August is the cheapest month for a hotel in Paris and Rome
4 min read
In our 2026 data, a 3-star hotel in Paris or Rome cost about half as much in August as in late spring, then nearly doubled again in September. Edinburgh did the opposite.
August is peak holiday season in Europe, so it is natural to expect the big capitals to be at their most expensive. Our data says the opposite. Among the months we have tracked so far (May to November 2026), August was the cheapest month to book a 3-star hotel in Paris and Rome, by a wide margin.
Prices fell by half, then doubled back
We record the average nightly price of 3-star hotels in each city every day, for a stay booked 15 days in advance. Averaged by check-in month:
- Paris went from $362 in June to $180 in August, a drop of 50%. In September it was back at $342.
- Rome went from $357 in May to $182 in August, a drop of 49%. In September it was back at $338.
The cheapest single night we recorded all year in Paris was Sunday, August 30 ($157). In Rome it was Sunday, August 23 ($168). For comparison, the most expensive nights were $478 in Paris (Wednesday, June 17) and $431 in Rome (Friday, May 15).
The 4-star numbers tell the same story. Paris fell from $494 in June to $298 in August, and Rome from $474 in May to $256.
It is not only Paris and Rome
August was also the cheapest tracked month in London, Berlin and Vienna. The effect is smaller there, but the direction is the same: London was 24% below its July average, and Vienna was 28% below May.
| Check-in month | Paris | Rome | London | Berlin | Vienna | Edinburgh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | $308 | $357 | $243 | $198 | $202 | $292 |
| June | $362 | $293 | $285 | $212 | $180 | $285 |
| July | $251 | $217 | $294 | $161 | $155 | $298 |
| August | $180 | $182 | $223 | $141 | $145 | $375 |
| September | $342 | $338 | $289 | $267 | $180 | $313 |
| October | $335 | $340 | $278 | $181 | $182 | $249 |
| November (to the 27th) | $241 | $220 | $277 | $163 | $165 | $199 |
Average nightly price in USD, 3-star hotels, booked 15 days in advance, check-ins from May 1 to November 27, 2026.
The exception: Edinburgh
The last column shows why "August is cheap in Europe" would be the wrong lesson. In Edinburgh, August was the most expensive month we tracked: $375 a night, 31% above June. August is when the city hosts its festivals, and hotel prices follow the crowds.
Why would a capital be cheap in high season?
The data shows what happened, not why. The usual explanation is that hotels in large capitals depend heavily on business travel, conferences and trade fairs, and that activity mostly stops in August. Leisure visitors do not fill the gap, in part because many of them head for the coast instead. September, when work travel resumes, is when prices jump back.
That reading fits the pattern above: the cities with the steepest August dip are the ones that recover most sharply in September.
What this means if you are planning a trip
- Flexible on dates? In 2026, August was the cheapest time to stay in Paris or Rome, from the first week to the last. By mid-September, the average price was nearly twice as high.
- Check the city, not the continent. A festival or a major event can turn the cheapest month into the most expensive one, as in Edinburgh.
- Watch September. It was at or near the top of the range in Paris, Rome, London and Berlin.
How to read these numbers
A few limits are worth keeping in mind:
- The data covers check-ins from April 25 to November 27, 2026, so it includes a single summer and no winter months yet. The monthly averages use May 1 to November 27, and "cheapest month" means cheapest among May to November.
- Prices are for 2 adults, 1 night, with breakfast included, at hotels with a review score of 7 or more.
- Monthly figures are averages of the daily city averages. Days when a city was nearly sold out are left out, because the few rooms that remain are not representative.
- All prices are for bookings made 15 days before check-in. Booking earlier or later can change the picture.
The charts on this page are live, so you can see whether the pattern holds as new data comes in.
