The best places to go in May, ranked from twenty years of historical climate data. Pick by what matters to you — warm sun, sightseeing, or a relaxing break — then open the live tool to fine-tune.
Choosing where to go on holiday in May comes down to one question: which destinations are actually warm, sunny and dry that month — not in general, but in May specifically? This ranking is built from twenty years of historical climate records (ECMWF ERA5, served by Open-Meteo). For each destination we average the daily mean temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall and wind speed across every May on record, then score the result against three traveller profiles: all-round, beach and city-break.
May is shoulder season around the Mediterranean — generally warm enough to swim in southern Europe and North Africa, with noticeably lower prices and fewer crowds than peak summer. It is also one of the best months to visit destinations that get too hot in July and August (Sicily, Cyprus, southern Turkey, the Algarve). The current top five for May are Mallorca, Crete, Algarve, Tenerife, Antalya.
The tables below are split into three bands. All-round (the default) rewards destinations that are simply comfortable in May — mild temperatures, decent sun, low rain. Beach holiday tightens the criteria for swimming and sunbathing (22–33°C, 7+ hours of sun, fewer than two rainy days per week). City break loosens the temperature range to 15–26°C for sightseeing. Each row links to the destination's full guide and the live weather tool so you can check the specific dates you have in mind.
In May the warmest, sunniest spots in our dataset are Mallorca (19°C, 12h sun/day); Crete (18.8°C, 12.2h sun/day); Algarve (20.1°C, 12.6h sun/day). The full ranking averages temperature, sunshine, rainfall and wind over twenty years of historical climate data.
May is shoulder season around the Mediterranean — warm enough to swim in most of southern Europe, with fewer crowds and lower prices than peak summer. The ranking above shows the top destinations for May across three traveller profiles: all-round, beach and city-break.
May is one of the strongest shoulder-season months — fewer crowds, lower prices and weather that still works for most beach and city destinations in the ranking.
May is a strong shoulder-season month for several Mediterranean and Atlantic-island destinations. Look outside the top three for places that score well but get less mainstream coverage — Madeira, Cape Verde, Sicily, the Algarve and Croatia are often overlooked.
Our sightseeing band ranks destinations by mild temperatures (15–26°C) and low rainfall in May, so you can pick a trip with comfortable walking weather. Mallorca, Crete, Algarve score well this month.
Each row in the ranking shows the average rainfall (days per week) and sunshine hours for May, based on twenty years of historical data. Sea temperatures lag air temperatures by about a month — so for swimming, look for destinations that were already warm in the previous month too.