Best time to visit Kruger National Park

The best time to visit Kruger National Park is May–August, judged on twenty years of weather records and the events worth going for.

Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa

°C

mm

−10°0°10°20°30°40°
0100200300400500
  • Average daily high and low
  • Precipitation
  • Good month
  • Best month
  • Made good or best by an event
Average daily high and low temperature, average precipitation and each month's verdict
MonthAverage daily highAverage daily lowPrecipitationVerdict
January31.6 °C / 89 °F22.4 °C / 72 °F118 mm / 4.6 inneither best nor good
February32.1 °C / 90 °F22.7 °C / 73 °F69 mm / 2.7 inneither best nor good
March31.8 °C / 89 °F21.6 °C / 71 °F34 mm / 1.4 inneither best nor good
April29.6 °C / 85 °F19.1 °C / 66 °F19 mm / 0.8 ingood month
May28.3 °C / 83 °F16.1 °C / 61 °F10 mm / 0.4 inbest month
June26.5 °C / 80 °F13.7 °C / 57 °F3 mm / 0.1 inbest month
July25.9 °C / 79 °F13.2 °C / 56 °F4 mm / 0.1 inbest month
August27.9 °C / 82 °F15 °C / 59 °F2 mm / 0.1 inbest month
September29.9 °C / 86 °F17.6 °C / 64 °F14 mm / 0.5 ingood month
October30.4 °C / 87 °F19.2 °C / 67 °F21 mm / 0.8 ingood month
November31.4 °C / 89 °F20.7 °C / 69 °F51 mm / 2 ingood month
December32.2 °C / 90 °F22.3 °C / 72 °F85 mm / 3.3 inneither best nor good
Good and best months depend on more than temperature, rain and events. How they are chosen

Each activity on this page has its own good and best months, rated on twenty years of daily weather records. Which measures count, and how much, depends on the activity: humidity for exploring outdoors, wind for the beach, hiking and skiing, snow for skiing alone. Between them, the activities are rated on:

  • Daytime highs
  • Night-time lows
  • How warm it feels
  • Humidity
  • How much of the day is sunny
  • Hours of daylight
  • Monthly rainfall
  • How many days it rains
  • Days of heavy rain
  • Wind
  • Snowfall and days with snow
  • Major events, such as festivals

The chart shows the good and best months for exploring outdoors.

The event icon marks a month that an event lifts to good or best, such as a festival or a natural spectacle. Choose “Weather only” in the toolbar to rate the months on weather alone.

Best months by activity

Exploring outdoors

Mild days and nights, mostly dry and bright. The default for 'when should I go'.

  1. JJanuary: neither
  2. FFebruary: neither
  3. MMarch: neither
  4. AApril: good
  5. MMay: best
  6. JJune: best
  7. JJuly: best
  8. AAugust: best
  9. SSeptember: good
  10. OOctober: good
  11. NNovember: good
  12. DDecember: neither
Best
May–August
Good
April, September–November
Why these months
  • April · good

    In its favour: precipitation 19 mm / 0.8 in, share of daylight that is sunny 81%, wet days 3.6 days, days with heavy rain 0.5 days, average daily low 19.1 °C / 66 °F, relative humidity 65%.

    Against: feels like (high) 30.7 °C / 87 °F, average daily high 29.6 °C / 85 °F.

  • May · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 28.1 °C / 83 °F, precipitation 10 mm / 0.4 in, share of daylight that is sunny 88%, wet days 1.5 days, days with heavy rain 0.2 days, average daily high 28.3 °C / 83 °F, average daily low 16.1 °C / 61 °F, relative humidity 63%.

  • June · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 25 °C / 77 °F, precipitation 3 mm / 0.1 in, share of daylight that is sunny 88%, average daily high 26.5 °C / 80 °F, wet days 0.8 days, days with heavy rain 0.1 days, average daily low 13.7 °C / 57 °F, relative humidity 60%.

  • July · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 24.3 °C / 76 °F, average daily high 25.9 °C / 79 °F, precipitation 4 mm / 0.1 in, share of daylight that is sunny 84%, wet days 0.9 days, days with heavy rain 0.1 days, average daily low 13.2 °C / 56 °F, relative humidity 59%.

  • August · best

    In its favour: feels like (high) 26.8 °C / 80 °F, precipitation 2 mm / 0.1 in, share of daylight that is sunny 84%, wet days 0.6 days, days with heavy rain 0 days, average daily high 27.9 °C / 82 °F, average daily low 15 °C / 59 °F, relative humidity 55%.

  • September · good

    In its favour: precipitation 14 mm / 0.5 in, share of daylight that is sunny 79%, feels like (high) 29.8 °C / 86 °F, wet days 1.9 days, days with heavy rain 0.3 days, average daily low 17.6 °C / 64 °F, relative humidity 54%.

    Against: average daily high 29.9 °C / 86 °F.

  • October · good

    In its favour: precipitation 21 mm / 0.8 in, share of daylight that is sunny 73%, wet days 3.8 days, days with heavy rain 0.5 days, relative humidity 58%, average daily low 19.2 °C / 67 °F.

