Where to Travel in May: 21 Places at Their Best
Quick answer: in May the Caribbean’s wet season starts, and the list shrinks to 21 of the 173 places. Cabo San Lucas stays dry (0 rain days), Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire stay at their best, and Mediterranean cities take over: Athens (77°F / 25°C), Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid. The Grand Canyon’s South Rim and Sedona are still at their best.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on May: switch the kind of trip, or pick any of the 173 places for its weather all year. Below, every place at its best in May, sorted from the fewest rainy days.
Beach trips at their best in May (8)
Cancún rates good but showery, and Punta Cana, Montego Bay, Nassau and San Juan all rate too wet. The ABC islands stay dry: 5 rain days on Aruba.
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Cabo San Lucas Mexico | 81 / 68°F 27 / 20°C | 0 |
| San José del Cabo Mexico | 81 / 68°F 27 / 20°C | 0 |
| Mazatlán Mexico | 86 / 75°F 30 / 24°C | 1 |
| Curaçao | 82 / 81°F 28 / 27°C | 3 |
| Bonaire | 82 / 81°F 28 / 27°C | 4 |
| Aruba | 83 / 81°F 28 / 27°C | 5 |
| Huatulco Mexico | 87 / 67°F 30 / 19°C | 10 |
| Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) Belize | 88 / 80°F 31 / 27°C | 10 |
Warm cities at their best in May (0)
None of the 6 warm cities in the tool is at its best in May by the rule below. Closest: Havana, good but warm and showery, with a high of 91°F; Santo Domingo, good but showery, with a high of 88°F.
City breaks at their best in May (11)
Seoul and Sydney, in its late autumn, join Europe’s cities. Los Angeles (2 rain days) and San Francisco are the driest cities of the month.
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles California | 74 / 54°F 24 / 12°C | 2 |
| San Francisco California | 67 / 50°F 19 / 10°C | 3 |
| Athens Greece | 77 / 60°F 25 / 16°C | 5 |
| Lisbon Portugal | 67 / 59°F 20 / 15°C | 6 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 63 / 56°F 17 / 13°C | 6 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 70 / 57°F 21 / 14°C | 7 |
| Madrid Spain | 73 / 48°F 23 / 9°C | 8 |
| Sydney Australia | 67 / 59°F 20 / 15°C | 8 |
| Barcelona Spain | 74 / 55°F 23 / 13°C | 8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 70 / 52°F 21 / 11°C | 8 |
| Cape Town South Africa | 64 / 59°F 18 / 15°C | 10 |
Mountains and nature at their best in May (2)
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Sedona Arizona | 75 / 44°F 24 / 7°C | 3 |
| Grand Canyon (South Rim) Arizona | 75 / 45°F 24 / 7°C | 4 |
Popular places in May
Orlando, Las Vegas and Puerto Vallarta are now too hot for the rule, and Bali has come into its good months.
| Place | May | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancún Mexico | Good (showery) | 87 / 78°F 31 / 26°C | 10 |
| Punta Cana Dominican Republic | Off (too wet) | 82 / 80°F 28 / 27°C | 16 |
| Montego Bay Jamaica | Off (too wet) | 87 / 80°F 31 / 27°C | 20 |
| Nassau Bahamas | Off (too wet) | 80 / 78°F 27 / 26°C | 15 |
| Aruba | Best | 83 / 81°F 28 / 27°C | 5 |
| San Juan Puerto Rico | Off (too wet) | 85 / 78°F 30 / 25°C | 21 |
| Honolulu (Oʻahu) Hawaii | Good (showery) | 79 / 74°F 26 / 23°C | 11 |
| Maui (Kahului) Hawaii | Good (cool, showery) | 76 / 73°F 24 / 23°C | 10 |
| Miami Beach Florida | Off (too wet) | 82 / 78°F 28 / 25°C | 17 |
| Key West Florida | Good (showery) | 81 / 80°F 27 / 26°C | 15 |
| Orlando Florida | Off (too hot) | 90 / 69°F 32 / 21°C | 12 |
| New York City | Good (showery) | 63 / 53°F 17 / 12°C | 12 |
| Las Vegas Nevada | Off (too hot) | 89 / 60°F 32 / 16°C | 1 |
| New Orleans Louisiana | Good (hot, showery) | 82 / 72°F 28 / 22°C | 12 |
| Cabo San Lucas Mexico | Best | 81 / 68°F 27 / 20°C | 0 |
