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.
May gives Iceland seventeen to twenty hours of daylight, the Ring Road open, puffins back on the cliffs and waterfalls at peak melt – at prices well below June to August. The highlands stay shut.
Iceland in May: The Best-Value Month, and the One Most People Skip Read More »
April is the changeover: the aurora season ends, the ice caves close, the first puffins arrive and Iceland declares the First Day of Summer on 22 April 2027 – with fifteen hours of light and low-season prices.
Iceland in April: The Aurora Ends, the Puffins Arrive, and Summer Is Declared Read More »
March gains daylight faster than any other Icelandic month – ten hours to thirteen – closes the natural ice caves, and puts the equinox in the statistically strongest stretch of the aurora year.
Iceland in March: The Equinox Aurora, and the Last of the Ice Caves Read More »
February gains about seven minutes of daylight a day – seven hours at the start of the month, nearly ten by the end – while keeping the aurora, the ice caves and low-season prices.
Iceland in February: Three Hours of Daylight Gained, Everything Else Kept Read More »
January gives Reykjavik four and a half hours of daylight – and nineteen hours of darkness for the aurora, ice caves at their most stable and the lowest prices of the year. What you can and cannot see.
Iceland in January: Four Hours of Daylight, and Why That Is the Point Read More »
December in Greece is an Athens month: 15C, lit up, cheap for three weeks, with free state museums on 5 December – and a Christmas where the presents arrive on 1 January.
Greece in December: An Athens Month, and a Christmas That Works Differently Read More »
November is when Greek island tourism shuts for the winter and Athens becomes one of the best-value cities in Europe: 19C, empty ancient sites, winter hours, and free state museums from 7 November 2027.
Greece in November: The Season Ends, and the Free Sundays Come Back Read More »
August is Greece most expensive and most crowded month, with the Dormition on Sunday 15 August 2027 filling every ferry in the country – and Athens emptying out and getting cheaper.
Greece in August: The Dormition, the Meltemi and Where the Month Works Read More »
July is Greece hottest and driest month: Athens at 33C, a 24-25C sea, and the meltemi wind that cools the islands and cancels the ferries. How to plan the ancient sites around the heat.
Greece in July: The Meltemi, the Heat and the Acropolis at Eight in the Morning Read More »
Orthodox Easter falls on 2 May 2027, so April has three and a half weeks of reopening islands, 20C afternoons and shoulder prices before Holy Week starts on 25 April. The best-value month of the Greek year.
Greece in April: The Best-Value Month, Because Easter Is Late in 2027 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.
