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Quick Answer

March is the shoulder month: the Mediterranean is still too cool for a beach week, but cities warm up and the long-haul dry seasons peak. For sure sun in Europe, go to the Canary Islands: Lanzarote averages a 22.9 °C daily maximum in March, Gran Canaria 22.3 °C, Fuerteventura 22.2 °C and Santa Cruz de Tenerife 22.1 °C by AEMET’s normals, with Funchal in Madeira at 20.6 °C by IPMA. Seville reaches 21.9 °C, the first mainland city over 20 °C, while Málaga stays at 19.6 °C. Further out, Cape Verde’s Sal is 24.8 °C with 1.3 mm of rain, Hurghada 25.4 °C, Marrakech 23.6 °C and Bangkok 33.7 °C. Tokyo’s cherry blossom normally opens on 24 March, a JMA normal, not a 2027 forecast. Easter falls on 28 March 2027 and most German states break on 22 March, so 8 to 19 March is the quietest fortnight to book.

Where to go in March 2027, and which half of the month to book

March is the month the choice widens again. The Canaries gain a full degree over February, Seville crosses 20 °C, and the Asian and Caribbean dry seasons are at their best.

The catch is the calendar. Easter falls on 28 March in 2027, one of the earliest dates it can take, so the second half of March is Easter season across Germany, the UK and Spain. The middle of the month is not.

The March table, from the met services

VoyageHacks pulled every figure below from the national meteorological service that publishes it, on 23 September 2026. Each row states its own normal period, because the agencies do not share one: AEMET’s public station pages carry 1981-2010, IPMA publishes 1991-2020 and MGM publishes a series running from 1930.

DestinationMean daily max, MarchChange vs FebruaryMean tempMarch rainfallSource and period
Lanzarote airport22.9 °C+1.619.0 °C12 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Gran Canaria airport22.3 °C+1.119.0 °C12 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Fuerteventura airport22.2 °C+1.218.9 °C12 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Santa Cruz de Tenerife22.1 °C+0.919.0 °C38 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Seville airport21.9 °C+3.815.6 °C36 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Funchal, Madeira20.6 °C+0.717.4 °C62.3 mmIPMA, 1991-2020
Málaga airport, Andalusia19.6 °C+1.914.7 °C52 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Almería airport19.6 °C+2.015.1 °C16 mmAEMET, 1981-2010
Faro, Algarve18.9 °C+1.914.9 °C46.8 mmIPMA, 1991-2020
Lisbon18.9 °C+2.514.9 °C68.7 mmIPMA, 1991-2020
Antalya18.0 °C+2.412.9 °C90.8 mmMGM, 1930-2025

Three things in that table are worth stopping on.

Seville jumps 3.8 °C. No other station in the table moves as much between February and March. At 21.9 °C it is warmer than Funchal and within a quarter of a degree of Santa Cruz de Tenerife by day. The mean temperature tells the other half: 15.6 °C against 19.0 °C, because Seville’s nights are still cold.

The islands pull apart on rain. Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura all average 12 mm in March. Santa Cruz de Tenerife records 38 mm, its wettest reading of the three winter months, and Funchal 62.3 mm. For a dry week, the Canary Islands east of Tenerife are the safer pick.

Antalya turns the corner. Rainfall falls from 148.1 mm in February to 90.8 mm, and the mean daily maximum reaches 18.0 °C. That is a pleasant spring for walking the old town, not a beach month.

What March buys you over February

About a degree on the islands and two to four degrees on the mainland.

The rainfall drop matters more than the warmth. Gran Canaria goes from 24 mm to 12 mm and Málaga from 60 mm to 52 mm. Almería stays the driest mainland choice at 16 mm, on the same 19.6 °C daily maximum as Málaga.

Hot days are still rare. IPMA records 1.1 days above 25 °C at Funchal in March, 1.4 at Lisbon and 0.5 at Faro. If you need a guaranteed beach day, the Canaries and the long-haul list below are the answer, not the Iberian coast.

Long-haul in March: the dry seasons at their best

The WMO World Weather Information Service publishes each national met service’s own climate normals, so the figures below come from Egypt’s, Morocco’s, Thailand’s and the other agencies’ data. The normal periods differ by country, and so does the rainfall threshold behind “rain days”, so compare rainfall in millimetres rather than days.

