Independent destination guides – what a trip actually costs, the best time to visit based on climate data, and realistic itineraries for places worth your time.
Looking for the written overview rather than the article list? Read our guide to the best destinations for 2026.
Independent destination guides – what a trip actually costs, the best time to visit based on climate data, and realistic itineraries for places worth your time.
September is Thailand wettest month – Bangkok takes 335mm across eighteen days – and its cheapest. The Gulf islands hold on, the Vegetarian Festival lands at the end of it, and flooding is a real risk.
Thailand in September: The Wettest Month, and the Cheapest Read More »
August is the wettest month in Chiang Mai and the busiest of the Thai green season: the Gulf islands finish their dry run at summer-holiday prices while the Andaman coast stays cheap and wet.
Thailand in August: The Busiest Green-Season Month, and the Wettest North Read More »
July keeps the Gulf islands dry and the Andaman wet, adds summer-holiday pricing to the good coast, and brings Asarnha Bucha and Khao Phansa – the start of Buddhist Lent, with a national alcohol ban.
Thailand in July: Buddhist Lent Begins, and the Green Season Stops Being Cheap Read More »
June is the cheapest month in Thailand: the Gulf islands are still dry, the north is green and smoke-free, Bangkok takes its rain in a single afternoon hour – and the Andaman coast is half-empty.
Thailand in June: The Cheapest Month, If You Pick the Right Coast Read More »
May starts the southwest monsoon on the Andaman coast and closes the Similan Islands on the 16th – while the Gulf islands stay dry, the north clears of smoke and prices fall to their lowest of the year.
Thailand in May: The Monsoon Changes Coasts, and the Similans Close Read More »
April is Thailand hottest month and holds Songkran from 13 to 15 April 2027 – three public holidays and a nationwide water fight. It is also the last full month the Similan Islands are open.
Thailand in April: Songkran, the Hottest Weeks, and the Last of the Similans Read More »
March splits Thailand: the Andaman and Gulf coasts are both in good shape with the calmest seas of the year, while Chiang Mai sits at the peak of the burning season with some of the worst air in the world.
Thailand in March: Perfect Beaches, and a North You Should Probably Skip Read More »
December gives Reykjavik four hours and seven minutes of daylight at the solstice – and the longest aurora nights, open ice caves, the thirteen Yule Lads, the Christmas book flood and an extraordinary New Year.
November opens the natural ice caves, makes studded tyres legal on the 1st, gives the aurora long nights and fills Reykjavik with Iceland Airwaves – at the lowest prices before Christmas.
Iceland in November: Ice Caves Open, Studs Go On, and the Dark Returns Read More »
October loses three hours of daylight but gains the aurora – the first month of the season with real darkness and still-manageable roads, plus autumn colour and the first clearly cheap prices after summer.
Iceland in October: The Aurora Returns Before the Winter Does Read More »
Best this month
South Africa
25°C 2 wet days
Average highs and wet days from WMO 1991–2020 climate normals where available, otherwise five years of ERA5 reanalysis.