    Against: feels like (high) 31.2 °C / 88 °F, average daily high 30.4 °C / 87 °F.

  • November · good

    In its favour: precipitation 51 mm / 2 in, share of daylight that is sunny 70%, wet days 6.7 days, days with heavy rain 1.7 days, relative humidity 61%, average daily low 20.7 °C / 69 °F.

    Against: feels like (high) 33.1 °C / 92 °F, average daily high 31.4 °C / 89 °F.

Hiking and trekking

Cool enough to climb in, dry enough to enjoy, long enough days.

  1. JJanuary: neither
  2. FFebruary: neither
  3. MMarch: neither
  4. AApril: neither
  5. MMay: neither
  6. JJune: good
  7. JJuly: best
  8. AAugust: good
  9. SSeptember: neither
  10. OOctober: neither
  11. NNovember: neither
  12. DDecember: neither
Best
July
Good
June, August
Why these months
  • June · good

    In its favour: precipitation 3 mm / 0.1 in, wet days 0.8 days, days with heavy rain 0.1 days, average daily low 13.7 °C / 57 °F, share of daylight that is sunny 88%, daylight per day 10.7 h, wind (daily max) 16 km/h / 10 mph, feels like (high) 25 °C / 77 °F.

    Against: average daily high 26.5 °C / 80 °F.

  • July · best

    In its favour: precipitation 4 mm / 0.1 in, wet days 0.9 days, days with heavy rain 0.1 days, average daily low 13.2 °C / 56 °F, share of daylight that is sunny 84%, feels like (high) 24.3 °C / 76 °F, daylight per day 10.8 h, wind (daily max) 16 km/h / 10 mph.

    Against: average daily high 25.9 °C / 79 °F.

  • August · good

    In its favour: precipitation 2 mm / 0.1 in, wet days 0.6 days, days with heavy rain 0 days, share of daylight that is sunny 84%, average daily low 15 °C / 59 °F, daylight per day 11.3 h, wind (daily max) 18 km/h / 11 mph.

    Against: average daily high 27.9 °C / 82 °F, feels like (high) 26.8 °C / 80 °F.

An activity is listed only where it applies: skiing at ski destinations, beach and swimming at beach destinations. The nearest ski area is אתר סקי הר החרמון, Mount Hermon ski resort, Centro de esquí Monte Hermón, 6387 km away.

Weather averages

Monthly averages over twenty years, 2006–2025. Highs, lows and precipitation are in the chart at the top.

  JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels like (high) 34.5 °C35 °C34 °C30.7 °C28.1 °C25 °C24.3 °C26.8 °C29.8 °C31.2 °C33.1 °C34.9 °C
Days with heavy rain 2.9 days2 days0.8 days0.5 days0.2 days0.1 days0.1 days0 days0.3 days0.5 days1.7 days2.1 days
Time rain usually falls 3 am2 pm2 am11 am8 am11 am1 am6 pm9 pm11 pm1 am9 am
Sunshine per day 10.2 h10.1 h10.2 h9.3 h9.6 h9.4 h9.1 h9.5 h9.5 h9.3 h9.3 h9.5 h
Relative humidity 68%67%65%65%63%60%59%55%54%58%61%63%

Air quality

Averaged over a shorter period (2022–2025) than the twenty-year averages above, and not counted towards good or best months.

  JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Air pollution (PM2.5) 2022–20254.4 µg/m³4.3 µg/m³4.6 µg/m³5.7 µg/m³5.8 µg/m³5.8 µg/m³7.2 µg/m³6.7 µg/m³8.8 µg/m³7.1 µg/m³5.5 µg/m³4.8 µg/m³
Air pollution (PM2.5, daily peak) 2022–20256.7 µg/m³7 µg/m³7.3 µg/m³9.2 µg/m³9.5 µg/m³9.7 µg/m³12.1 µg/m³10.4 µg/m³14.2 µg/m³10.6 µg/m³8.9 µg/m³7.6 µg/m³
  • Good 15 µg/m³ or less
  • Fair 15 to 25 µg/m³
  • Moderate 25 to 37.5 µg/m³
  • Poor 37.5 to 50 µg/m³
  • Very poor 50 to 75 µg/m³
  • Extremely poor over 75 µg/m³

Each figure is compared with the World Health Organization's guideline for a day's air, 15 µg/m³ or less, and with its interim targets above that. The words are ours: the WHO does not name its steps. The figures are modelled monthly averages, so single days can be well above them. The daily peak is the average of each day's highest hour, shaded on the same scale.

Other places in South Africa

Compare places month by month on the travel calendar

Monthly averages over 2006–2025, unless stated otherwise.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC-BY 4.0), generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5). City data from GeoNames (CC-BY 4.0). Air quality from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and sea temperature from Météo-France / Copernicus Marine, both via Open-Meteo.com. Coastline from Natural Earth. Ski areas from OpenSkiMap.org, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Skimap.org. World Heritage sites from Wikidata (CC0), from the World Heritage List © UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Readership from Wikimedia pageview data (CC0). Destination classification derived from English Wikivoyage, © Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).