Weather

Once your destination is finalized and you have set your preferences, ensure to check the climatic conditions of the place you are visiting popularly known as weather. We often don’t pay attention to the weather of the place we are visiting at the time of our visit. This can sometimes have certain implications.

Being aware and prepared prevents you from getting caught off guard and spoiling your trip. We have had several trips spoiled due to unannounced rains. This helps you immensely with your packing later on. Therefore, checking up on the weather conditions during different seasons of your decided destination is very important.

What to check?

It is very important to check the following before making any bookings:

1. Best time or season

This is the most basic topic to check for in the weather category. Except a few, most of the people do search this before going on a trip. There is always a best time to visit a place. A place is at its best beauty during that time and you would be able to have the best time. Next, it is important to note the spread of the season or more explicitly the months that have that season.

There are some versatile places too, where the things to do varies from season to season. You may visit these places any time of the year depending on what kind of a holiday you are looking for. Also, you may visit such places multiple times to explore their beauty in different seasons. The best time of the year to visit a place brings with it a little caution. Keep in mind that the peak seasons might be a little heavy on your pockets. The place might be overflowing with tourists and there will hardly be a place which is not crowded. This is a drawback of the peak season with which you need to compromise a little.

An important tip based on our experiences is to choose to visit the place during the early or late months of the peak season. It helps immensely in avoiding the crowds while having the best of the destination. This allows you to get better deals on the hotels and transportations also. We often try to plan our trips during this window to save on costs and also enjoy the place with lesser crowd. Some tourist destinations now do not follow the concept of peak season or dull season as they receive immense footfall throughout the year.

2. Average temperatures

Whenever you might be travelling, be it the peak season or lean season or anything in between, do not forget to check the temperature range or the average temperatures of the place during that period. An idea regarding the temperatures helps you with preparing the itinerary. You also know what things need to be carried during sightseeing. It prepares you with the kind the kind of clothing you would need.

For example, if there is a big difference in the highest and lowest temperatures of the day, you would need layered clothing. If the temperatures are on the lower side throughout, warm clothes are mandatory. If the temperatures are always high, light and cotton clothes would be preferable. So if you get a rough idea of the clothes you would need to carry, you may estimate the luggage while booking your flight tickets. This also helps you decide on the type of accommodation that you would need for example, air conditioned or heated.

3. Humidity and rainfall

Humidity and rainfall affect the sightseeing. It becomes quite difficult to enjoy an outing if the humidity is high and you will be sweating like a pig. Specially if it is a hiking trip. And then there are rainfalls. Once you get wet, no amount of editing will do justice to your pictures. You cannot keep exploring if your clothes get all wet and soggy. Please remember to avoid the months of heavy rain.

Rains interfere with travelling, exploring, taking pictures etc. Light rains or rains of short spells add charm to your trip enhancing the views and clearing the atmosphere but, the downpours eat away your time and cut down the feasible activities. So checking on the rainfall pattern while visiting your destination becomes quite important. We have had our plans spoilt and days spent waiting for the rains to stop so that we may step out of our hotels. If rains do not deter you from exploration, carry a raincoat to at least. You may also decide what kind of shoes to carry in case it rains when you are visiting.

4. Historical weather

Some places receive rainfall throughout the year. This may be regular or erratic. While some places have a slightly cold weather round the year, some are always hot irrespective of the time of the year. Some places have higher day temperatures and lower night temperatures. Others may have similar temperatures throughout the day. Climate plays a major role in the weather of a place.

To understand more of what to expect from a place during the given time of the year, check the historical weather pattern over the years. This one things might sound too much of an effort but it helps you make a more accurate guess of what kind of weather you will have on your trip. The weather sets the tone of your trip. A good weather makes our trip worthwhile. We do not pay attention but weather conditions of the place while we visit it has a relation with the amount of fun we have there.