The August Vanishing

Italy in August is a surreal travel story most tourists never understand.

“What are your plans for summer?” , a classmate turns to me and asks, between a busy class lesson.

Presuming she was talking about June, I told her I hadn’t really thought much about it yet. She shook her head almost immediately. “No, no — not June. August.” The way she said it made it sound less like a month and more like a pre-scheduled holiday that must be planned, almost now. 

I laughed and said I had no idea what I was doing in August, that it was still three months away, after all. But she looked genuinely surprised, almost concerned. She explained that you have to have plans for August, that the entire city empties out. And she didn’t mean the kind of plans you make for a long weekend. She meant real plans. Which meant week-long departures, suitcases, train tickets browsed, booked and buttoned-down. 

Apparently, I had been oblivious to something every local seemed to know. All of Italy slips into holiday mode in August, a near-mythical 3-week long pause from work, pressure, and routine. Even in Milan, a city that otherwise pretends it doesn’t know how to stop.

But I underestimated my friend. How bad could it be to just stay at home? I planned to stay through Milan in August, embracing my dolce far niente life in my small apartment, writing, reading, finishing up academic work. Soon to realise the emptying streets under my balcony. 

It begins politely. The neighbourhood osteria closes for a week. A small white sign on its door: Chiuso per ferie. Closed for the holidays. Then another. And another. The nearest mercato, whose aisles of cheese and bread were otherwise chirping with busy Italian women greeting each other, now were almost unrecognizable with an extending silence in midday. 

Milan, so full of routines the rest of the year, loses its chaos in August, thinning into silence that’s bittersweet. And if you don’t know how the month works, you are left walking in circles around piazza’s, mildly hungry if you step out at mealtimes and subtly panicked, holding a phone full of saved places that are no longer open. 

In case you plan to visit Italy in August, here are top recommended places I learnt from locals where you can flock to, so that you don’t find yourself in the same boat as I did!  (ps. A little away from the usually overcrowded Amalfi coasts)

1. PUGLIA

If Italians have a favourite long-summer hideaway in the south, Puglia is it. Stretching along the Adriatic and Ionian seas, this region is where Italians go to chase crystal waters, whitewashed towns, and seafood straight from the morning catch.

2. LIGURIAN COAST : Cinque Terre and More

When Romans and Milanese think “sea” in August, they hear the word ligure, the Ligurian Sea. The classic draw is Cinque Terre, a string of five cliffside villages, if you love yourself a little trek by the sea. 

The local-favourite activities include swimming off rocky ledges in early morning light, picnicking on olive-grove slopes above the sea, and lingering into an  evening for pesto, focaccia, and a glass of Sciacchetrà with sunset views that feel impossibly still.

3. SARDINIA
   

The island is a perennial favourite among Italians for its clear waters and beach clubs that stay lively all month long. Vacations are mostly buzzing with huge groups of families and friends sprawling over summer lawns for evening parties and long, lazy, wholesome brunches.