Best time to visit Niigata

Niigata is a city of two halves. June scores 77 and January scores 21 — a 56-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. Only 3 months come close to the top, which makes the timing narrow.

August is the warmest month at 27.7 °C and January the coolest at 6.3 °C — a 21.4 °C spread across the year.

There is a real wet season here. January and December carry the rain — up to 25 wet days in a month — while April to June drop as low as 12. That 13-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Niigata, and it moves further than the temperature does.

The sea is comfortable for swimming in July to October — 26.2 °C at its warmest against 9.8 °C at its coldest. The water peaks a month or two after the air does, so the best swimming falls later in the year than the best weather. Daylight runs from 9.6 hours in winter to 14.8 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are June, May, September. The one to think twice about is January. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight, sea temperature and crowd levels.

Niigata month by month