Best Time to Visit Asmara

Dry, sunny and cool: October to March

This is the easy stretch. Days are bright and mild, and Asmara's high-altitude air turns chilly once the sun drops. December and January are the coldest months, with lows around 8°C. You'll want a jacket for evenings on Harnet Avenue, the palm-lined main street where locals stroll after work.

Rain is rare, so it's a good time for walking the city's Art Deco and modernist buildings, like the Fiat Tagliero service station and the Cinema Impero. Heading down to the Red Sea coast at Massawa? Winter is when the coast is most bearable, since summer there is brutally hot.

Meskel, the Orthodox festival of the finding of the True Cross, falls in late September. Bonfires and crowds fill the streets, so it's a lively time to be in town. Timkat (Epiphany) comes in January, with processions and white-robed worshippers. Christmas in the Orthodox calendar is in early January too.

Warm and a little showery: April to June

Days get warmer, and May is the warmest month, with highs of 28°C. The air is also at its driest. Nights stay fresh, so it never feels sticky. If you like long sunny days for photos and café stops, May suits you well.

Showers begin in April and build toward June. They're short and usually leave plenty of sunshine around them. Rain gets more likely as June goes on, and sunshine drops off. Still, it's a good month for the Sunday scene around Asmara's old cafés, where you can order a macchiato, a nod to the city's Italian past.

Eritrea's Independence Day is on 24 May, and Martyrs' Day is on 20 June. Expect flags, music and some events in town around those dates.

The big rains: July and August

These are the wettest months by far, and August is the wettest. It rains on most days, often in the afternoon, and the sky is grey. It's cooler than spring, too, with highs of 21–22°C. Views from the escarpment, the steep edge of the highlands, are often lost in cloud.

If you only have a short trip and want to see the city's architecture and street life, skip these months. If you don't mind a damp day, you'll find the city quieter, and you can spend wet afternoons in cafés and the Central Market.

September is the turning point. It's greener, with fewer showers each week, and Meskel gives it a real buzz. Many people find it the nicest month of all.