Best Time To Travel To: Germany

Although a certain global warming can also be felt in Germany, Germany's climate can still be defindet as climatically temperate zone. This is, so to speak, in the transitional area from the maritime climate to the continental climate. The climate in the north and northwest is more maritime or oceanic. There is precipitation all year round, winters are mild (between 1 and 3°C) and summers are cool (between 10 and 18°C).

In the so-called East or the regions bordering Eastern Europe, the climate is rather continental with cold winters (-3 to 0°C) and rather warm summers (18 - 25°C). In addition, the east repeatedly complains of long dry periods.

The climate in the middle and south of Germany is rather inconsistent. Here one finds a transitional climate with oceanic and continental influences. Therefore, the climate is relatively changeable, often depending on the topographical conditions in the respective area. Basically, the old wisdom applies here: the higher, the cooler.

In Germany, there is well distributed precipitation throughout the year. In northern Germany precipitation is between 500 and 700mm, in the low mountain ranges from 700mm to 1,500mm. Towards the south it can be more precipitous, especially towards the Alps, with parts of the Allgäu considered to have the highest precipitation (up to 2,000mm).

The average temperature in the north is about 9°C, and about 2°C in winter. It gets colder in the mountains, where the average temperature is only about 2°C, and -6°C in winter. The south is a bit more extreme, all in all. In the south, the winters can get really cold, but the summers can also get really hot. Especially in the Upper Rhine lowlands with the slopes of the Black Forest and the border to France peak values are reached in summer (Kaiserstuhl). In Bavaria, especially in the direction of the Alps, we still know really cold winters with a lot of snow. One of the coldest regions in Germany is located here near the Funtensee. In December 2001, the lowest temperature ever measured in Germany was reported here with -45.9°C. The average coldest place in Germany, however, with an annual average temperature of about 5°C is the Zugspitze, which with its 2,962 meters the highest point in Germany. In general snow falls reliably to about 700 Meters range. Germany saw some productive winters but on the other hand some of the recent winters were poor regarding snowfall. The main focus of snowfall is now in January and February, in former terms it was the period from late November to March. Three German landscapes in particular are somewhat unusual: in the Harz Mountains, it is rather cool in summer and cold and snowy in winter. The Upper Rhine Plain has a very mild climate all year round, and in summer it gets very warm here in places. The Upper Rhine Plain also has the highest temperatures in Germany, with an annual average of about 11°C. In the foothills of the Alps and the German Alps, you can most reliably expect snow, but there is also always heavy foehn weather.

When is the best time to visit Germany

The best time to visit Germany depends on a traveler's individual interests and, of course, the region in which one is staying. As in most countries of Central Europe, the period from June to August is considered the main travel season. However, this does not always mean that the phase also provides the best weather. May and September can be extremely interesting months with excellent weather, recently also the formerly unstable April showed up with good weather and also October often shows up with beautiful autumn weather. November and December are more unstable. Winter weather can be expected from January and February maybe also in March though the latter often can be very pleasant. The best time to travel could be the low season, April/May and September/October. The Alps and the foothills of the Alps are in season all year round, where you can go hiking from spring to fall and find good skiing regions in winter. The same applies to low mountain regions such as the Sauerland, the Black Forest, the Thuringian Forest, the Harz Mountains…