Which trip is best in August?
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Anonymous
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We have 10 days at the beginning of August to take a family vacation with 2 teen boys. We like to mix city and nature. This is for 2026 and I'll be booking by the end of January. Trying to decide which will be the most pleasurable experience in terms of weather, crowds (I know beginning of August will be crowded everywhere), and just overall most fun. We're leaving from D.C.
1. London and Scotland: about 4 days in London (would be first time there for the kids, so we'd do the prime tourist things - Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, etc.) train to Edinburgh - castles, Loch Ness, Inverness, either renting a car (eek driving on the left) or day tour trips. Fly back from Edinburgh Drawbacks - apparently Scotland is VERY crowded in early August, sounds a little complicated to get around in Scotland without a car and worried about the driving. 2. Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges: I love these cities and would love to show them to the kids. We'd also do a day trip from Brussels to Ardennes to get the countryside feel. Easy trains everywhere, I think. Drawbacks - will it be just too hot, Europe is so bad with AC. Too much city/history time? 3. San Francisco and Monterrey/Big Sur/Carmel: We'd spend about 4 days in San Fran - alcatraz, golden gate bridge, etc., rent car to go to Muir Woods then go South of the city and explore Big Sur and coast for 3-4 days. We've never been anywhere out west. Drawbacks - kids think it will be just another American city. I'm a little worried about safety and cleanliness in San Fran. 4. Hawaii - Probably just focus on Kauai, maybe a night or two in honolulu to see Pearl Harbor. Drawbacks - August is the hottest time, it's a really long flight for 10 days, small threat of hurricanes |
Anonymous
| I’m not sure about Europe in August although it might be fine but your SF trip sounds amazing. I love SF/Berkeley. No need to worry about safety there. It’s fine but obviously you have to be a little bit careful when out and about. The bad areas are easy enough to avoid. I would change itinerary to add a few days in Yosemite which is absolutely incredible |
Anonymous
| Another vote for the SF trip. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't go to Europe in August unless you're going to the beach. |
Anonymous
| SF and NoCal always gets my vote. I'd spend less time in the city and explore north more. |
Anonymous
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They all look good. I don't think that 10 days is too short of a trip for flying all the way to Hawaii -- I've been multiple times, and I think 10 days is about right for Hawaii. I'm not a huge fan of London, but I think your teens probably will be, and it's great paired with Scotland, but I haven't been in August. Haven't been to Amsterdam, Brussels or Bruges.
But bottom line: I will always vote for an itinerary that includes Big Sur -- it's my favorite place in the world. I'd do the CA trip for sure. Hell, a visit to Muir Woods can change a life. |
Anonymous
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I have been to all of the places.
I took teen/tween boys to Edinburgh in August a few years back. During the Fringe festival season (unbeknownst to us) and the Edinburgh Tattoo. It was three months after they eliminated the Covid-free to fly rules. So not at max capacity with tourists. I recommend London/Edinburgh if the prices are acceptable to you. We did a fun and pretty comprehensive Rabbies one day bus tour. Saw some mountains and took a short boat cruise on Loch Ness. Make sure you plan around peak fares, lack of air conditioning, and possible train strikes/breakdowns. All of those impacted our trip but it was great anyway. Second choice would be Amsterdam but I'd be tempted to pair it with other cities. |
Anonymous
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August is the best time to visit Scotland— for daylight, weather and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh— which is partly why it gets crowded, but even then it didn’t feel all that crowded to me. (You definitely needed to have reservations for a car and hotel but I didn’t feel like I was fighting hordes of tourists everywhere.)
Anyway I would pick that trip— London is great, train is easy— stopover in York for a night on the way, and Edinburgh is great (esp if you catch the beginning of the Fringe). If you want to see more and don’t want to drive you can take the train or a Rabbies tour. Muir woods is great and 1-2 days around Big Sur can be nice but I don’t think you need 3-4 days there? |
Anonymous
| PS I think Amsterdam/Brussels/Bruges might start to blend together too much? |
Anonymous
| We also did Scotland in August and I don’t remember it being crazy crowded. The tattoo was super fun and we did a few fringe events. We also stayed at Gleneagles, which has a lot to do for teen/tweens (golf, archery, falconry, etc). And they shot an episode or two of Succession there, if you watched that show. We went up to Loch Ness and Inverness, which was fun. I hated driving but DH didn’t mind it too much. Edinburgh also has some Harry Potter related stuff, if your kids might like that. |
Anonymous
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I've also done most of these trips with teens.
1. I haven't been in August but kids loved the variety of activities in London/UK/Scotland, ease of train trips, history, etc. 2. Great but we found it was heavy on museums, which my kids enjoyed but need to be mixed up with other activities. My kids like military history so we saw some WWII sites, also did day trips to Rotterdam & The Hague. 3. SF & CA. Honestly our least favorite of your 4, but kids hadn't been to CA. No noticeable issues with safety/cleanliness in SF, but it's not as lovely as I remembered it from 20 years ago. We added LA, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs. Not enough "fun/interesting" activities per the kids. Yosemite was a hit - and they don't like hiking! 4. Honolulu + Kauai was great. Be sure to see Waimea Canyon, which is spectacular. |
Anonymous
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"kids think it will be just another American city. I'm a little worried about safety and cleanliness in San Fran."
This is wild thinking. JUST another American city? Very odd take. And there's no safety issues in San Fran more than any other city. That's a Fox News sound bite. |
Anonymous
Huh? She's talking about England and Scotland. The weather in London vs Rome is vastly different in August! London is 70-75 in August, Edinburg even cooler. |
Anonymous
On average, but if you get a heat wave (increasingly common) there’s not a lot of American style A/C and you will roast. We were wilting in museums with no a/c. |
Anonymous
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You can actually swim hanalei bay in August. For me, that would mean Kauai. Heat and crowds will be manageable compared to Europe.
If going to Europe, I would do Lofoten and Oslo (trains and ferries) for Viking history and amazing light. |