DestinationMean daily max, MarchMarch rainfallRain daysSource and period
Bangkok33.7 °C29.0 mm2Thai Meteorological Department, 1961-1990
Phuket33.8 °C59.0 mm5.8Thai Meteorological Department, period not stated
Ho Chi Minh City33.6 °C18 mm1Viet Nam met service, 1991-2020
Hanoi23.5 °C55 mm18Viet Nam met service, 1991-2020
Cancún, Mexico29.9 °C52.7 mm5.4Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, 1971-2000
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic28.1 °C54.2 mm6.7ONAMET, 1961-1990
Dubai27.9 °C22.4 mm3.8National Center of Meteorology, 1974-1991
Aqaba, Jordan25.7 °C4.6 mm1.5Jordan Meteorological Department, period not stated
Hurghada25.4 °C0.3 mm0.2Egyptian Meteorological Authority, 1981-2010
Sal, Cape Verde24.8 °C1.3 mm1.0INMG Cabo Verde, 1961-1990
Marrakech23.6 °C35.3 mm6Direction de la Météorologie Nationale, 1991-2020
Amman, Jordan17.2 °C43.1 mm8.0Jordan Meteorological Department, period not stated
Tokyo14.2 °C116.0 mm9.2Japan Meteorological Agency, 1991-2020

The short-haul sun: Cape Verde, Hurghada and Marrakech

Sal in Cape Verde is the one Atlantic island warmer than the Canaries in March, 24.8 °C, and its 1.3 mm of rain is close to none. Hurghada on Egypt’s Red Sea is similar at 25.4 °C and 0.3 mm.

Marrakech at 23.6 °C is the best March city of the three, with the caveat of 35.3 mm of rain over around six days. It is warm by day and, at a 10.3 °C mean minimum, cool at night.

Jordan: pick the altitude

Jordan in March is two climates. Aqaba on the Red Sea averages 25.7 °C and 4.6 mm; Amman in the highlands is 17.2 °C with 43.1 mm over eight rain days. Plan warm layers for the uplands and the sun for the coast.

Southeast Asia and the Caribbean

Thailand’s dry season holds through March: Bangkok averages 29.0 mm of rain. The turn comes next month, when Phuket’s normal rises from 59.0 mm to 137.8 mm, so March is the last safe month for the Andaman coast.

Vietnam splits north and south. Ho Chi Minh City is 33.6 °C with 18 mm of rain. Hanoi is 23.5 °C with 55 mm spread over 18 days: that is the north’s drizzly spring, many light days rather than a few heavy ones.

Cancún and Punta Cana sit in the Caribbean dry season at 29.9 °C and 28.1 °C, each with around 53 to 54 mm of rain in March. Both are months away from the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November.

Cherry blossom in Japan: a forecast, not a date

No one can tell you the 2027 blossom date in September 2026. What exists now is the normal, and the normal is a good planning tool.

The Japan Meteorological Agency’s normal dates, from its 1991-2020 normals, are:

  • Tokyo: flowering 24 March, full bloom 31 March.
  • Kyoto: flowering 26 March, full bloom 4 April.
  • Osaka: flowering 27 March, full bloom 4 April.
  • Fukuoka: flowering 22 March, full bloom 31 March.
  • Sapporo: flowering 1 May, which is why Hokkaido is a May blossom trip.

Real years drift from the normal. In 2026 the JMA recorded Tokyo flowering on 19 March, five days early, and Kyoto on 23 March, three days early.

The private forecasts come in winter. The Japan Meteorological Corporation issued its first 2026 forecast on 18 December 2025 and called Tokyo for 19 March. The Japan Weather Association issued its first on 29 January 2026 and said 21 March. Expect the 2027 editions on a similar schedule, and book flexible if you can.

The weather around it is cool. Tokyo averages a 14.2 °C daily maximum and 116.0 mm of rain in March by JMA’s 1991-2020 normal. The Japan guide covers the rest of the year.

Easter 2027 falls on 28 March, and that splits the month in two

The 2027 Easter date is early, and it drags the Easter holidays of several big markets into March. The official calendars lay out like this:

  • 1 to 12 March. Hamburg’s spring break, per the KMK calendar.
  • 8 March. French Zone B goes back to school, the last of the three French winter zones.
  • 13 to 19 March. None of the French, German, English or Dutch calendars on this page has a school holiday running. With Hamburg’s last days added, 8 to 19 March is the quiet fortnight.
  • 21 to 28 March. Holy Week in Spain, Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Seville’s processions fall in this week.
  • 22 March. Osterferien begin in Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and most other German states, running to 2 or 3 April.
  • 26 March. Good Friday, a UK bank holiday. The Royal Borough of Greenwich breaks from 26 March to 9 April, and other English councils set similar dates.
  • 29 March. Easter Monday.

