High Summer: The Season That Doesn't End in August

The sea does not read the calendar. It follows the sun at a delay of roughly two months, which is why the water off the Algarve in September is warmer than the same water in June. Everyone goes home anyway.

September beach holidays in Europe rest on one piece of physics. The Atlantic and the Mediterranean take the whole summer to warm, and they peak in late August and September rather than in June. Along the eastern Algarve, the coast of Andalusia, eastern Sicily and the Cyclades, the sea in September runs two to four degrees above its June temperature, the afternoon wind drops, and the beaches thin out in the second week of the month. There is a season inside the season here, and it runs from 15 August to 15 October. We call it High Summer.

Why September beach holidays in Europe beat June

Water holds heat, and it lets go of it slowly. Air temperature peaks in July and early August, but the sea keeps absorbing that heat and only reaches its own maximum weeks later, which is why a Mediterranean coast that felt bracing in June feels like a bath in September. The same lag works in reverse in spring: June sunshine is generous and June water is not. Add the September wind pattern, which is calmer than the Atlantic westerlies of early summer and calmer than the meltemi that scours the Cyclades in July and August, and the swim is not simply warmer. It is smoother.

The second reason is human. European school terms restart in the second week of September, and with them the coast resets. The parasol lines shorten. The lunch you could not book in August is available at two o'clock. The same beach, the same light, a third of the people.

Sea temperature in the Algarve in September

In the eastern Algarve the sea in September sits at around twenty two degrees, roughly two to three degrees above where it stood in June, and it holds near twenty degrees through most of October. The Ria Formosa lagoon warms faster still: the shallow channels between Faro and Fuseta are noticeably milder than open water. The western Algarve behaves differently, because upwelling near Sagres pushes cold Atlantic water to the surface all summer, so Carrapateira in September will always feel sharper than Tavira on the same day. If the temperature of the water matters to the holiday, go east.

The best beaches in Europe in September

The best beaches in Europe in September are the ones that were unreachable in August. Four coasts hold the argument.

The eastern Algarve. The barrier islands of the Ria Formosa are reached only by boat, which is their protection. The ferry from Olhão to Armona takes about fifteen minutes, and the ocean side of the island is a single unbroken beach with a handful of people on it. Praia do Barril at Tavira has the old tuna anchors rusting in the dunes behind it. Ilha Deserta has one restaurant and nothing else. Read the full case in The Algarve in September, and for the coast further north, A Paradise Called Portugal.

Andalusia. Two different seas within two hours of each other. On the Atlantic side, Bolonia and Zahara de los Atunes give you dunes, wind and grilled tuna. On the Mediterranean side, Marbella and Puerto Banús keep the warmest water on mainland Spain into October, and Cabo de Gata further east has the emptiest: Mónsul and Los Genoveses, volcanic and undeveloped. Spain: The Long Summer to October.

Sicily. Italy empties on 1 September with a precision that borders on the ceremonial. Isola Bella below Taormina, the coves inside the Vendicari reserve near Noto, San Vito Lo Capo in the far west. The sea here is the warmest of the four coasts, and the granita is still cold. Italy After August.

The Cyclades. The meltemi, the north wind that flattens umbrellas through July and August, usually eases in September. Kolimbithres on Paros, Plaka and Firiplaka on Milos, Vathi on Sifnos, which is a single bay with a church at one end. By late September the ferries thin and the tavernas keep their tables outside until the light goes.

Where is warm in Europe in October?

In October the reliable warmth in Europe sits on a short list: the Canary Islands, southern Crete, eastern Sicily, Malta, Cyprus and the eastern Algarve. Air temperatures in the mid to high twenties are normal, and the sea, still carrying August, is often more comfortable than the air at eight in the morning. Rain arrives as an event rather than a season. Past the middle of October the calculation changes and the search moves south, which is where Winter Sun Destinations: Where to Go When Europe Turns Cold begins.

A swimsuit named after a place

Sofia Godinho, the Portuguese swimwear and jewellery label, names each piece after a place. It is not decoration. It is a map of where the brand thinks you should be, and in High Summer the map reads almost like an itinerary.

What we would pack for High Summer

Less than in July, and more considered. The September light is lower and warmer, which flatters plain shapes and strong colour equally, and the days now have two halves rather than one: a long morning in the water, and an evening that asks for a jacket by ten o'clock. Two swimsuits and one bikini cover a week. We would take Taormina for the days that begin in the sea and end at a table, and Armona for the crossings and the sand bars, and browse the rest of the High Summer swimwear edit or the full Sofia Godinho swimwear collection before deciding.

Golden jewellery does the rest of the work, because September evenings are darker earlier and metal reads better in low light. Hoops in the day, something with weight after eight. Our guide to wearing golden jewellery the Riviera way covers the water question, and the golden jewellery collection holds the pieces that never leave the case.

High Summer, in Four Parts

THE SEASON: High Summer: The Season That Doesn't End in August
PORTUGAL: The Algarve in September
SPAIN: Spain: The Long Summer to October
ITALY: Italy After August