Guides: the best places and times to go, from the weather

Where the sun is at Christmas, where spring is best for walking, and when to visit each place for what you want to do there. Each guide ranks real weather, and links straight into the map at the place and time it names.

Sun

Best places for sun at ChristmasWhere late December and early January are warm, dry and bright enough to lie out.Best places for sun in FebruaryThe late-winter escape: where February is reliably warm and bright.Best places for sun at EasterWarm, dry weather from late March to mid April.Best places for sun in MayEarly-summer heat before the crowds and before the worst of it.Best places for sun in late OctoberWhere the half-term fortnight is still properly warm.Where it is still warm in NovemberSunbathing weather in the darkest stretch of the northern autumn.Clear skies and warmth in FebruaryThe least cloud anywhere that also feels warm at midday in February.

Walking

Best places in Europe for a spring walking holidayCool, dry days from mid April to mid May — the weather for long days on foot.Best places in Europe for an autumn walking holidayMid September to mid October: the summer heat gone, the rain not yet in.Where to go walking in JanuaryPlaces where the middle of winter is cool, dry walking weather rather than cold or wet.Cool enough to walk in JulyWhere the height of the northern summer is still mild enough for a long day on foot.

Being outside

Winter in Europe: where you can still sit outsideNot beach weather — nowhere in Europe has that in winter — but mild, dry days for a coffee in the square.The mildest Januaries in EuropeThe European cities with the warmest middle of the day in the coldest month.August without the heatComfortable, dry August days in places that do not feel hotter than 26°C.Best cities for a break in AprilBig cities where April is comfortable for a day on foot between sights.Best cities for a break in OctoberBig cities where October is mild and dry enough to be outside all day.Places that are pleasant most of the yearThe cities with the most weeks a year of comfortable, dry weather for being outdoors.

Snow

Where snow is likeliest at ChristmasCold enough for snow to hold and wet enough for it to fall, over late December and early January.

By region

Best time to visit

When to go, place by place: 224 countries and 517 cities, each with its seasons for being outside, for sun and for walking. See every place.

For example

ManhattanMexico CitySão PauloRomeIstanbulCape TownTbilisiBangaloreTokyoBangkokSydney

Where the numbers come from

Every guide is generated from the same data as the map: a decade of weather-station observations, blended into one typical year and read in ten-day sections at midday. Nothing here is a forecast, and nothing is written by hand: when the data is rebuilt, the rankings are too. Every place and date is a link into the map at that time of year.

Where and when: guides from a decade of weather

Sun