How we calculate the best time to visit
Every recommendation on this site is computed from data, not written by hand. Here is exactly how.
Data source
Climate data comes from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, using 1991–2020 climate normals (30-year monthly averages of temperature, rainfall and sunshine).
The formula
Each month is scored on three factors:
| Factor | How it's scored |
|---|---|
| Temperature comfort | Full marks inside a comfort band (e.g. 16–26°C for "general"), tapering off hotter and colder. |
| Sunshine | Up to full marks at ~15 hours/day. |
| Rainfall | A penalty that grows with monthly rain, capped so one extreme month doesn't dominate. |
Activity bands
| Activity | Comfort band |
|---|---|
| General | 16–26°C |
| Beach | 22–31°C |
| Hiking | 10–20°C |
| Sightseeing | 14–24°C |
"Best months" are the top-scoring months relative to that city's own climate — the honest answer for "when should I go", even in places with no perfect season.
Attractions
Top attractions come from Wikidata, ranked by Wikipedia sitelink count (a measure of how famous a place is), with OpenStreetMap as fallback.
Freshness
Climate normals are a fixed 1991–2020 average and don't change year to year. Attractions data is refreshed periodically.