August is the warmest month of the Venetian year and the one with the warmest nights. Over the 1991 to 2020 reference period the daily maximum averages 27.4 degrees C and the overnight minimum 20.1 degrees C, the highest overnight figure of any month, and in an average August about 25 of the 31 afternoons reach 25 degrees C and about 6 reach 30 degrees C (Open-Meteo, 2026).

It is also wetter than July. August averages 83.4 mm of rain over about 8.5 wet days, against 59.9 mm in July, and the total swings hard from year to year: 190.9 mm fell in August 2002 and 8.2 mm in August 2011 (Open-Meteo, 2026). When it rains it usually arrives as a thunderstorm on a hot afternoon. The sea is at its warmest, averaging 26.7 degrees C off the Lido across the three Augusts of 2023 to 2025 (Open-Meteo, 2026).

Deep flooding does not happen. Of the 324 tides of 110 cm or more measured at Venice between 1872 and 2019, none fell in August, and July and August are the only two months in the register with a count of zero (ISPRA, Comune di Venezia & CNR-ISMAR, 2026). The cost side is unusually simple as well: under the 2026 calendar the access fee season closed on 26 July, so no August day carried a charge (Venice Visit Pass, 2026). This page sets out the August figures, the tide record, what Ferragosto does to opening hours, where the Film Festival actually falls, and what the month costs.

What is the weather like in Venice in August?

Hot, humid and thundery, with the warmest nights of the year. Over the 1991 to 2020 reference period the daily maximum averages 27.4 degrees C and the overnight minimum 20.1 degrees C (Open-Meteo, 2026). That overnight figure is the highest of any month, 0.3 degrees above July, and it is what makes August feel heavier than the raw afternoon temperature suggests: about 16 of the 31 nights stay at 20 degrees C or more and about 6 stay at 22 degrees C or more.

Afternoons are reliably warm. Effectively every one of the 31 days reaches 20 degrees C in an average year, about 25 reach 25 degrees C, about 6 reach 30 degrees C and about 2 reach 32 degrees C. The warmest August afternoon in the reanalysis series was 34.1 degrees C on 1 August 2018 and the coolest August night 11.6 degrees C on 29 August 1995.

Rain is the real difference from July. August averages 83.4 mm over about 8.5 wet days, against 59.9 mm over 7.9 days in July and 76.7 mm in June, and the wettest single August day in the period delivered 61.1 mm, on 3 August 2020 (Open-Meteo, 2026). Sunshine still runs to about 379 hours, third in the year behind July on 415 and June on 388.

How hot does Venice get in August?

Hot enough that the shade matters, and the record is worse than the average. Station observations at Venezia Tessera run above the reanalysis grid cell, because the recording site sits off the water: across the 586 August days the series covers, the mean maximum is 28.4 degrees C and the mean minimum 19.7 degrees C, with 35.3 degrees C the warmest August afternoon, on 4 August 2017, and 11.0 degrees C the coolest August night, on 31 August 2010 (Meteostat, 2026). About 6 afternoons a year pass 30 degrees C at the station.

The two records disagree about which month is hottest, and the gap is small either way. The reanalysis puts August 0.1 degrees above July at the top of the day, while the station series puts July 0.2 degrees above August. Treat them as the same month for planning.

Single days go far higher than any of these means. The highest temperature recorded anywhere in the lagoon in 2025 was 38.2 degrees C on 10 August at the Lido Meteo station, and August shared with November the widest spread of daily maxima in that year, about 16 degrees between its hottest and coolest afternoons (ISPRA, 2026). The sea is the one dependable relief: mean sea surface temperature off the Lido runs at 26.7 degrees C in August, its annual peak, against 26.1 in July and 24.5 in September (Open-Meteo, 2026).

Does Venice flood in August?

Not at the depths people picture, though the shallow figure surprises visitors. Tide heights are measured against the Punta della Salute datum of 1897, and 80 cm above it is where the lowest ground in Piazza San Marco begins to flood (ISPRA, 2026).

At 110 cm the August record is empty. Of the 324 tides of 110 cm or more recorded at Venice between 1872 and 2019, not one fell in August, and July and August are the only two months with a count of zero. November holds 108 of the 324, December 79, October 45, February 36, January 28, March 11, April 8, May 5, June 2 and September 2 (ISPRA, Comune di Venezia & CNR-ISMAR, 2026). No August event appears among the 25 exceptional tides of 140 cm or more either. Since MOSE entered service, the 61 events of 110 cm or more logged between 2020 and 2024 contain one August reading, 115 cm at 19.30 on 28 August 2023, measured at the offshore Acqua Alta platform rather than in the city.

