Best Time to Visit Portugal

For most independent travelers, late spring (May and June) and early autumn (September and the first half of October) are the best times to visit Portugal. Mainland temperatures are warm without the peak heat of July and August, and summer crowds have either not arrived or have thinned. The islands follow their own patterns: Madeira stays mild all year, and the Azores are warmest and calmest from July through September.

The temperatures below are mean monthly figures from the 1991 to 2020 climate normals published by IPMA, the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere. A climate normal is a long-term average, so it describes a typical month, not a forecast. Lisbon figures come from the Instituto Geofísico station. Porto and Faro figures come from IPMA’s normals as summarized in a regional climate guide. Island figures are rounded averages, so treat them as approximate.

Monthly temperatures and rain

Mean monthly temperature in °C, with Faro’s monthly rainfall in mm:

Lisbon’s annual mean is 17.6 °C according to the Geofísico station normals. The Gago Coutinho station in the same city reads about 0.3 °C cooler (17.3 °C). Porto averages 15.3 °C and Faro 18.2 °C. Faro’s annual rainfall is 455.1 mm, and the regional guide lists Lisbon at 794 mm and Porto at 1,147 mm. Porto is therefore the wettest of the three, and a rain jacket belongs in the bag for Porto in any month outside high summer.

Lisbon’s January highs reach 15.1 °C but its lows fall to 8.6 °C. In Porto the January low is 6.4 °C. By August, Lisbon’s highs are 28.8 °C and Faro’s 29.2 °C, while Porto’s are 24.8 °C.

Month by month

January: cool, quiet, wet in the south

Lisbon averages 11.8 °C, Porto 10.2 °C and Faro 12.3 °C, with 49.3 mm of rain in Faro. Porto’s evenings drop to a 6.4 °C average low, so pack layers and plan indoor stops such as wine lodges and museums. Madeira is the warm option, with air near 19.9 °C and sea water at 18.7 °C on average from January to March. The Azores average about 17.0 °C in air and 17.2 °C in the sea over the same months, with more rain and cloud than Madeira.

No major festival falls in January. January is low season, so fewer visitors cross Lisbon and Porto. The main trade-off is shorter days and reduced hours at some Algarve restaurants and beach businesses.

February: Carnival and the first mild days

February is similar to January: 12.8 °C in Lisbon, 10.9 °C in Porto and 12.9 °C in Faro, with 41.9 mm of rain in Faro. Madeira averages about 17 °C with around 70 mm of rain, and the sea sits near 18 °C. Madeira crowds run low to medium.

Carnival is the draw. In 2026 Lisbon’s Carnival runs 13 to 17 February. Carnival moves with Easter, so it falls in February in some years and in March in others. Check the current year’s date before you book. Madeira’s Carnival fills hotels, and Loulé in the Algarve also holds a parade. Porto hosts the Fantasporto film festival around this time, so verify its dates with the organizer.

March: spring begins

Lisbon reaches 14.9 °C, Porto 12.9 °C and Faro 14.9 °C, and Faro still gets 46.8 mm of rain. Madeira is near 18 °C with about 50 mm and a sea temperature close to 18 °C. The Azores sea is at its coolest, which makes March a month for hiking and sightseeing and not for swimming. If Carnival falls in early March in the year you travel, expect parade crowds and tight hotel availability in the host cities.

April: Liberty Day and longer evenings

Lisbon averages 16.3 °C, Porto 14.1 °C and Faro 16.6 °C, with 39.0 mm of rain in Faro. Over April to June, Madeira’s air averages 21.8 °C and its sea 20.0 °C. The Azores average 19.7 °C in air and 18.8 °C in the sea.

On 25 April, Liberty Day marks the anniversary of the revolution with free concerts and parades in Lisbon, and it is a national holiday. Expect crowds on Avenida da Liberdade and around the Baixa. Book Lisbon rooms earlier for that weekend.

May: warm days, little rain

May is the first month where the mainland feels reliably warm: 18.8 °C in Lisbon, 16.3 °C in Porto and 19.3 °C in Faro. Faro’s rain drops to 26.2 mm. Madeira is near 20 °C with about 20 mm of rain and a sea temperature around 19 °C. Madeira’s Flower Festival is a spring draw, and Porto’s Serralves em Festa takes place in late May. Verify the dates for both, since they shift by year.

