Best time to go
Where to go in May
24 vetted destinations are at their best in May, across 18 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 23°C, and little rain (81mm rain).
- Paris · FranceComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (58mm rain).
- Tokyo · JapanComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (146mm rain).
- Istanbul · TürkiyeComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (53mm rain).
- London · United KingdomComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- New York · United StatesComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (97mm rain).
- Vienna · AustriaComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (84mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (11mm rain).
- Amsterdam · NetherlandsComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (66mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (47mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (23mm rain).
- Prague · CzechiaComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (71mm rain).
- Berlin · GermanyComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (42mm rain).
- Kraków · PolandComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (100mm rain).
- Zurich · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 18°C, and little rain (136mm rain).
- Split · CroatiaComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (115mm rain).
- Da Nang · VietnamBeach weather at 32°C, and dry (60mm rain).
- Baja/Cabo · MexicoBeach weather at 30°C, and dry (0mm rain).
- Florence · ItalyComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (98mm rain).
- Provence · FranceComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (89mm rain).
- Hiroshima · JapanComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (141mm rain).
- Cappadocia · TürkiyeComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (36mm rain).
- Edinburgh · United KingdomComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (74mm rain).
- San Francisco · United StatesComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (26mm rain).
Where to skip in May
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 34°C (158mm rain).
- Delhi · IndiaPunishing heat, around 38°C (52mm rain).
- Ho Chi Minh City · VietnamVery wet — 256mm rain across the month (33°C).
- Plitvice Lakes · CroatiaVery wet — 251mm rain across the month (15°C).
- Chichén Itzá · MexicoPunishing heat, around 35°C (66mm rain).
- Jungfraujoch · SwitzerlandCold, around -4°C (141mm rain).
- Okinawa · JapanVery wet — 328mm rain across the month (26°C).
- Chiang Mai · ThailandPunishing heat, around 34°C (191mm rain).