Where to go in August

August is one of the even months — the shoulder seasons line up on both sides of the equator, so the list below spans 12 northern and 12 southern destinations. That makes it one of the better months for going somewhere unusual rather than somewhere obvious. On the scoring used here, the strongest single destination in August is Arequipa — 25.3 °C, rain on 0 days, and 100 out of 100.

Against July, the map has moved: Tri-Cities (+21), Boise (+19) and Sacramento (+18) improve most sharply on July, while Alexandria (-20), Évora (-19) and Goiânia (-15) fall away fastest. Those are the places where a fortnight's difference in your dates changes the trip.

Depending on what you are actually after in August: for heat with low odds of rain, Kayseri at 32.9 °C across 1 wet day, for the driest month outright, Hurghada with 0 rain days and for mild rather than hot, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at 24 °C with 1 rain day.

Every strong destination this month is also in its own high season, which is the trade August asks you to accept: the weather is not the constraint, the price is.

Ranked on a 0–100 score combining temperature, rain days, heavy-rain days and humidity, computed from NASA POWER daily data 2001–2020. Capped at three cities per country so the list stays useful rather than becoming one coastline.

Best August destinations

1. 1 Arequipa Peru 25.3 °C and notably dry air at 32% humidity.
2. 2 San Francisco United States 23.6 °C, lows of 13.2 °C, rain on 0 days.
3. 3 Irvine United States 23.1 °C, lows of 18.9 °C, rain on 0 days.
4. 4 Port Said Egypt 27.3 °C, lows of 26.4 °C, rain on 0 days.
5. 5 Alice Springs Australia 24.6 °C and notably dry air at 35% humidity.
6. 6 Firá Greece 25.6 °C, lows of 23 °C, rain on 1 day.
7. 7 Johannesburg South Africa 21 °C and notably dry air at 44% humidity.
8. 8 Pretoria South Africa 24.6 °C and notably dry air at 39% humidity.
9. 9 Córdoba Argentina 23.2 °C and notably dry air at 55% humidity.
10. 10 San Miguel de Tucumán Argentina 25.8 °C and notably dry air at 46% humidity.
11. 11 Lisbon Portugal 23 °C, lows of 17.9 °C, rain on 1 day.
12. 12 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Spain 24 °C, though at 84% humidity it feels heavier than the number suggests.
13. 13 Tangier Morocco 27.3 °C, lows of 21.5 °C, rain on 1 day.
14. 14 Salta Argentina 27.3 °C and notably dry air at 42% humidity.
15. 15 Funchal Portugal 23.1 °C, lows of 20.5 °C, rain on 2 days.
16. 16 Townsville Australia 27.2 °C, lows of 16.4 °C, rain on 2 days.
17. 17 Airlie Beach Australia 24.2 °C, lows of 17.4 °C, rain on 3 days.
18. 18 Málaga Spain 27.8 °C, lows of 23.2 °C, rain on 1 day.
19. 19 Aveiro Portugal 26.8 °C, lows of 16.5 °C, rain on 3 days.
20. 20 Eugene United States 27.7 °C by day falling to 12.9 °C overnight — hot afternoons, cool sleeping.
21. 21 Zanzibar Tanzania 27.2 °C, lows of 24.2 °C, rain on 4 days.
22. 22 Lima Peru 28.6 °C, lows of 19.8 °C, rain on 0 days.
23. 23 Nice France 25.8 °C, but wetter than most here at 5 rain days — it earns its place on temperature.
24. 24 Cusco Peru Cooler than most of this list at 18.2 °C — the option if heat is the thing you are avoiding.

Where to avoid in August

• Ludhiana India 20 days above 35 °C — the month is the problem, not a heatwave within it.
• Ushuaia Argentina Highs of 3.6 °C, and 17 nights below freezing.
• Akureyri Iceland 20 rain days, 3 of them heavy.
• Guwahati India Rain on 26 of 31 days.
• Hermosillo Mexico 21 days above 35 °C — the month is the problem, not a heatwave within it.
• Marrakesh Morocco 29 days above 35 °C — the month is the problem, not a heatwave within it.
• Sharm el-Sheikh Egypt 31 days above 35 °C — the month is the problem, not a heatwave within it.
• Te Anau New Zealand 22 rain days, 4 of them heavy.

Other months