Best time to go
Where to go in March
24 vetted destinations are at their best in March, across 14 countries. Each one is rated from ten years of daily temperature and rainfall recorded at that city's own coordinates — so this is a weather answer, not a popularity ranking, and the figure beside every place is the actual average it earns that rating on.
A rating of “ideal” means the month lands in that destination's comfortable band for both heat and rain. It says nothing about crowds or prices, which move on school holidays rather than on the weather — a city can be at its climatic best and still be at its busiest, and several here are both.
- Rome · ItalyComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (64mm rain).
- Tokyo · JapanComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (132mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (46mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (45mm rain).
- Dubrovnik · CroatiaComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (124mm rain).
- Hanoi · VietnamComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (84mm rain).
- Grand Canyon · United StatesComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (62mm rain).
- Provence · FranceComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (33mm rain).
- Phuket · ThailandBeach weather at 32°C, and dry (61mm rain).
- Antalya · TürkiyeComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (108mm rain).
- Amritsar · IndiaComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (62mm rain).
- Tulum · MexicoBeach weather at 28°C, and dry (43mm rain).
- Lugano · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (58mm rain).
- Florence · ItalyComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (48mm rain).
- Kyoto · JapanComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (118mm rain).
- Athens · GreeceComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- Madrid · SpainComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (50mm rain).
- Porto · PortugalComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (97mm rain).
- Split · CroatiaComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (58mm rain).
- Ha Long Bay · VietnamComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (50mm rain).
- San Francisco · United StatesComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (92mm rain).
- Nice · FranceComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (26mm rain).
- Koh Samui · ThailandBeach weather at 28°C, and dry (40mm rain).
Where to skip in March
These are worth going to — just not now. The same ten-year record puts each of them outside its comfortable band this month, and every one has a better window on its own guide.
- Bangkok · ThailandPunishing heat, around 33°C (44mm rain).
- Zermatt · SwitzerlandCold, around 3°C (78mm rain).
- Ho Chi Minh City · VietnamPunishing heat, around 35°C (21mm rain).
- Yellowstone · United StatesCold, around -2°C (51mm rain).
- Hampi · IndiaPunishing heat, around 36°C (1mm rain).
- Mérida · MexicoPunishing heat, around 33°C (16mm rain).
- Snowdonia · United KingdomCold, around 3°C (242mm rain).
- Yakushima · JapanVery wet — 410mm rain across the month (12°C).