Best time to go
Where to go in September
24 vetted destinations are at their best in September, across 17 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.
- Paris · FranceComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (57mm rain).
- Istanbul · TürkiyeComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (32mm rain).
- London · United KingdomComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (54mm rain).
- New York · United StatesComfortable days around 25°C, and little rain (137mm rain).
- Vienna · AustriaComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (65mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceBeach weather at 27°C, and dry (5mm rain).
- Amsterdam · NetherlandsComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (79mm rain).
- Zermatt · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (46mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- Prague · CzechiaComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (45mm rain).
- Berlin · GermanyComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (40mm rain).
- Kraków · PolandComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (89mm rain).
- Madrid · SpainComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (93mm rain).
- Plitvice Lakes · CroatiaComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (128mm rain).
- Venice · ItalyComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (83mm rain).
- Baja/Cabo · MexicoBeach weather at 32°C, and dry (71mm rain).
- Sapporo · JapanComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (137mm rain).
- Provence · FranceComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (93mm rain).
- Cappadocia · TürkiyeComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (16mm rain).
- Edinburgh · United KingdomComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (88mm rain).
- San Francisco · United StatesComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (5mm rain).
- Salzburg · AustriaComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (119mm rain).
- Athens · GreeceBeach weather at 29°C, and dry (30mm rain).
- Keukenhof · NetherlandsComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (84mm rain).
Where to skip in September
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 · ThailandVery wet — 293mm rain across the month (31°C).
- Hanoi · VietnamVery wet — 362mm rain across the month (31°C).
- Mumbai · IndiaVery wet — 506mm rain across the month (28°C).
- Chichén Itzá · MexicoPunishing heat, around 33°C (127mm rain).
- Jungfraujoch · SwitzerlandCold, around 1°C (74mm rain).
- Las Vegas · United StatesPunishing heat, around 36°C (13mm rain).
- Hakone · JapanVery wet — 251mm rain across the month (26°C).
- Chiang Mai · ThailandVery wet — 395mm rain across the month (29°C).