Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Istanbul

May is the best time to visit Istanbul for general sightseeing, with average highs of 20 °C and about 6 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly May to June. The sea stays above 20 °C from June to September.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking May comfort 90/100
A beach holiday August sea 24 °C
The least cloud July 19 % average cloud cover
The least rain July 20 mm
Warmth August 28 °C
Cooler weather January 8.2 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 May 90 20 °C 6 46
2 June 89 25 °C 6 82
3 September 89 24 °C 6 83
4 October 85 19 °C 8 50
5 July 79 28 °C 3 97
6 August 76 28 °C 3 99
7 April 70 15 °C 8 18
8 November 66 14 °C 9 17
9 March 49 11 °C 10 10
10 December 44 10 °C 13 5
11 February 39 8.8 °C 11 8
12 January 36 8.2 °C 12 6

For a beach holiday

August scores highest, with a sea temperature of 24 °C and air temperatures around 28 °C. The sea is above 20 °C from June to September.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 8.9 °C 8.2 °C 67 % 6
February 8.0 °C 8.8 °C 64 % 8
March 8.7 °C 11 °C 59 % 10
April 11 °C 15 °C 53 % 18
May 16 °C 20 °C 45 % 46
June 21 °C 25 °C 30 % 82
July 23 °C 28 °C 19 % 97
August 24 °C 28 °C 21 % 99
September 22 °C 24 °C 33 % 83
October 19 °C 19 °C 51 % 50
November 15 °C 14 °C 60 % 17
December 12 °C 10 °C 67 % 5

When to think twice

January scores lowest with about 12 wet days and highs near 8.2 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 8.2 °C 85 mm 67 %
February 8.8 °C 71 mm 64 %
March 11.0 °C 72 mm 59 %
April 15.1 °C 47 mm 53 %
May 20.0 °C 36 mm 45 %
June 24.9 °C 34 mm 30 %
July 27.6 °C 20 mm 19 %
August 27.9 °C 20 mm 21 %
September 24.1 °C 45 mm 33 %
October 19.2 °C 78 mm 51 %
November 14.3 °C 72 mm 60 %
December 10.1 °C 98 mm 67 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.