Coolcation
Where it's cool in August
A coolcation, on this site, is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. August gives you 36 of the 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record this month (of 497 curated in total). The ranking below is by low day-to-day swing, not by which is coldest.
August coolcation options on the ten-year record: 36 of 295 curated destinations with ten-year daily records sit at or below 18°C mean daily high (of 497 curated in total; the remainder do not yet have a full ten-year series for August). The list below ranks them by day-to-day steadiness, not raw temperature.
The coldest reading in the dataset for August is Ushuaia at 6°. The warmest still inside the cool band is Mendoza at 18°. Pack layers, not a coat.
Coolcation is defined here as mean daily high at or below 18°C. That threshold is a firm number, chosen for room-temperature comfort with a light layer. Nothing on this page describes forecasts. The averages are climate.
Displaying historical averages for the month of August.
View full interactive mapTop 10 destinations in August
1.Lake Titicaca, Peru
17°hikingAverages 17° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 17° and 1 rain day on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
2.Colca Canyon, Peru
15°hikingAverages 15° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 15° and 2 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
3.Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Iceland
13°hikingAverages 13° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 13° and 12 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
4.Puerto Varas, Chile
11°hikingAverages 11° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 11° and 15 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
5.Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
14°hikingAverages 14° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 14° and 0 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
6.La Paz, Bolivia
15°soloAverages 15° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 15° and 2 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
7.Margaret River, Australia
16°couplesAverages 16° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 16° and 15 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
8.Mount Everest North Base Camp, China
18°hikingAverages 18° in August with swings barely 2° either side of 18° and 23 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
9.Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
7°hikingAverages 7° in August with a 6° day-to-day spread around 7° and 10 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
10.Perth, Australia
18°cultureAverages 18° in August with a 6° day-to-day spread around 18° and 12 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
Average temperatures by destination
Showing 36 of 80 destinations
| Destination | Country | Avg high | Swings | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ushuaia | Argentina | 6° | - | - |
| Svalbard | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | 7° | - | - |
| San Carlos de Bariloche | Argentina | 8° | - | - |
| Ilulissat | Greenland | 9° | - | - |
| Longyearbyen | Norway | 9° | - | - |
| Queenstown | New Zealand | 10° | - | - |
| Iqaluit | Canada | 11° | - | - |
| Nuuk | Greenland | 11° | - | - |
| Puerto Varas | Chile | 11° | - | - |
| Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon | Iceland | 13° | - | - |
| Qaqortoq | Greenland | 13° | - | - |
| Abisko National Park | Sweden | 14° | - | - |
| Hobart | Australia | 14° | - | - |
| Salar de Uyuni | Bolivia | 14° | - | - |
| Twelve Apostles | Australia | 14° | - | - |
| Colca Canyon | Peru | 15° | - | - |
| High Tatras | Slovakia | 15° | - | - |
| La Paz | Bolivia | 15° | - | - |
| Melbourne | Australia | 15° | - | - |
| Tromsø | Norway | 15° | - | - |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina | 16° | - | - |
| Margaret River | Australia | 16° | - | - |
| Punta del Este | Uruguay | 16° | - | - |
| Bran Castle | Romania | 17° | - | - |
| Lake Titicaca | Peru | 17° | - | - |
| Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka | Russia | 17° | - | - |
| Anchorage | United States | 18° | - | - |
| Bergen | Norway | 18° | - | - |
| Churchill | Canada | 18° | - | - |
| Flinders Ranges | Australia | 18° | - | - |
| Kanas Lake | China | 18° | - | - |
| Lake District | United Kingdom | 18° | - | - |
| Mendoza | Argentina | 18° | - | - |
| Mount Everest North Base Camp | China | 18° | - | - |
| Perth | Australia | 18° | - | - |
| Stellenbosch | South Africa | 18° | - | - |
Readings come from the last ten years of daily weather data, so they reflect the climate as it is now, not as it was decades ago. Data: Visual Crossing global historical archive. How we compute this
Frequently asked
- Where is reliably cool in August?
- In the 12-18°C cool-comfort band, the driest and steadiest August averages on the ten-year record are: Lake Titicaca (17°C, about 1 rain day, a 4° spread); Colca Canyon (15°C, about 2 rain days, a 4° spread). Also dry, but with a wider day-to-day spread: Salar de Uyuni (14°C, about 0 rain days, a 5° spread); Mendoza (18°C, about 0 rain days, an 11° spread).
- What counts as a coolcation in August?
- On this site, a coolcation is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. In August that filters 36 of 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record. The warmest in-band pick is Mendoza at 18°; the steadiest day-to-day is Lake Titicaca with a 4° spread.
- Is August the right month for a coolcation?
- It depends on where you go. In August the ten-year record puts 36 curated destinations at or below 18°C mean daily high. If that count is small, the northern hemisphere is warming and southern-hemisphere hill stations or high-latitude coasts do most of the work. If it is large, the reverse.