Still trying to find out if we need air conditioning in Amsterdam late July. We live in Colorado & don't have A/C in our house but want to be comfortable! Any thoughts?

Don't bother with AC in Holland. But do make sure you have a quiet room.

You will be fine without A/C. I was in Holland in july 2004 and it was pretty chilly.

I think that should be amended to say you will be fine most of the time without A/C. Certainly lack of A/C would have been a problem in July and August 2003. But weather.com averages indicate problems are unlikely.

I'm going to Amsterdam in late August and I'm not worrying about A/C at this point - but I will keep a watch on the summer climate.

Do you like humidity? You'll get it in Holland. Yes, you can "live" without A/C but why would you do so? Would you rent a hotel room there in Winter that wasn't heated because people told you "it will be warm enough?"

No-one <b>needs</b> a/c in Amsterdam, ever. But only you can possibly judge how important your <b>desire</b> for it is. And it doesn't help that weather in Amsterdam is just as unpredictable as in the rest of the maritime NW European drizzle belt. Historic averages are virtually useless in a part of the world where you can have all four seasons in a day any time of the year.

People have been living, quite happily, without a/c - even in the hottest July - in Amsterdam for centuries. This is absolutely not a town - like, say, Houston - that's ever more or less uninhabitable without it.

Personally, I've often found Amsterdam hotel rooms rather uncomfortable in July and August, and I certainly switch on the a/c when staying in a hotel with it. But I wouldn't use a/c as a criterion for an Amsterdam hotel. If the price, location and ambience are right, better a/c than not. But a/c's by no meams universal.

Now I'm about as heat-averse as it's possible to get: if I ruled the world, summer would be banned. But I'd much rather stay somewhere nice in Amsterdam without a/c than some horrid modern block with it.

No one can predict how hot and humid it will be when you are there. Just because it was chilly on the particular days that someone was there in july 2004 that does not mean it will be chilly on the particular days you are there in July 2005.

It all depends on how you would be affected if, on the days YOU are there, there happened to be a bad heat wave occuring in Europe. Would it bother you to lose a few nights sleep if it turned out to be very hot and humid? Do you have asthma or some other medical condition that could be impacted by high heat and humidity?

Thanks for all the responses! Food for thought. When I originally researched hotels, it did not seem many had a/c but maybe I need to pose the question to the hotels directly. RufusTfirefly -good points! Last year we lost sleep due to jet lag &amp; that was bad enough. Also, we are used to dry heat in the summer not humidity. If anyone can recommend a centrally located hotel with a/c, I'd appreciate it! Need 2 rooms totaling around 300 Euro.

Consider doing a 4* bid for two rooms on Priceline. You will get A/C rooms that way, and beat your budget most likely.