you will need to find somewhere further nirth - Amsterdam or Copenhagen perhaps, but not ideal for children.

All of those are very hot (and busy) in August. October half-term is generally a better choice for European city breaks.

I would add to the list for potential consideration:

• Berlin (can also be hot in August)
• Hamburg
• Gdansk
• Copenhagen (combine with Malmo using the bridge)

Of those, Berlin is easily the best city for filling a 4-5 night trip.

Thanks all for your speedy responses and input. My daughter seems to cope with the heat quite well. We were in Dubai in May last year with temps late 30's. I was avoiding May and Oct as I thought the weather may be too unpredictable and cold like in London?

Consider Lisbon - also likely to be unpleasantly hot (would not go to any of your list in August) but the coast and beaches are easily accessible by train from the centre. Barcelona also has city beaches very close to the centre to break up the heat and busy-ness of the city. There’s a good water park reachable by train, too.

Berlin might be OK in August?

There is a big difference between lying by a pool/on the beach/visiting air conditioned malls in the heat and walking around all day in the sun with limited shade. We recently had a city break where temps were low 30s as opposed to the expected mid 20s. We ended up aborting sightseeing after lunch the first day and the kids only criteria thereafter was air conditioning!

I live in Berlin, it’s horrific in August. Maybe not as technically hot as some of the others, but disgusting humidity - and very little air conditioning. And no siesta tradition. I’m not sure there’s anywhere in central/southern Europe I’d want to do a city break in August. Scotland or Norway?

May would be perfect in those places, October slightly more unpredictable but Rome and Athens should be ok.

I think I will reschedule the city break for May 2025 - so many of you saying the same thing cant be wrong! I don't want the heat to be overbearing for DD.

I would also say that 7 is slightly on the young side of ideal for city breaks. They are absolutely brilliant from 10+, especially if your child has any kind of interest in history / art / buildings / museums. At 7, straight from AI as their previous holiday experience, perhaps not so much.

Maybe try a long weekend at a half term - Year 4 is a pretty typical age to cover Romans in history, so that or Athens might be a starting point age 8/9. If they like it, then you could plan others as they get older. As I said, both Barcelona and Lisbon have easily accessible beaches that are fine for an English constitution in late May.

Rome in 2025 isn't going to be a good idea - it's the Catholic Jubilee and I think they're expecting 35 million visitors instead of 13 million. It's going to be absolutely awful to get round in the heat as well as accommodation being really expensive and limited. I'd certainly book attractions months in advance if you do go there at that time!

Barcelona is fab for kids. All the Gaudi architecture/houses is really fun to look at, there is a gorgeous old fun fair overlooking the city and there is a beach. We went when my DS was 5/6 and he loved it. In October, not August though!

You mention Scotland - definitely avoid Edinburgh in August, it's the Festival. Absolutely heaving, accommodation is booked out, and the whole city is on Festival Pricing.

If it's late August (when things might be cooler) I would say Palma out of all of them as you can stay in a hotel by the beach and get a bus into the old town.

Stockholm is another place that would be good and not too hot in August. There's loads of kid-friendly things to do there.

Come to Paris, the hotel prices are lowest in August and the city is quieter which is lovely. You will find a few restaurants closed, but still plenty of places to eat and all of the landmarks will be open. (The great Paris summer shutdown affects residents, really…your cleaner, doctor, dry-cleaner, lawyer, mechanic, plumber, pool, child’s crêche, building’s ‘guardian’ etc. are all unavailable).

If it’s super hot, your hotel has air-conditioning and you can take leisurely walks rather than cramming into the métro (some public transport has aircon too) and enjoy the parks. Museums and historic buildings are also cool!

I think it depends what you are doing in Dubai in those temperatures? If you were on the beach or by the pool or in an air conditioned shopping mall, in those situations it's not a problem, but wandering the streets in 35 degrees heat trying to appreciate the architecture will likely feel a lot hotter. Some days on city breaks we cover 8-10km on foot, which is why I think everyone is suggesting avoid August. We did Rome in December (several years ago) and it was a pleasant 13 degrees. We did Paris in October half-term a couple of years ago and the weather can go either way, we had t-shirt weather, but if you get a few days of wet weather that's fine for most things apart from the Eiffel tower. Porto is good for an August city break. We also did Bilbao along with San Sebastian over 6 days last August, the warmest day was 29 and being northern Spain on the coast the humidity wasn't bad. There are options for August that are better suited than what you have in mind.

We were in Berlin this year August and it was constantly 30 degrees. We were restricted in timing otherwise I wouldn't have done it in Summer.
Sightseeing is just not easy. No air condition in public transport.

We did Paris with a 7 year old in May, real mix of weather but still lots to do and the odd shower wasn't a problem.

Rome - don't do it in 2025.

Amsterdam is a great city for that age and also good in May. We were there in October and had 18 degrees but I think that is not the norm. You can also do it in Summer, easy to link it to a couple of days at the beach/seaside.

We went to Berlin in August this year and it was about 35 degrees. Also been to Budapest and Prague in July one year where it was nearer 40. There is a reason people leave the cities and go to the coast in August. I think May and Sept / Oct are the best months for city breaks - nice weather but usually not to unbearable