Anywhere but Europe in August!

[petitdonkey]

Hi all,

We want to do a big family trip this summer as this could be a final holiday with all of the children. I’m driving myself mad looking at where to go!

Would like to leave Europe but it’s not the best time weather wise in many places. We’ve done USA many times and don’t fancy experiencing it with Trump..

I keep looking at Thailand or other parts os SE Asia but have been warned the weather isn’t great. Has anyone been at that time? Or Sri Lanka?

Basically, my request is, have you had an amazing ‘big’ holiday in August somewhere other than Europe?

• family of 5 - children 16, 18, 20
• a mix of days out/sightseeing with some beach chill time too

Would really love to hear from anyone that has done something that really worked!

(Has to be August as I’m in education)

Thanks in advance.

We went to Thailand in August with our teen boys in 2023 for 3 weeks. One of the best holidays I have had. We all loved it.

Bangkok, Chang Mai and Samui and back BKK. It’s shoulder season. We had very little rain, and they were dry short showers.September is abysmal for rain.

Canada - Maritime provinces. Lovely weather, extremely pleasant part of the world. Or all the way west to Vancouver.

Friends went to Vietnam in August, heavy rainshowers for a short while but otherwise good but humid.
Same in Thailand.

Safari? Some areas are good for August.

Costa Rica (pacific side may be better in August) - fabulous place
Safari in Africa (Namibia?)
Vietnam

Bali and Lombok, great weather in August, loads to do and brilliant choice of accomodation.

Holidays we’ve done: safari in Kenya and Botswana, Peru and the Galápagos Islands, Borneo, Thailand and Singapore.

Canadian Rockies road trip. Fly into Calgary > Banff > Jasper > Whistler > Vancouver Island and fly out of Vancouver.

Echoing Canada - start on Vancouver island (Vancouver city is a bit meh) go to the pacific coast of the island and work your way back. The surfing is amazing and the wildlife stunning. Then drive from Vancouver to Calgary through the rockies, amazing scenery, the areas that are ski resorts in winter are fab in summer if you like walking and mountain biking and the lakes are mind blowing!

Thailand can be rainy, humid and quite overcast in August. Not the best time to go, but you’d still have lots to do and the teens would love it.

We did Thailand early Aug last year and was a bit worried about the weather but it was fab! I burnt myself in Samui … We did Chiang Mai (also went up to an elephant reserve for a few nights), Bangkok and Koh samui, kids (ds 14 and dd 13) loved it. Internal flights were so easy and food was amazing.

Yes，have been to Bali, Java, British Columbia, Western Australia (northern part) and central Vietnam in July/august

We’ve always had great weather in Thailand in August. Maybe 30 mins of rain once or twice, but totally manageable.

Thank you so much all! I’d love to do safari with them but the 16yr and 20yr olds are lazy feckers and I’m not sure how on board with the early starts they’d be!

you’ve all made me very excited that Thailand or Bali could be an option- I’ve never been to Asia so would love to.

Canada is definitely on my list but think it would be a big trip for me and DH as we’d love to do full sightseeing. The teens want a bit of chill as we have GCSEs, A’levels and finals this year!

The whole “weather in Asia is bad in summer” thing is ridiculous compared to the UK by the way. Same with the Caribbean “rainy season”. I used to live in Asia, I can count on one hand the number of time the weather was awful for an extended period of time (an entire day or longer). Family member lived in the Caribbean for almost 20 years, same situation.

We travelled round the Seychelles in August and everyone loved it and also did Colombia and everyone loved that too.

We’ve done Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam during the Uk summer. All brilliant holidays- hot and pretty humid with downpours now and again but certainly not all the time and it didn’t spoil our trips. Preferred all 3 countries to Indonesia which has been mentioned before.

Go to Nova Scotia. Fly to Halifax, rent a car, drive around. Seashore, beaches, woods, lighthouses, scallops, lobster, bike trails, historic Canada - fabulous. We spent 3 weeks with 4 kids and all absolutely loved it.

I have a friend who lived in Hong Kong for a long time and it was her that advised me not to go in August as it would be too hot. I then found myself looking at turkey which would definitely be too hot for me!!

The Koh Samui side of Thailand is not in rainy season in August, the Phuket side is. But as others have said, it may not matter anyway. I dont think the temperature varies an awful lot in that part of the world!

We were in Thailand for 3 weeks last August and it only rained a couple of times. The phrase of the holiday became "call this the rainy season?!". It's nowhere near as bad as some make out.
We had a wonderful trip.

We did Costa Rica last year and are going to Namibia this summer. As well as a series of USA road trips, we’ve also done northern Australia (Queensland and WA) in the summer. For the next couple of years, we’re looking at Japan, Vietnam, Borneo, Canada (west). Mine don’t do beaches, though.

YYY to this! There would be something for everyone. It's a gorgeous region in August

@mathanxiety@Delphigirl. They might find lots of places in Eastern Canada are already booked up and we fly direct with Air Canada. That could also be pretty booked up. We planned way in advance and would for west coast Canada too.

I would look at Thailand probably. Or Kenya beach resort with a short safari? I actually like South Africa in August. Much lower prices but still good weather. Just not beach weather. There’s also Brazil. Great little beach resorts in the NE. Plus Rio first!

This sounds wonderful, what kind of budget would be needed for a trip like this may I ask?

Asia is a huge continent with enormously varied climates. I won’t generalise about Asia but I did once visit Taiwan in August. We had a great time but it was pretty oppressively hot and humid. I’d go back, but not in August. It’s not the best time of year for Taiwan, Japan etc.