May works well for a first trip because it combines warm weather with sightseeing queues that are shorter than in summer.

June: Santos Populares season

June brings Lisbon 21.5 °C, Porto 18.6 °C and Faro 22.3 °C, with only 5.1 mm of rain in Faro. Madeira averages about 22 °C with 10 mm of rain and a 20 °C sea, and its crowds run medium to high.

June is also the month of the Santos Populares, the street festivals for Saint Anthony, Saint John and Saint Peter. In 2026 Lisbon’s Santo António parade runs on the evening of 12 June, and 13 June is the city holiday. Porto celebrates São João on the night of 23 into 24 June, with the whole city outdoors. São Pedro follows on 28 and 29 June. Streets in Alfama and Ribeira fill with grilled sardines and crowds, and hotel prices in the host cities rise around these dates. Book early if your trip depends on a specific night.

Primavera Sound in Porto and the Atlantic Festival in Funchal also fall in June. Confirm the dates with each festival.

July: hot and dry

Lisbon averages 23.2 °C, Porto 19.9 °C and Faro 24.5 °C. Faro receives 0.9 mm of rain. Highs reach 28.2 °C in Lisbon and 29.4 °C in Faro, and Porto stays cooler at 24.3 °C. The Algarve has the best beach weather and the largest crowds. NOS Alive, a large rock and pop festival, runs in Lisbon from 9 to 11 July in 2026. Festival weekends increase demand for Lisbon beds.

The islands warm up too. Madeira averages 24.9 °C in air and 22.7 °C in the sea from July to September, and the Azores 23.9 °C and 22.2 °C. For travelers who want to avoid the Algarve’s peak crowds, Porto is the coolest mainland option, and the Azores offer mild weather with more space.

August: peak heat and peak demand

Lisbon averages 23.8 °C, Porto 20.2 °C and Faro 24.6 °C, the warmest month of the year in all three. Faro gets 3.0 mm of rain. Daytime highs are 28.8 °C in Lisbon and 29.2 °C in Faro, and nights stay warm, with lows near 18.8 °C and 19.9 °C. August is the month to reserve beach accommodation furthest ahead, and rates sit at the top of the annual range.

The Azores reach their warmest sea, about 23.4 to 23.5 °C. Visitor numbers thin out in the second half of August. No major mainland festival headlines the month.

September: warm sea, thinner crowds

September is the strongest all-round month for the mainland. Lisbon averages 22.1 °C, Porto 19.2 °C and Faro 22.4 °C. Highs are 26.4 °C in Faro and 23.5 °C in Porto, and Faro’s rainfall is still low at 21.5 mm. The Algarve is still busy: in September 2025 it recorded 597,700 guests and 2.38 million overnight stays, 27.9% of the national total, though both measures fell year on year (guests by 1.7% and overnight stays by 2.2%).

Madeira averages about 24 °C with about 20 mm of rain and a 23 °C sea. Madeira has fewer tourists and lower hotel rates in September than in August. Lisbon hosts the DocLisboa documentary festival and the MotelX horror film festival in the fall, so check dates if you want to attend.

October: still warm, rain returns

Lisbon averages 19.1 °C, Porto 16.8 °C and Faro 19.6 °C, and Lisbon’s daytime high is 22.8 °C. Faro’s rainfall jumps to 56.0 mm, nearly three times September’s figure. Republic Day on 5 October is a national holiday, and Madeira’s wine harvest festival is held around the autumn harvest.

Madeira averages 22 °C with about 60 mm of rain and a 22 °C sea, and its crowds run medium to low. October 2025 was the second-warmest October since 1931 on the mainland, about 2.21 °C above normal. That was an unusually warm year, so plan around the normals above and treat a warm October as a bonus.

November: Web Summit and the first real rain

Lisbon averages 15.0 °C, Porto 13.1 °C and Faro 15.7 °C, and Faro’s rainfall climbs to 75.5 mm. Madeira is near 19 °C with about 80 mm of rain and a 20 °C sea. The Azores are quiet and wet.