Two big markets are missing from March. France’s spring holidays start on 3 April for Zone C, 10 April for Zone A and 17 April for Zone B, under the 2026-2027 arrêté. The Netherlands has no Easter school break at all: its meivakantie runs from 24 April to 2 May 2027.

The practical read: without school-age children, book 8 to 19 March. With them, the German and English Easter weeks overlap on 26 March to 2 April, so expect that to be the busiest stretch of the month.

Where March goes wrong

You booked Seville for Holy Week by accident

Seville is the warmest mainland city in the table, and in 2027 Holy Week runs from 21 to 28 March, its busiest week of the spring. If you want the city rather than the processions, go before 21 March.

You planned Japan around a single blossom date

The normal is 24 March in Tokyo, and 2026 came five days early. Book at least a week in Japan, or cover two cities with different dates, such as Tokyo and Kyoto.

You expected the Algarve to be beach weather

Faro averages 18.9 °C in March with 0.5 days above 25 °C. It is a good month for the coast path and a poor one for swimming.

You left Phuket to April

Phuket’s March rainfall normal is 59.0 mm; April’s is 137.8 mm. If the Andaman coast is the trip, March is the month.

Sources

VoyageHacks checked every figure on this page against the organisation that publishes it, on 23 September 2026. The temperatures and rainfall are long-run normals, not forecasts, and the school dates are the official published calendars, which individual schools may vary.

What changed

  • 2026-09-23: first published.
  • Expected winter 2026-27: the first 2027 cherry blossom forecasts, going by the December and January timing of the 2026 editions. This page will add them when they appear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is it warm in Europe in March?

Six places average above 20 °C for daily maximum in March. AEMET’s normals give Lanzarote airport 22.9 °C, Gran Canaria airport 22.3 °C, Fuerteventura airport 22.2 °C, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 22.1 °C and Seville airport 21.9 °C, and IPMA’s 1991-2020 normal gives Funchal in Madeira 20.6 °C. Seville is the first place on the European mainland to cross 20 °C in the year.

Is March warm enough for a beach holiday in the Mediterranean?

Not by summer standards. Málaga airport averages a 19.6 °C daily maximum in March by AEMET’s normals, Faro 18.9 °C by IPMA’s and Antalya 18.0 °C with 90.8 mm of rain by the Turkish State Meteorological Service. IPMA records only 0.5 days above 25 °C at Faro in March. It is city and walking weather, not swimming weather.

When is Easter 2027 and when are the Easter school holidays?

Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027, with Good Friday on 26 March and Easter Monday on 29 March per GOV.UK. Most German states start their Osterferien on 22 March, per the KMK calendar. The Royal Borough of Greenwich breaks from 26 March to 9 April. France does not break until April: Zone C on 3 April, Zone A on 10 April, Zone B on 17 April.

When do the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan in 2027?

Nobody knows yet, and any exact date you see now is a forecast. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s normal flowering date is 24 March in Tokyo, 26 March in Kyoto and 27 March in Osaka, with full bloom around 31 March in Tokyo and 4 April in Kyoto and Osaka. In 2026 Tokyo flowered on 19 March, five days early.

What is the cheapest time to travel in March 2027?

The fortnight from 8 to 19 March. French Zone B goes back to school on 8 March, Hamburg’s spring break ends on 12 March, and most German states do not break for Easter until 22 March. Apart from Hamburg’s last days, none of the French, German, English or Dutch school calendars is on holiday in that gap, which makes it the month’s quietest demand window.

Is March a good time to visit Southeast Asia?

Yes, for most of mainland Thailand and southern Vietnam. The Thai Meteorological Department’s normals give Bangkok a 33.7 °C daily maximum and 29.0 mm of rain in March, and Vietnam’s met service gives Ho Chi Minh City 33.6 °C and 18 mm. Phuket is still dry at 59.0 mm but more than doubles to 137.8 mm in April.

Ready to price a March trip?

Pick the part of the month before you pick the place. The middle fortnight, 8 to 19 March, is quiet across the big school calendars; the last ten days are Easter.

Next in the calendar: where to go in February for the month with no cheap week, January for the cheapest one, then September, October, November and December. If the kind of trip matters more than the month, the travel styles cover beach, city, ski and the rest, and the hotels hub has the stay-side guides.