Best time to visit Palermo

May is the best month in Palermo, scoring 92 out of 100, with January the weakest at 57. The 35-point spread means timing is worth planning around without being decisive. The good window runs April to June — 3 months within ten points of the best.

August is the warmest month at 32.6 °C and January the coolest at 14.5 °C — a 18.1 °C spread across the year. Around 72 days a year top 30 °C, concentrated in August and the months either side.

There is a real wet season here. January, February, October, November and December carry the rain — up to 13 wet days in a month — while May to August drop as low as 2. That 11-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Palermo, and it moves further than the temperature does.

The sea is comfortable for swimming in June to October — 27.2 °C at its warmest against 14.2 °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 9.5 hours in winter to 14.8 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are May, June, April. 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.

Palermo month by month