Cool, dry days from mid April to mid May — the weather for long days on foot. 1,033 towns and cities that draw visitors in Europe were scored from mid April to mid May, and 867 rate Good or better. The 15 below lead, spread across the region.
Where to go
- 190 · IdealCannesFrance
Midday from mid April to mid May feels like 17°C under often cloudy skies, which rates 90, Ideal, for active outdoors. Good weather here runs from late September to May, so there is room either side. See early May on the map.
- 287 · IdealAjaccioFrance
A typical midday from mid April to mid May feels like 15°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 87 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about eight months, from October to May. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at early May.
- 386 · IdealRiminiItaly
A typical midday from mid April to mid May feels like 16°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 86 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late February to May, so there is room either side. See early May on the map.
- 486 · IdealGijónSpain
Rated 86 (Ideal) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 14°C, with often cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about eleven months, from September to July. Open it on the map at early May.
- 584 · IdealSantoñaSpain
A typical midday from mid April to mid May feels like 13°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 84 over the stretch. Good weather here runs from late January to early July, so there is room either side. See early May on the map.
- 683 · IdealAngra do HeroísmoPortugal
Rated 83 (Ideal) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 15°C, with often cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about nine months, from mid October to early July. Open it on the map at early May.
- 783 · IdealKaválaGreece
Rated 83 (Ideal) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 17°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from late February to May, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See early May on the map.
- 883 · IdealFaroPortugal
Midday from mid April to mid May feels like 18°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 83, Ideal, for active outdoors. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from mid October to mid June. Open it on the map at early May.
- 983 · IdealVallettaMalta
Rated 83 (Ideal) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 18°C, with partly cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from late October to May, so there is room either side. Rain is rare at this time of year. See early May on the map.
- 1082 · IdealPonta DelgadaPortugal
Midday from mid April to mid May feels like 14°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 82, Ideal, for active outdoors. The good spell lasts about eight and a half months, from late October to June. Open it on the map at early May.
- 1181 · IdealSozopolBulgaria
A typical midday from mid April to mid May feels like 15°C, and the Active outdoors rating averages 81 over the stretch. The good spell lasts about two and a half months, from late March to May. Open it on the map at early May.
- 1280 · GoodHerefordUnited Kingdom
Midday from mid April to mid May feels like 11°C under often cloudy skies, which rates 80, Good, for active outdoors. Good weather here runs from mid April to mid November, so there is room either side. See early May on the map.
- 1378 · GoodÁgios NikólaosGreece
Midday from mid April to mid May feels like 18°C under partly cloudy skies, which rates 78, Good, for active outdoors. The good spell lasts about seven and a half months, from mid October to May. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at early May.
- 1476 · GoodConstanţaRomania
Rated 76 (Good) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 13°C, with often cloudy skies. Good weather here runs from April to May, so there is room either side. See early May on the map.
- 1576 · Good
Los Llanos de Aridane is in the Canary Islands, not on the mainland. Rated 76 (Good) for active outdoors from mid April to mid May: midday feels like 19°C, with partly cloudy skies. The good spell lasts about seven and a half months, from late November to early July. Rain is rare at this time of year. Open it on the map at early May.
Places with a guide of their own
Ranked the same way, but only among the places that have a guide of their own:
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 from mid April to mid May; 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.