When is the Best Time to Visit -
the World?

If we're talking weather and climate, there are never any guarantees, especially with global warming making temperatures even more unreliable!

So the information below is as accurate as I can make it, but as unpredictable as - the weather!

Also, large areas have huge weather extremes, sometimes within a single country. You can't compare Florida with Seattle or Buenos Aires with Patagonia.

One recent Easter holiday, British tourists accustomed to cold and rain packed their suntan lotions and bathing suits and headed off to Spain - and found cold and rain! Had they stayed home, the heat wave in England would have kept them hot and tanned. You never know!

The following sections provide a few suggestions on when to go, with main cities contained in the colored tables.

Remember, what stands true one year for world climate one season may not be quite the same the next - we can't take responsibility for unpredictable weather!

Best Time to Visit: US and Canada

North America is so vast it's almost impossible to categorize its weather. My favorite season is Fall Foliage in the northeast US and Quebec, followed closely by winter across half the US and all of Canada. My worst? Mid-winter in the windswept prairies and high summer in the southeast US are tied.

Best Time to Visit: Central America including Mexico

World climate for most of Central America is hot and humid - especially near the coast. To escape the heat, go upwards, into the mountains. The dry season between Dec-April is the most pleasant travel climate. The rest of the year, brace yourself for heavy rains and tropical storms.

Best Time to Visit: Caribbean

Despite variations that always occur in world climate, weather throughout the Caribbean is pretty similar. The best time to visit is sometime between Nov-April, although seasons on some islands are shorter. The rainy season takes up the rest of the time, but of particular note is Sept-Oct, the hurricane season. Stay away if you can!

Best Time to Visit: South America

World climate for this region is incredibly diverse and the Equator cuts right across the continent. Depending on which side you're standing, winter and summer are reversed.

In the north, in Colombia and Venezuela, the dry season and best for visits is usually winter, sometime between Christmas and Easter. In Ecuador, visit Quito between June and August.

In the Amazon, humidity is just about 100% most of the time with violent storms in the afternoon, usually timed to coincide with the one daily incoming flight. As the clouds burst and lightning strikes in late-afternoon storms, look up and you'll usually see a brave flight coming in for a landing...

Best time to visit the Amazon is June to October. If you're headed to Rio, the Jun-Sept summer is pleasant, although the water can be a bit cold.

Along the western coast of the continent, the dry season tends to be around June to October, with the season slightly longer or shorter depending on the country. To visit Macchu Picchu go in winter, between May and mid-September.

Chile, more than 4000km long, has several types of climate, as does Argentina - they range from desert through tropical to nearly antarctic - from bikini to parka in a single country.

Best Time to Visit: Middle East and North Africa

World climate for most of this region is uniformly torrid, except for the Sahara desert. The flatter the land the hotter the weather, especially in summer so if you're hot, head up to the highlands, where altitude can make winter downright cold - as can desert nights in all seasons.

Best Time to Visit: West Africa

World climate for West Africa goes from hot and dry in the Sahel, just south of the Sahara, to hot and humid along the tropical coast. The nearer the coast, the greater the rainfall. Summers are stifling and muggy, winters are dryer and cooler. As with most of Africa, avoid the rainy season - rain makes dirt roads muddy and travel difficult - and you'll constantly be swatting mosquitoes.

Best Time to Visit: East and Central Africa

This is the Africa of the tropics, with majestic rainforests and humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife. In the northernmost part of the region, around the Horn of Africa, the weather is hot, with some areas - such as the below-sea level Danakil Depression in Eritrea - among the hottest on earth.

The region also has some of the highest cities on the planet, with cold nights and cold winters. You might freeze, but you'll take amazing photographs in the crystal clear light of Ethiopian winters.

Best Time to Visit: Southern Africa

Don't forget - the further south you go, the colder it gets in winter! April to October, autumn and winter, are usually the best for weather and climate - no rains, warm sunny days, and cool nights. The rains, from Nov-March, are bearable as long as you are well above sea level. Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, is a huge island with varied climates - to see the entire island, go in September or October.

Best Time to Visit: Europe

World Climate for the European continent tends to be relatively stable - cold in winter, which lasts from around Dec-Feb, becoming warmer as summer (Jul-Aug) nears. The further north you go the colder it becomes, with the northernmost tips nearly Artic in winter and the south scorching in summer. Spring can start early and then freeze again. There are distinct rainy seasons in the autumn (Oct-Nov) although areas with Atlantic coasts seem to have longer rainy seasons. And even if London travel climate tends to be miserable in December, there's a wonderful Christmas spirit in the city so don't let weather alone be your judge!

Best Time to Visit: Central and South Asia

Central Asia's winters are frigid and snow is frequent, with springtime the best season to visit. World climate for South Asia, by contrast, is warmer and more humid, with monsoons for part of the year - and cold winters. Climate is also extremely diverse - a country like India ranges from tropical weather and climate in the south and is temperate in the north, near the Himalayas.

Best Time to Visit: East and Southeast Asia

World climate for this region ranges from temperate Japan in the north to tropical Borneo in the south - and everything in-between. Southeast Asia is very much on the beaten track for backpackers and has a tropical climate with plenty of rainfall, except in the more northern mountainous areas, where weather is a bit cooler. The northern part of the continent is more diverse - it can be very cold in Japan in winter - with good skiing too! Weather here is not unlike that of Europe or North America's more temperate regions.

Best Time to Visit: Oceania

This is the continent that regroups Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific. Australia and New Zealand has a good travel climate almost anytime, although Australia's summer (Dec-Feb) can be quite hot - but that's what beaches are for! Island weather differs from island to island, although they do share in common tropical wind systems and even cyclones, so - as you should for every other place - check before you go.