When to go, and where that month lands well
12 pages by month and 21 by country, written from ordinary seasonal pattern — never as a forecast.
If the dates are fixed, start from the month. If the destination is fixed, start from the country. Both end at the same practical question: how much data that season really needs.
Where to go, month by month
JanuaryThe northern hemisphere at its coldest and Southeast Asia at its best — which makes January's choices clearer than most months'.Read more FebruaryThe shortest month carries the most festivals, and it is the last one where Southeast Asia still feels cool.Read more MarchBoth hemispheres change season at once, and prices have not yet caught up with spring.Read more AprilFull spring in the north, and the month Songkran sets all of Southeast Asia moving.Read more MayEurope's best weather before high season, and the month Asia's rains begin to arrive in order.Read more JuneThe longest daylight the northern hemisphere gets, and the month where the trade is light against crowds.Read more JulyThe busiest travel month of the year, and the one where choosing the right destination makes the biggest difference.Read more AugustThe month Europe takes its holiday at once, and the month an off-list destination pays off most.Read more SeptemberThe month frequent travellers pick first: the weather is still good and the crowds have gone.Read more OctoberEast Asia's steadiest weather, and the month autumn colour starts working its way south.Read more NovemberSoutheast Asia's weather returns and Europe drops into off-season pricing.Read more DecemberA clean split between Europe's Christmas markets and Asia's best dry-season weather.Read more
The best time to visit, country by country
JapanA country long enough north to south to hold two seasons on the same day — choosing a month is really choosing which part of it to be in.Read more ThailandThree seasons as locals actually count them, and two coasts whose rain does not arrive at the same time — so almost every month has somewhere that works.Read more VietnamLong enough that no single month is good in the north, centre and south at once — you have to decide which part matters most.Read more South KoreaFour sharply different seasons over a short distance, and autumn is the one locals themselves name as the best.Read more TaiwanAn island where north and south are always a season apart, and typhoon season is the one thing genuinely worth planning around.Read more IndonesiaAn archipelago wide enough that the islands do not share a wet season — Bali and Sumatra do not run on the same calendar.Read more United KingdomBritain has no dry season, only lighter and darker ones, so aim for the long evenings of late spring and early autumn.Read more IrelandIreland can serve four seasons in one day all year, so the payoff window is late May to September when the light lasts and the wind eases.Read more FranceFrance stacks three seasons at once: an Alpine snow year, a Riviera beach year, and a Paris that is best before the city leaves on holiday.Read more GermanyGermany peaks twice in opposite ways: a summer lived outdoors in beer gardens, and a December when the squares turn into markets.Read more United StatesA continent-sized country where the right month depends entirely on which of its climates you booked, from desert to alpine to hurricane coast.Read more CanadaA country with a short intense summer, a long winter that sells itself, and two shoulder months when even locals cannot guess what to wear.Read more MexicoA country where the rain arrives on schedule in the afternoon rather than all day, and the highlands run a different calendar from both coasts.Read more GuatemalaA country whose highlands stay pleasant almost all year, while the wet season decides whether you see the volcano summits or only cloud.Read more BelizeA small country whose whole year is decided by the sea: how clear the water sits over the reef, and whether the storm season lets boats out.Read more HondurasA country where the Caribbean islands and the interior run their wet seasons at different times, so you choose the trip before you choose the month.Read more United Arab EmiratesThe year here splits in two: a half you can spend outdoors all day, and a half when life moves almost entirely indoors.Read more Saudi ArabiaA country large enough to hold bone-dry desert, a humid coast, and highlands that get mist and rain in high summer.Read more QatarA compact country where the season decides nearly everything, from an evening walk on the bay to a night out in the dunes.Read more BahrainA small Gulf island with a short but excellent winter, and a summer so humid that everything moves indoors.Read more KuwaitOne of the hottest dry places on earth in summer, with a brief spring in which the sand briefly turns green.Read more