The cities with the most weeks a year of comfortable, dry weather for being outdoors. Of 68 towns and cities that draw visitors in Africa south of the Sahara, 63 have at least one Good stretch; these are the ones where it lasts longest.
The list
- 1Good all yearNairobiKenya
There is no bad season here: every part of the year rates Good or better for being outside. Its weakest stretch still averages 85, Ideal. At its best in late May.
- 2Good all yearWindhoekNamibia
Easy outdoors rates Good or better in every ten-day section of the year. Its weakest stretch still averages 55, Good. At its best in mid April.
- 3Good all yearPolokwaneSouth Africa
There is no bad season here: every part of the year rates Good or better for being outside. Its weakest stretch still averages 57, Good. At its best in mid May.
- 4Good 35 of 36SwakopmundNamibia
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 35 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about eleven and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 48, Fair. At its best in late December.
- 5Good 34 of 36EntebbeUganda
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 34 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about eleven and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 47, Fair. At its best in early July.
- 6Good 33 of 36KnysnaSouth Africa
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 33 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about eleven months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 47, Fair. At its best in early May.
- 7Good 32 of 36AntananarivoMadagascar
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 32 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about ten and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 46, Fair. At its best in early October.
- 8Good 32 of 36East LondonSouth Africa
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 32 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about ten and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 50, Fair. At its best in late February.
- 9Good 29 of 36NdolaZambia
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 29 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about nine and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 24, Poor. At its best in mid July.
- 10Good 25 of 36ArushaTanzania
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 25 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about eight and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 45, Fair. At its best in mid June.
- 11Good 24 of 36Sal ReiCabo Verde
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 24 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about eight months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 8, Poor. At its best in late December.
- 12Good 21 of 36Grand BaieMauritius
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 21 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about seven months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 16, Poor. At its best in mid September.
- 13Good 15 of 36LivingstoneZambia
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 15 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about five months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 19, Poor. At its best in mid June.
- 14Good 15 of 36MaputoMozambique
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 15 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about five months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 10, Poor. At its best in late July.
- 15Good 7 of 36SaliSenegal
Easy outdoors rates Good or better for 7 of the year’s 36 ten-day sections, about two and a half months in all. Its weakest stretch still averages 0, Poor. At its best in late January.
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 across the whole year; 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.
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.