Europe is not one climate and it is certainly not one season. Here is the month we would pick for each country we travel in, and the month we would avoid.
Southern Europe
Italy — best: May, late September. Avoid: August. In August the cities empty of Italians and fill with everyone else, and half the good restaurants close for ferie. The exception is the Dolomites, which are at their best precisely then.
Greece — best: early June, mid-September. Avoid: late July to mid-August. September has warmer sea than June and fewer people than either. The meltemi wind blows hardest in July and August, which matters more for boats than beaches.
Portugal — best: April to May, October. Avoid: nothing, really. Portugal has the mildest calendar in Europe. Even February in Lisbon is pleasant if you accept some rain.
Spain — best: May, October. Avoid: August inland. Seville and Córdoba in August routinely exceed 40°C. The northern coast is a different country climatically and is lovely in July.
Central and Eastern Europe
Austria and Germany — best: June, September, early December. June for long alpine light, September for wine harvest, December for markets. March is grey and worth skipping.
Hungary and Czechia — best: May, September to October. Budapest in October — thermal baths, cool air, vineyard colour up the Danube — is one of the best value weeks in Europe.
Poland and the Baltics — best: June to August. The summer is short, bright and genuinely warm, and the light lasts until 10 p.m. Winter is for people with a specific reason.
Western Europe
France — best: May to June, September. Provence lavender peaks late June to mid-July; Paris is at its best in June and, quietly, in November. August in Paris still means shuttered neighbourhood restaurants.
Britain and Ireland — best: late May to July, early September. This is the only window with reliable long light. It will still rain. The Highlands in late July are worth the gamble, and midges peak in August.
The Netherlands and Belgium — best: April to May, September. Tulips run mid-April to early May, which is a narrow and heavily booked window. Book eight months out or go in September for the cities alone.
The Nordics
Iceland — best: September. Also good: June. September gives open roads and dark skies. June gives midnight sun and no aurora at all.
Norway and Sweden — best: June to August for the fjords and coast; February to March for the aurora and snow. The shoulder months either side are genuinely dark and wet.
Two patterns worth internalising
First: the further north you go, the more the calendar narrows and the more the summer is worth. The further south, the more the shoulders win and the more the summer is a mistake.
Second: school holidays move prices more than weather does. The last week of July and the first three of August are the most expensive weeks on the continent, everywhere, regardless of whether they are the best ones. Travel seven days either side of that block and you save a great deal for almost nothing given up.