The 80 cm threshold is a different story. In 2025 August recorded 17 tide maxima at or above 80 cm, level with March and October and second only to November on 26, and its monthly mean sea level ran about 8 cm above its 2005 to 2024 average (ISPRA, 2026). Low water is an August non-event: all 41 tides of 90 cm below datum or lower recorded from 1923 to 2024 fall between December and March.

Ferragosto and the 15 August holiday

The 15th is a public holiday across Italy. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is listed among the civil holidays in article 2 of Law 260 of 27 May 1949, alongside all Sundays, 25 April, 1 May, 1 November and Christmas (Normattiva, 2026). In 2027 it falls on a Sunday, so it is a holiday twice over (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2026).

That doubling has a practical consequence inside the Basilica di San Marco. From Monday to Saturday the basilica opens at 09.30, with last access at 16.45 and closing at 17.15, while on Sundays and public holidays the basilica itself does not open until 14.00, with the Museum and the Loggia dei Cavalli still opening at 09.30 (Procuratoria di San Marco, 2026). On 15 August 2027 both rules point the same way, so plan the basilica for the afternoon and the Loggia for the morning.

The Doge's Palace is unaffected. Its summer hours of 09.00 to 19.00, with last admission at 18.00, run from 1 April to 31 October, holidays included (Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, 2026). The Campanile keeps summer hours too, opening at 09.30 with last access between 20.00 and 20.30 and closing at 21.15 (Procuratoria di San Marco, 2026).

Is the Venice Film Festival in August?

Partly, in some years, and not at all in others. The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world, first held in 1932, and it runs on the Lido rather than in the historic centre (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). Its dates sit across the turn of the month and have drifted later recently.

The published record makes the pattern plain. The 81st edition ran from 28 August to 7 September 2024 and the 82nd from 27 August to 6 September 2025, so each put four or five of its days inside August. The 83rd edition ran from 2 to 12 September 2026 and fell entirely outside August, selling 117,656 tickets, up 14 per cent on the previous year (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). No dates for the 84th edition had been published when this page was checked, and the Biennale's 2027 cinema page was not yet live, so treat late August 2027 as possible rather than confirmed.

Two other fixtures bracket the month. The 20th International Architecture Exhibition runs from 8 May to 21 November 2027, which covers every day of August (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). The Regata Storica, the rowing race and historic water procession down the Grand Canal, is always held on the first Sunday of September, which in 2027 is 5 September (Comune di Venezia, 2026). Both sit just outside an August visit at either end.

What does a visit to Venice in August cost?

August was the cheapest month of the 2026 season on one line of the budget. The city access fee applied on 60 days from 3 April to 26 July 2026, between 08.30 and 16.00, so no August day carried a charge at all. When it does apply the fee is 10.00 EUR, or 5.00 EUR for anyone who pays by the fourth to last day before arrival, and guests already paying the overnight tourist tax in a hotel or B&B are exempt (Venice Visit Pass, 2026). No 2027 calendar had been published when this page was checked, so treat the 2026 pattern as a guide rather than a promise.

Transport is priced the same all year. A single 75 minute Rete Unica ticket costs 9.50 EUR, and travel cards cost 25.00 EUR for one day, 35.00 for two, 45.00 for three and 65.00 for seven; travellers aged 6 to 29 can buy a three day Rolling Venice card for 27.00 EUR on top of a 6.00 EUR card. A return waterbus ticket to the Lido beaches on route 14 costs 16.00 EUR and must be completed by midnight on the day it is first validated (ACTV, 2026).

The main museum ticket is 35.00 EUR standard and 15.00 EUR reduced, or 30.00 EUR bought online at least 30 days ahead, covering the Doge's Palace, the Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana rooms (Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, 2026).

Is August a good time to visit Venice?

It is the right month for warm water and long evenings, and the wrong one for cool sightseeing. The case for it starts with daylight. On 1 August 2027 Venice gets 14 h 48 min between sunrise and sunset, with the sun setting at 20.41 local time and civil twilight running to about 21.13; by 15 August the day is 14 h 11 min, and by 31 August it is down to 13 h 24 min with sunset at 19.53 (Sunrise-Sunset.org, 2026). The month costs about 1 h 24 min of daylight from end to end, and the late sunsets are what make an evening walk work when the afternoon does not.

Late openings help. Through the 2026 season the Doge's Palace and the Correr Museum stayed open until 23.00 every Friday and Saturday from 1 May to 26 September, with last admission at 22.00 (Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, 2026). The Campanile's last access between 20.00 and 20.30 puts the view over the lagoon within reach after the heat has gone out of the day (Procuratoria di San Marco, 2026).

The Lido is the other argument. The sea reaches its annual peak of 26.7 degrees C in August and the beaches are a 16.00 EUR return fare away on route 14 (Open-Meteo, 2026; ACTV, 2026). Against all of that, set nights at 20 degrees C or more for roughly half the month, and thunderstorms that drop up to 61 mm in a day.