Where the height of the northern summer is still mild enough for a long day on foot. Of 68 towns and cities that draw visitors in Africa south of the Sahara, 52 rate Good or better in July. These twelve are the best of them, spread across the region.
The list
- 185 · IdealWindhoekNamibia
Midday in July feels like 16°C under almost cloudless skies, which rates 85, Ideal, for active outdoors. The good spell lasts about four and a half months, from late April to early September. Open it on the map at mid July.
- 283 · IdealAntananarivoMadagascar
Rated 83 (Ideal) for active outdoors in July: midday feels like 15°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from mid April to early October, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See mid July on the map.
- 383 · IdealPolokwaneSouth Africa
A typical midday in July feels like 16°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 83 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about four and a half months, from May to early September. Open it on the map at mid July.
- 482 · IdealMmabathoSouth Africa
Midday in July feels like 14°C under mostly clear skies, which rates 82, Ideal, for active outdoors. Good weather here runs from mid April to September, so there is room either side. See mid July on the map.
- 582 · IdealCullinanSouth Africa
A typical midday in July feels like 13°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 82 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about six and a half months, from April to early October. Open it on the map at mid July.
- 682 · IdealNairobiKenya
Midday in July feels like 19°C under often cloudy skies, which rates 82, Ideal, for active outdoors. Good weather here runs from May to September, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See mid July on the map.
- 778 · GoodPlettenberg BaySouth Africa
Rated 78 (Good) for active outdoors in July: midday feels like 15°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from late March to early December. Open it on the map at mid July.
- 877 · GoodCape TownSouth Africa
A typical midday in July feels like 14°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 77 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late March to early December, so there is room either side. See mid July on the map.
- 976 · GoodSwellendamSouth Africa
Rated 76 (Good) for active outdoors in July: midday feels like 15°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about six and a half months, from late April to early November. Open it on the map at mid July.
- 1069 · GoodArushaTanzania
A typical midday in July feels like 20°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 69 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late May to early September, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See mid July on the map.
- 1166 · GoodSwakopmundNamibia
A typical midday in July feels like 19°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 66 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from June to early January, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See mid July on the map.
- 1265 · GoodGrand BaieMauritius
Rated 65 (Good) for active outdoors in July: midday feels like 21°C, with often cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about three and a half months, from late June to September. Open it on the map at mid July.
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 July; a city missing a reading for any part of that stretch is left out rather than scored on part of it.
The rating
Active outdoors: A mild feels-like gates the score — best 10–20 °C, cool enough for hiking, cycling and running. Dryness matters most, with a penalty for strong wind. 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.