It's still the height of summer in Sweden, with warm temperatures, plenty of sunshine, festivals everywhere, and lots of visitors. This is an excellent month for outdoor activities such as kayaking, swimming, cycling, and hiking, though finding solitude is more difficult than in other months. If you choose to stay in the cities, you will find them at their liveliest and full of diverse festivities.

Weather

Sweden is pleasantly warm in August, with highs of 72°F (22°C) in the south, though it's a wet month, while in the far north, it is mild but still sunny and with less of July's heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, the seawater temperature peaks for the year at around 64°F (18°C).

A drawback of visiting the north of Sweden in August is the mosquitoes, which are prevalent due to the humidity. Yet, the staggering beauty of the region is more than ample compensation.

Crowds & Costs

Most holiday destinations this month are just below their July peaks in terms of crowds, and August is a popular month for both Swedes and international visitors to travel around the country. Swedes finish their summer holidays midway through August, though, meaning that the second half of the month sees the crowds lessen. Book accommodation and activities in advance this month, as demand is high. You'll be paying high-season prices wherever you go.

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Where to Go

Stockholm should be on your itinerary: whatever point in the month you visit, there is a festival enlivening the capital, whether that's Stockholm Pride at the beginning of August or the Street Food Festival and Baltic Sea Festival at the end. Also great for festivities this month are Gothenburg, for one of the summer's best music events, Way Out West, and Malmö, for the city's biggest annual festival.

Gotland is another excellent place to head this month: not just for its beaches but also for the medieval festival enlivening historic Visby and, if you like mountain biking, the northeast community of Slite, where one of Sweden's best bike parks beckons.

By Sweden's standards, it's hot in August, so finding a way to cool off is recommended. You do not have to look any further outside Stockholm than the Stockholm Archipelago for this, where thousands of islands and islets, many uninhabited and quite a few seldom-visited, are perfect for exploring by kayak. There are also plenty of opportunities for wild swimming. Another kayaking hotspot is the island-speckled coast of the Kosterhavet Marine National Park which you can explore on a guided kayaking trip or a self-guided kayak adventure. 

The north draws the adventurous this month for its expanses of wilderness. A good introduction to the remote northern countryside is the High Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site bisected by the 80-mile (129-km) High Coast Trail, traversing craggy forests that thickly line the seashore. Sweden's ultimate adventure, meanwhile, is the 280-mile (450-km) Kungsleden trail. The route runs through the Abisko, Stora Sjöfallet, Sarek, and Pieljekaise National Parks, as well as the UNESCO-protected Laponian Area. 

What to Do

It's difficult to avoid the festivals in Sweden this month, especially in Stockholm and Gothenburg. August is also notorious for some of Sweden's wackiest goings-on. See if you can join a traditional crayfish party, a get-together celebrating the fish taking place countrywide on August 8, while the Surströmming celebrations on Ulvön island on the High Coast later in the month are in honor of fermented herring.

It's warm, and the sun is regularly shining, so most people want to be outdoors whenever possible this month. Take to the waters—they're their warmest of the year right now—with a boat trip or kayak ride along the waterways of Stockholm, which fan out into the Stockholm Archipelago, which you can also visit on a guided boat trip or self-guided kayak adventure.

Sweden's lakes are also inviting to plunge into in August. You could do this after experiencing one of Sweden's atmospheric wood-fired saunas somewhere like Lake Örsjön (such saunas are a tradition countrywide, and part of the ritual is the cool-off in the water afterward). Consider breaking up a bicycle ride around the edge of Sweden's and the European Union's largest lake, Lake Vänern, with just such a dip.

Hiking is another popular activity this month. For adventurers hitting the famous Kungsleden trail, the section between Ammarnäs and Jäckvik sees fewer crowds. You could also escape the masses on Southern Sweden's Skåneleden Trail in Skåne county. The 807-mile (1,300-km) route is long enough for solitude-seekers to trek stretches without passing a single soul. Another multi-day trail with ample opportunities for cooling off with interspersed wild swims is the Kustsigen, the coast path leading along the western seaboard from Tjörn near Gothenburg up to Oslo in Norway.

Events in August

Stockholm Pride, Stockholm. The capital's Pride festivities are the largest in Scandinavia and happen in early August.

Kräftskiva, nationwide. Crayfish parties happen across Sweden on August 8, celebrating the crayfish, a popular summertime food. The main event is a party, often with many family and friends, where a big meal involving crayfish and other treats is consumed. 

Way Out West Festival, Gothenburg. One of Europe's best music festivals, held over three days in August.

Malmöfestivalen, Malmö. Malmö's most prominent festival has a bit of everything: groundbreaking art, music, and culture and a vast diversity of international food stalls, held over a weeklong extravaganza.

Stockholm Culture Festival, Stockholm. Music in all its genres, from rock to pop, classical, and jazz, plus dance, stand-up comedy, theater, and film, is one massive celebration of Stockholm's culture in more or less all forms.

Visby Medieval Week, Visby. Visby on the island of Gotland is renowned for its well-preserved medieval center, but this takes on extra magic this month as all kinds of medieval shenanigans take place: expect costumed characters, a fire show, and much more. 

Surströmming, Ulvön. This festival on the island of Ulvön on the High Coast champions the delicacy of fermented herring, with the premiere happening on the third Thursday in August.

Stockholm Street Food Festival, Stockholm. The three big cities of Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Malmö holds Sweden's largest street food festival, with Stockholm hosting festivities this month.

Baltic Sea Festival, Stockholm. This is one of the most highly-regarded fixtures in Sweden's festival calendar: a week or more of classical music spanning late August and early September.

More Helpful Information

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Best Time of Year to Visit Sweden
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