| Puerto Vallarta Mexico | Off (too hot) | 92 / 67°F 33 / 20°C | 2 |
| Paris France | Good (showery) | 67 / 47°F 19 / 8°C | 12 |
| London United Kingdom | Good (showery) | 63 / 45°F 17 / 7°C | 11 |
| Rome Italy | Good (showery) | 74 / 55°F 23 / 13°C | 10 |
| Barcelona Spain | Best | 74 / 55°F 23 / 13°C | 8 |
| Lisbon Portugal | Best | 67 / 59°F 20 / 15°C | 6 |
| Athens Greece | Best | 77 / 60°F 25 / 16°C | 5 |
| Santorini (Fira) Greece | Off (too cold) | 70 / 65°F 21 / 19°C | 4 |
| Tokyo Japan | Good (showery) | 73 / 58°F 23 / 14°C | 13 |
| Bali (Denpasar) Indonesia | Good (showery) | 82 / 75°F 28 / 24°C | 15 |
| Bangkok Thailand | Off (too hot, too wet) | 94 / 79°F 34 / 26°C | 22 |
| Phuket Thailand | Off (too wet) | 85 / 83°F 29 / 28°C | 29 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | Good (hot) | 86 / 82°F 30 / 28°C | 0 |
| Cusco (Machu Picchu) Peru | Good (cool) | 57 / 38°F 14 / 4°C | 2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | Off (too cold, too wet) | 47 / 38°F 8 / 4°C | 16 |
| Banff Canada | Off (too cold, too wet) | 47 / 29°F 9 / -2°C | 18 |
| Grand Canyon (South Rim) Arizona | Best | 75 / 45°F 24 / 7°C | 4 |
Plan a May trip
- Is May a good month to visit the Caribbean?
- What to wear in Florida in May
- Things to do in Aruba
- What not to miss in Greece
- Portugal travel guide: Lisbon, Porto and the villages
FAQ
Where to travel in May?
By the weather, 21 of the 173 places in our tool are at their best in May. Beach trips: Cabo San Lucas, San José del Cabo, Mazatlán and Curaçao; warm cities: none; city breaks: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Athens and Lisbon; mountains and nature: Sedona and Grand Canyon (South Rim). The tables above list every one, with its average high, low and rain days.
What are the best places to travel in May?
The driest place at its best for each kind of trip: for beach trips, Cabo San Lucas at 81°F / 27°C with 0 rain days; for city breaks, Los Angeles at 74°F / 24°C with 2 rain days; for mountains and nature, Sedona at 75°F / 24°C with 3 rain days.
What are warm places to travel in May?
8 beaches and warm cities are at their best in May. The warmest of them: Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) at 88°F / 31°C; Huatulco at 87°F / 30°C; Mazatlán at 86°F / 30°C; Aruba at 83°F / 28°C.
What are the warmest places in the US in May?
By average high: Orlando at 90°F / 32°C; Las Vegas at 89°F / 32°C; Daytona Beach at 89°F / 32°C; Clearwater Beach at 87°F / 31°C; Tampa at 87°F / 31°C. Of the US places at least “good” in May, Daytona Beach, Clearwater Beach and Tampa lead.
Is May hurricane season?
Not in the Atlantic: its season starts on June 1. The eastern Pacific season, which reaches Mexico’s Pacific coast, starts on May 15. The most in May: 4 of the last 50 seasons had a storm within 100 miles of Charleston.
How “at its best” is decided
A place is at its best in a month when its average daily high falls in the range for its kind of trip and it rains (1 mm or more) on 10 days or fewer. At a beach, a month in which a tropical storm or hurricane came within 100 miles in 5 or more of the last 50 seasons cannot be best.
| Kind of trip | Average high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Beach | 79–88°F (26–31°C) | 10 or fewer |
| Warm city | 79–90°F (26–32°C) | 10 or fewer |
| City | 63–79°F (17–26°C) | 10 or fewer |
| Mountains and nature | 59–77°F (15–25°C) | 10 or fewer |
The weather is NASA POWER’s daily record for 2006–2025, averaged for each place over about 50 km, so a beach right on the water can be a few degrees warmer, day and night, than shown, most where mountains rise behind the coast. Storms: NOAA’s hurricane tracks (HURDAT2), 1976–2025. Every month is an average: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.