Where To Travel In Spring

Spring does not arrive on the same date everywhere, which is the first thing to accept before building a trip around it. In the Mediterranean, spring means late March through May. In Scandinavia, it barely gets going before June. In Japan, it is a two-week window that moves depending on the year. Treat spring as a moving target and plan around specific regions rather than a single global calendar.

Southern Europe wakes up first

Portugal, Spain, southern Italy and Greece begin warming in March, and by April the days are long enough for a full sightseeing schedule without the midday heat that defines July. Lisbon and Seville are genuinely pleasant in April, with daytime highs in the high teens to low twenties Celsius. The Algarve's beaches are swimmable for the hardy by May, though the water stays cool until June. Hotel rates in these cities sit well below peak summer, and restaurant tables that require reservations in August are walk-ins in April.

Northern Europe on its own schedule

Amsterdam, Bruges and the Netherlands more broadly have a specific spring event worth planning around: the tulip fields, usually at their peak from mid-April to early May, weather dependent. Beyond that spectacle, northern Europe in March and early April is still cold and often grey. It is a fine time to visit museums and cities that punish you with crowds in summer, but it is not yet a season for outdoor plans. Scotland and Scandinavia are better held for late May onward, when daylight stretches past nine in the evening.

Japan's narrow, famous window

Cherry blossom season is the most schedule-sensitive travel event most people attempt. The bloom typically moves through Japan from south to north between late March and early May, with Tokyo and Kyoto usually peaking in the first half of April, though a warm winter can pull the date forward by a week or more. Because the exact timing is only reliably known two or three weeks out, book flexible accommodation and accept that you are chasing a forecast, not a fixed date.

• Check the Japan Meteorological Corporation's bloom forecast from early March onward
• Book Kyoto accommodation with free cancellation until the forecast firms up
• Expect peak-bloom hotel rates roughly double the shoulder rate a few weeks either side

The American Southwest and desert regions

Spring is arguably the best window for desert travel anywhere in the world, because it sits between winter cold nights and summer heat that makes daytime hiking dangerous. Morocco's Atlas foothills and the edges of the Sahara are comfortable in March and April, with wildflowers briefly greening the usually stark hillsides. The same logic applies to Jordan's Petra and the American Southwest, both of which become uncomfortably hot by June.

What closes and what opens

Spring is a transition season for infrastructure as much as weather. Ski resorts in the Alps and Rockies close in April, sometimes leaving a dead patch of a few weeks before hiking trails are clear of snow at altitude. Seasonal beach towns in the Mediterranean and Adriatic often do not fully open restaurants and boat services until late April or May, so a very early spring trip to somewhere like Croatia's islands can mean half the town is still shuttered.

• Alpine passes above 2000 metres can remain snow-covered into June
• Seasonal ferries to smaller Greek and Croatian islands often start in April
• Museum hours frequently extend in April as countries shift to summer schedules

Packing for a season that changes by the week

Layering matters more in spring than in any other season, because a single day can move from a cold morning to a warm afternoon and back to a chilly evening. Pack a light rain shell, since spring is statistically one of the wetter seasons across much of Europe and East Asia. Leave heavy winter coats behind for anywhere south of the Alps after mid-April, but keep one warm layer for early starts.

Booking timing

Flights for spring travel are usually cheapest when booked two to four months out, before the cherry blossom and tulip crowds push fares up for the specific weeks that matter. Accommodation in flower-season destinations should be booked earlier than the flight, since good properties in Kyoto or Amsterdam sell out for the peak weeks well before the exact dates are confirmed.