How hot will it be in July /August??
 

I was planning a trip to southwest Germany this summer. I am a teacher and I have to go at this time. I am a person who ALWAYS uses Air Conditioning. Most of the places I am interested in staying at do not have AC. How uncomfortable will I be? Should I wait until I retire and can visit in May or October? What months do you consider the best for this region weatherwise?? Thanks for any advise.

Kathy

The two summers we were in Germany the weather was both hot and humid. In Aachen I could leave the hotel room (with a/c, thank goodness) for no more than 20 to 30 minutes before having to return and take a shower. Two years ago, of course, was the summer of terrific heat; this year wasn't so bad. So it's hard to predict, but if you don't have a hotel with a/c you could be uncomfortable.

This summer, although it was considered cool, I would have been uncomfortable without A/C in our hotel room in Berlin, which is rather further north than you are considering. Then again, if we had been able to leave the balcony doors and windows open all night (we were on a noisy street), maybe I could have done okay without the A/C.

We were in Germany and France in June 2002. It was hot, hot, hot. Wished we had A/C. ((b))

If you always use a/c, you will want to have it in Germany. Hot and humid in the summer. If the hotel doesn't have a/c and you can't afford to pay for one that does, check to see what the cross ventilation is like and spend your day out of the hotel and evening in a beer garden.

It isn't so much the heat as it is the humidity that you need air conditioning for whichg is why swamp coolers work so well in desert areas.

I would not even CONSIDER staying in a hotel in Bavaria in July or August that does NOT offer air conditioning..and believe me, plenty of German hotels do not offer it. And I am not convinced spending your evening outside IN the heat and humidity would be much better.


Mid to late September and into October would be times when the weather is still very pleasant (in my experience) and you won't need A/C; you could probably say the same for late Spring.

Have a great trip.

Last time I was in Bavaria (2002), I was surprised to find a mosquito or two in my bedroom. I doubt if they were malarial but they were a b. nuisance. I think this was more a feature of the extremely heavy rain they had had that summer than major heat.

I'm planning my first trip to Germany next June (4-19). Will we need A/C that early in the season? (Rhine river area, Bavaria). Thanks

Folks, why are you asking here? Every experience will be different. If you want specific seasonal averages for specific destinations go to www.weatherbase.com Then, you be the judge if you need AC. We Floridians may differ from the Canucks.

Gez... I hate to see the solution be air conditioning or don't go... We did southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. this summer... I was on the cheap and never had airconditioning (that being said, I really don't like air conditioning and live where you would never have it) Austria and So. Germany were pretty uncomfortable... It was nice to eat outside in the shade - but several days of sightseeing, etc. were very hot.... and the room at night was warm. But if you could go to a higher elevation - a mtn. town, it would be fine. Switzerland was wonderful - and very cool at night - we stayed in Lauterbrunnen.

No one can guarantee whether or not it will be hot enough to require air conditioning next June or July or August. However, it can be hot enough in any of those months that it would be very uncomfortable without it.

When we went to Bavaria and the Mosel in early-mid June 2002, we checked all the 10 day forecasts. All said it would be typical June weather-Highs in the low 70s. The fifth day we were there, it hit 90. On the 10th day it hit 100--and humid. Certainly way above average, but that's the thing about averages--the old joke is that a man with his head in the freezer and his feet in the oven is comfortable on average.

SW Germany, your destination, is the hottest part of the country, especially the valley of the Rhine. I lived in Freiburg for 3 years, which qualifies as Germany's warmest/hottest city, both winter and summer. Temperatures above 30C are standard in the summer, and the thermometer hits 35/36/37C (high 90's) frequently. Didn't have A/C but, had fans on all the time - would not have been able to sleep otherwise....

Every time we have been in Germany---Paris for that matter too--whenever we come out of a museum or air conditioned place, I think surely we must have been somehow transported to Disney World at its summer peak of heat. It is the only place I have ever been that equals the intense heat of summer in many European countries.