Big cities where October is mild and dry enough to be outside all day. 45 places with a guide of their own in Africa south of the Sahara were scored in October, and 12 rate Good or better. The nine below lead, spread across the region.
The shortlist
- 187 · IdealPort LouisMauritius
A typical midday in October feels like 24°C, and the Easy outdoors rating averages 87 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from May to November, so there is room either side. See mid October on the map.
- 274 · GoodWindhoekNamibia
Rated 74 (Good) for easy outdoors in October: midday feels like 25°C, with mostly clear skies. It rates Good or better all year, not just now. Open it on the map at mid October.
- 373 · GoodJohannesburgSouth Africa
Midday in October feels like 21°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 73, Good, for easy outdoors. Good weather here runs from mid August to May, so there is room either side. See mid October on the map.
- 473 · GoodDurbanSouth Africa
A typical midday in October feels like 21°C, and the Easy outdoors rating averages 73 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from April to mid December. Open it on the map at mid October.
- 573 · GoodArushaTanzania
Rated 73 (Good) for easy outdoors in October: midday feels like 24°C, with often cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from April to mid November, so there is room either side. See mid October on the map.
- 670 · GoodAsmaraEritrea
Midday in October feels like 23°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 70, Good, for easy outdoors. The good spell lasts about four and a half months, from mid June to mid October. Open it on the map at mid October.
- 769 · GoodSaint-DenisReunion
A typical midday in October feels like 25°C, and the Easy outdoors rating averages 69 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from mid May to mid November, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See mid October on the map.
- 864 · GoodCape TownSouth Africa
Rated 64 (Good) for easy outdoors in October: midday feels like 19°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from October to early June. Open it on the map at mid October.
- 958 · GoodKampalaUganda
Midday in October feels like 27°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 58, Good, for easy outdoors. Good weather here runs from April to mid October, so there is room either side. See mid October on the map.
How this list is worked out
The data
Every figure comes from a decade of weather-station observations, blended into one typical year and read at midday, local solar time. Scores here are averaged in October; a city missing a reading for any part of that stretch is left out rather than scored on part of it.
The rating
Easy outdoors: A comfortable feels-like gates the score — best 16–26 °C for an easy day out (strolling, sitting out, sightseeing). Dryness matters most; strong wind knocks it back. Sun is a bonus, not required. A place is also left out when its typical readings contradict its own rating, for example a high score alongside frequent rain.
The spread
To keep one warm corner from filling the list, entries are at least 150 km apart, no more than three sit within 1,000 km of each other, and no more than three come from one country unless the list would otherwise run short.
Only places that draw visitors
Towns and cities with plenty of hotels, guest houses and holiday lets nearby for their size, or a great many of them in all, counted from Overture Maps Places, an open dataset. That keeps out places the weather favours but nobody travels to. Where two places share one resort or city, the one a visitor would name is kept.
The dotted links open the map at that place and time of year, on the same layer. The map remembers the time of day you last chose there; set it to midday to see these exact numbers.