Best time to visit Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a city of two halves. October scores 86 and July scores 37 — a 49-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. The good window runs October to November — 2 months within ten points of the best.

July is the warmest month at 32.9 °C and January the coolest at 9.1 °C — a 23.8 °C spread across the year. Around 87 days a year top 30 °C, concentrated in July and the months either side. 43 nights a year dip below freezing.

There is a real wet season here. June to August carry the rain — up to 17 wet days in a month — while October and December drop as low as 7. That 10-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Hangzhou, and it moves further than the temperature does.

Daylight runs from 10.2 hours in winter to 14.1 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are October, November, April. The one to think twice about is July. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight and crowd levels.

Hangzhou month by month