Lisbon hosts Web Summit, a technology conference, from 9 to 12 November in 2026, with over 70,000 attendees. Hotels and short-term rentals in Lisbon fill and rates rise during the conference, so avoid those dates unless you are attending. Outside conference week, the cities are uncrowded and suit museum and food itineraries.

December: wettest month

Lisbon averages 12.4 °C, Porto 11.1 °C and Faro 13.4 °C. Faro’s 90.0 mm is the wettest month of its year. December 2025 was wetter than normal across the mainland, which shows that a single winter can be well above these averages.

On 1 December, Lisbon marks the Restoration of Independence with a parade. Madeira’s New Year fireworks over Funchal are the best-known holiday draw on the islands. Nationally, INE (the national statistics institute) recorded 1.9 million guests in December 2025, up 4.4% on the year, and 4.3 million overnight stays, up 3.0%. Lisbon municipality accounted for 23.8% of national overnight stays, so the capital stays busy even in winter.

Crowds across the year

The mainland follows a simple curve: highest demand in July and August, a shoulder of May, June, September and early October, and low demand from November to March apart from festival and conference dates. Specific weeks spike in Lisbon and Porto around the Santos Populares in June, NOS Alive in July and Web Summit in November.

INE’s 2023 seasonality indicator for non-resident guests, an annual measure, is highest for the Azores (48.7%) and Centro (42.1%) and lowest for Madeira (29.6%) and Grande Lisboa (30.7%). A higher reading points to demand concentrated in fewer months. For travelers, that means the Azores reward planning around the July to September window, while Madeira and Lisbon draw visitors more evenly through the year.

Stay length shows how each region is used. In December 2025, guests averaged 4.55 nights in Madeira, 3.35 in the Algarve and 2.49 in the Azores. Centro (1.58 nights) and Oeste e Vale do Tejo (1.61) are mostly day-trip or one-night stops.

Hotel prices and the tourist tax

Hotel price data cover whole years or single months, so treat month-to-month differences as a pattern rather than a fixed rate. Rates peak in July and August, fall in the shoulder months, and are lowest in winter, with spikes during festivals and conferences. Madeira hotel rates are lower in September than in August.

Hotel rates also differ by region and season, so compare current prices for your dates and destination.

Visitors to Lisbon pay a municipal tourist tax of €4 per guest per night, capped at 7 nights, in effect since 1 September 2024 after doubling from €2. Porto charges €3 per guest per night for up to 7 consecutive nights, in effect since 1 December 2024. Confirm the current rate with the city or your accommodation. Guests aged 13 and under are exempt in both cities. Rules in the Algarve and the islands vary by municipality, so ask the property before booking.

Which month fits which trip

For a first city trip combining Lisbon and Porto, choose May, June or September. Temperatures run from the high teens to the low twenties, and Faro’s very low June rainfall shows how dry the south becomes. For beaches in the Algarve, July, August and September offer the warmest sea and driest weather, with September trading some heat for lighter crowds. For festivals, choose the Santos Populares in the second half of June, and book rooms before anything else.

Madeira works almost all year. Choose May to June or September to October for balanced weather, and winter for a mild escape. The Azores suit July to September, when air and sea are warmest and crowds thin after mid-August. Winter visitors to the mainland should expect rain, particularly in Porto and the Algarve in November and December, and should keep their schedules flexible.

Key Takeaways

• Choose May, June or September for the mainland. Lisbon runs from the high teens to the low twenties in those months, and Faro’s rainfall stays at or below 26.2 mm in May and June and 21.5 mm in September.
• Avoid October in the Algarve if you want sun. Faro’s rainfall jumps from 21.5 mm in September to 56.0 mm in October, and keeps rising through December’s 90.0 mm.
• Book early around the Santos Populares and Web Summit. Lisbon’s Santo António is 12 to 13 June, Porto’s São João is the night of 23 to 24 June, and Web Summit runs 9 to 12 November in 2026.
• Match the island to the season. Madeira stays mild year-round (about 19.9 °C from January to March), while the Azores are at their best from July to September.
• Confirm tax and dates before you book. Lisbon charges €4 per guest per night, Porto’s reported rate is €3, and Carnival moves with Easter.