The easiest time to travel in Europe is from late May to mid September: most of its destinations are comfortable to be outside then. Below, the best places for each month, and every country’s own seasons, across 48 countries and 1,033 destinations.
Month by month
For each month, the best places in Europe for being outside, for sun at the seaside and for walking, read at midday and spread across the region. Each name opens the map there, in the middle of that month, on that rating.
- January — Being outside: Arrecife. Walking: Almería, Larnaca, Valletta.
- February — Being outside: Arrecife. Walking: Alicante, Paphos, Catania.
- March — Being outside: Arrecife, Nicosia, Torre-Pacheco. Walking: Castellón de la Plana, Paralímni, Kalamáta.
- April — Being outside: Arrecife, Paphos, Argostóli. Walking: Cannes, Valletta, Ágios Nikólaos.
- May — Being outside: Castellón de la Plana, Catania, Kálymnos. Walking: Santander, Angra do Heroísmo, Solihull.
- June — Being outside: Angra do Heroísmo, Los Llanos de Aridane, Gibraltar. Sun: Paralímni, Alicante, Vlorë. Walking: Cherbourg, Karlshamn, Rovaniemi.
- July — Being outside: Gijón, Ponta Delgada, Sigulda. Sun: Ibiza, Kavála, Castellammare del Golfo. Walking: Cherbourg, Hudiksvall, Kirkwall.
- August — Being outside: Gijón, Gdańsk, Cromer. Sun: Kavála, Fuengirola, Cannes. Walking: Dublin, Hudiksvall, Selfoss.
- September — Being outside: Gijón, Rimini, Ponta Delgada. Sun: Paphos, Alicante, Valletta. Walking: Enköping, Hereford, Nové Město na Moravě.
- October — Being outside: Cannes, Vlorë, Faro. Sun: Larnaca. Walking: Chartres, Ohrid, Frankfurt (Oder).
- November — Being outside: Paphos, Arrecife, Catania. Walking: Cannes, Faro, Vólos.
- December — Being outside: Arrecife, Larnaca, Almería. Walking: Almería, Paralímni, Valletta.
Country by country
Each country’s main season, where most of its cities agree. “Varies by place” means no stretch suits most of the country at once; its own guide splits it up.
| Country | Being outside | Sun | Walking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | late Sep to mid Nov | late Aug to mid Sep | late Jan to early May |
| Andorra | Jul | rarely good | May to Sep |
| Austria | late May to mid Sep | rarely good | Apr to mid Jun |
| Belgium | Jun to mid Sep | rarely good | mid Apr to Oct |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | late Apr to mid Jun | late Jul to Aug | mid Mar to May |
| Bulgaria | Sep to Oct | late Jun to Aug | late Mar to May |
| Croatia | Sep to Oct | late Jul to mid Aug | mid Mar to May |
| Cyprus | late Mar to early Jun | late Aug to mid Oct | mid Nov to early May |
| Czechia | Jun to early Sep | rarely good | late Aug to Oct |
| Denmark | mid Jul to early Sep | rarely good | mid May to mid Oct |
| Estonia | mid Jun to early Sep | rarely good | mid May to Sep |
| Faroe Islands | rarely good | rarely good | late Jun to early Sep |
| Finland | mid Jul to mid Aug | rarely good | late May to Sep |
| France | late May to Sep | varies by place | late Mar to early Jun |
| Germany | Jun to early Sep | rarely good | late Apr to early Aug |
| Gibraltar | mid Apr to Jul | late Jul to Aug | mid Oct to mid Jun |
| Greece | mid Sep to mid Nov | Jun to mid Sep | mid Oct to mid May |
| Hungary | May to mid Jun | late Jul to mid Aug | late Mar to May |
| Iceland | rarely good | rarely good | late Jun to Aug |
| Ireland | mid to late Jul | rarely good | May to Oct |
| Isle Of Man | rarely good | rarely good | May to mid Oct |
| Italy | late Apr to early Jun | mid Jun to early Sep | late Feb to mid May |
| Jersey | mid Jun to mid Sep | rarely good | mid Apr to Oct |
| Kosovo | May to mid Jun | late Jul to Aug | late Mar to May |
| Latvia | Jun to early Sep | rarely good | May to early Oct |
| Liechtenstein | late May to Sep | rarely good | Apr to mid Jun |
| Lithuania | late May to early Sep | rarely good | May to early Oct |
| Luxembourg | Jun to mid Sep | rarely good | late Apr to Oct |
| Macedonia | late Apr to mid Jun | late Jun to Aug | Mar to May |
| Malta | mid Apr to mid Jun | mid Jun to early Oct | late Oct to May |
| Moldova | Aug to Sep | late Jul to mid Aug | Apr to May |
| Monaco | late Apr to Jun | late Jun to early Sep | late Jan to early Jun |
| Montenegro | mid Apr to early Jun | Jun to mid Sep | Feb to mid May |
| Netherlands | Jun to mid Sep | rarely good | mid Apr to Oct |
| Norway | late Jul | rarely good | mid May to Sep |
| Poland | late May to mid Sep | rarely good | late Aug to Oct |
| Portugal | May to Oct | varies by place | mid Oct to early Jun |
| Romania | mid May to mid Jun | late Jul to Aug | Apr to May |
| San Marino | late Apr to mid Jun | mid Jun to early Sep | late Feb to May |
| Serbia | late Apr to mid Jun | late Jul to Aug | late Mar to May |
| Slovakia | late May to mid Sep | varies by place | mid Apr to early Jun |
| Slovenia | mid Aug to Sep | late Jul | late Mar to May |
| Spain | Sep to Oct | late Jun to Aug | late Jan to May |
| Sweden | Jun to early Sep | rarely good | mid May to early Oct |
| Switzerland | late May to mid Sep | rarely good | Apr to early Jun |
| Ukraine | late May to Jul | early Aug | Apr to early Jun |
| United Kingdom | late Jun to early Sep | rarely good | May to Oct |
| Vatican City | mid Apr to early Jun | Jun to mid Sep | late Jan to mid May |
The best-known places
The most-visited places with a guide of their own, and each one’s main season. Each season opens the map at its peak.
Rankings for Europe
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.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.August without the heatComfortable, dry August days in places that do not feel hotter than 26°C.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.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.Where snow is likeliest at ChristmasCold enough for snow to hold and wet enough for it to fall, over late December and early January.Places that are pleasant most of the yearThe cities with the most weeks a year of comfortable, dry weather for being outdoors.
How this is worked out
Every figure is a decade of weather-station observations blended into one typical year, read at midday local solar time. Places are the region’s towns and cities that draw visitors, and for sun its seaside holiday places. Being outside is the Easy outdoors rating, Sun is Sunbathing and Walking is Active outdoors; a place is named for a month when it rates Good or better across the whole month.