Skip to content

By month

Where to go in May

What is actually pleasant in May — by average temperature and rainy days, not by feel. The numbers are climate normals, the same for every place.

Cities

Beijing

China

21°C4 rainy days

Fez

Morocco

22°C4 rainy days

Ephesus

Turkey

21°C6 rainy days

El Jem

Tunisia

22°C4 rainy days

Seville

Spain

22°C4 rainy days

Athens

Greece

20°C5 rainy days

Xi'an

China

21°C8 rainy days

Marrakech

Morocco

23°C2 rainy days

Coast

Hurghada

Egypt

28°C0 rainy days

Dahab

Egypt

30°C0 rainy days

Sharm el-Sheikh

Egypt

31°C0 rainy days

Pleasant, and off season

The weather holds but the crowds and prices have dropped — the month where the same destination costs less than at peak.

Fish River Canyon

Namibia

19°C0 rainy days

Swakopmund

Namibia

18°C0 rainy days

Hurghada

Egypt

28°C0 rainy days

Beijing

China

21°C4 rainy days

Skeleton Coast

Namibia

18°C0 rainy days

El Jem

Tunisia

22°C4 rainy days

Temperatures and rainy days are climate normals from `content_geo.py`, the same for all 214 places. “Pleasant” means: a city at 12–26°C with at most 10 rainy days, coast above 24°C with at most 6, mountains 8–24°C with at most 10.

Other monthsJanuary February March April June July August September October November December

Not sure where to next? Six questions and you get places that actually suit you. Find me a destination

Front row for the next trip

Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.

Photo credits and licences (67)

Beijing China Summer-Palace-02 — CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0
Chouara Tannery - 154 - Marokko Handybilder 2018 - Fes (27347707917) — Uwe Brodrecht, CC BY-SA 2.0
The library of Celsus, Ephesus — Slyronit, CC BY-SA 4.0
Amfiteatre d'El Djem - interior — Josep Renalias Lohen11, CC BY 4.0
Plaza de Espana, Seville — Dokkolo, CC BY-SA 4.0
Acropolis Parthenon Athens Greece — Jebulon, CC0
Bastion near the South Gate — No machine-readable author provided. Mr. Tickle assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0
Maroc Marrakech Jemaa-el-Fna Luc Viatour — No machine-readable author provided. Lviatour assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0
Bardo Museum(102) — Sinda BF, CC BY-SA 4.0
Catania-etna — Dror Feitelson, CC BY-SA 4.0
Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, August 2026 — Esniom, CC BY-SA 4.0
Medina of Kairouan 17042022 004 — Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Capela dos Ossos - Apr 2011 — Ken & Nyetta, CC BY 2.0
Miradouro das Portas do Sol Lisbon Alfama overview pano — Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Alhambra - Granada 1 — Jim Gordon, CC BY 2.0
Puglia Bari1 tango7174 — Tango7174, CC BY-SA 4.0
Windhuk Independence Avenue 1 — Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Piazza Sant'Oronzo (Lecce) — Bernard Gagnon, CC0
Plaza Mayor, Madrid — No machine-readable author provided. Gryffindor assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
Mercado Municipal (São Paulo) 16 — Wilfredor, CC BY-SA 4.0
Via Vittorio Emanuele Mittags — Clemensfranz, CC BY-SA 3.0
The White Tower of Thessaloniki - 2 — Annatsach, CC BY-SA 4.0
La Sagrada Familia Barcelona — Peter_Glyn, CC0
Subotica townhall at night — Prissantenbär, CC BY-SA 3.0
Karlovačka gimnazija - panoramio (2) — Mister No, CC BY 3.0
Ateneo Rumano, Bucarest, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 73 — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Niška tvrđava, Niš, Srbija, 034 — Mickey Mystique, CC BY-SA 3.0
Blue Mosque, Istanbul Turkey — Joshua Doubek, CC BY-SA 3.0
Debrecen, református nagytemplom este 2021 01 — Pasztilla aka Attila Terbócs, CC BY-SA 4.0
Casas Colgadas de Cuenca sobre el Puente de San Pablo — Albertukel, CC BY-SA 3.0 es
Gaia Douro Porto pano from Ponte de Dom Luís I — Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Michael's Gate and tower (10267283706) — Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0
2014-11-20 15h50 Orlando Power Station Soweto anagoria — Anagoria, CC BY 3.0
Buenos Aires - La Boca - Caminito - 200807i — Luis Argerich from Buenos Aires, Argentina, CC BY 2.0
Panoramic view from Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw — kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0
Plaza de Armas de Santiago 2017 b — WeHaKa, CC BY-SA 4.0
Szermierz (Swordsman) Wroclaw dwarf 02 — Pnapora, CC BY-SA 3.0
Poznan Market Square I — Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06 Lublin (18) — Marek Mróz, CC BY 4.0
2017-03 Toruń (22) — Marek Mróz, CC BY 4.0
Brandenburg Gate - Brandenburger Tor - Berlin - Germany - 02 — Norbert Nagel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Dresden, Frauenkirche und Kunstakademie — Dguendel, CC BY-SA 4.0
High Castle and bastions in Malbork — DerHexer, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rafa koralowa Hurgada(23) — Inetta, CC BY-SA 3.0
Dahab - The blue hole - panoramio — Francesco Lo Bello, CC BY 3.0
Arrecife de coral, parque nacional Ras Muhammad, Egipto, 2022-03-26, DD 170 — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hiking in the Fish River Canyon - panoramio — Roelf, CC BY-SA 3.0
Swakopmund Woermannhaus 1 — Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cape Cross Seal Colony, RTW 2012 (8395938208) — Ana Raquel S. Hernandes from Sao Paulo, Brazil, CC BY-SA 2.0
Zebra on Etosha Pan at Sunset (23890793618) — Sonse, CC BY 2.0
Kruger National Park (ZA), Elefant -- 2024 -- 0649 — Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0
Iguazu Falls - Devil's Throat — P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0
Chefchaouen, Morocco (Unsplash) — Azer Koçulu azer, CC0
054a Dead camel thorn trees in Deadvlei Photo by Giles Laurent — Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0
Roussanou Monastery, Meteora — Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Aït Benhaddou view from above — Elena Tatiana Chis, CC BY-SA 4.0
Village of Gordes — Einaz80, CC BY-SA 4.0
Madeira-Levada do Risco (path PR6.1)-Casa do Rabacal-hiking trail-02ASD — Asurnipal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lioness atop a kopje, Serengeti (1) (28625989105) — Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, CC BY 2.0
Pamukkale Hierapolis Travertine pools — Pvasiliadis, CC BY-SA 3.0
Palacio Nacional da Pena, Sintra, Portugal, 2019-05-25, DD 84 — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Elephants Herd Amboseli (7234335792) — Benh LIEU SONG from Torcy, France, CC BY-SA 2.0
Géiseres del Tatio, Atacama, Chile, 2016-02-01, DD 51-53 HDR — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hot air balloon over Cappadocia, Turkey — MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Plaza Mayor de Albarracín, Teruel — José Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY 3.0
Aconcagua (Mendoza) 2022-11 (4) — Mauricio V. Genta, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mikolajki from Jezioro Mikolajskie panorama 2008-07 — Ghalas, CC BY-SA 4.0

All photographs come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under the licence stated beside each one.