Coolcation
Where it's cool in March
A coolcation, on this site, is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. March gives you 80 of the 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record this month (of 497 curated in total). The ranking below is by low day-to-day swing, not by which is coldest.
March coolcation options on the ten-year record: 80 of 295 curated destinations with ten-year daily records sit at or below 18°C mean daily high (of 497 curated in total; the remainder do not yet have a full ten-year series for March). The list below ranks them by day-to-day steadiness, not raw temperature.
The coldest reading in the dataset for March is Iqaluit at -16°. The warmest still inside the cool band is Hangzhou at 18°. Pack layers, not a coat.
Coolcation is defined here as mean daily high at or below 18°C. That threshold is a firm number, chosen for room-temperature comfort with a light layer. Nothing on this page describes forecasts. The averages are climate.
Displaying historical averages for the month of March.
View full interactive mapTop 10 destinations in March
1.Colca Canyon, Peru
13°4° daily spread28 rain dayshikingAverages 13° in March with swings barely 2° either side of 13° and 28 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
2.Ibiza, Spain
17°5° daily spreadcouplesAverages 17° in March with swings barely 2° either side of 17° and 5 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
3.La Paz, Bolivia
14°5° daily spreadsoloAverages 14° in March with swings barely 2° either side of 14° and 14 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
4.Santorini, Greece
17°luxuryAverages 17° in March with a 6° day-to-day spread around 17° and 4 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
5.Elba, Italy
14°hikingAverages 14° in March with a 6° day-to-day spread around 14° and 6 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
6.Bergen, Norway
7°cultureAverages 7° in March with a 6° day-to-day spread around 7° and 16 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
7.Lake Titicaca, Peru
16°hikingAverages 16° in March with a 6° day-to-day spread around 16° and 17 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
8.Montserrat, Spain
17°hikingAverages 17° in March with a 7° day-to-day spread around 17° and 6 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
9.Palermo, Italy
16°cultureAverages 16° in March with a 7° day-to-day spread around 16° and 7 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
10.Goes, Netherlands
10°familiesAverages 10° in March with a 7° day-to-day spread around 10° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
Average temperatures by destination
Showing 80 of 80 destinations
| Destination | Country | Avg high | Swings | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iqaluit | Canada | -16° | -24° to -7° | 5 |
| Churchill | Canada | -14° | -22° to -5° | 1 |
| Svalbard | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | -13° | -23° to -2° | 10 |
| Longyearbyen | Norway | -9° | -17° to -1° | 13 |
| Ilulissat | Greenland | -8° | -17° to 1° | 4 |
| Fairbanks | United States | -4° | -13° to 6° | 2 |
| Kanas Lake | China | -5° | -11° to 1° | 11 |
| Abisko National Park | Sweden | -3° | -9° to 3° | 11 |
| Lake Baikal | Russia | -3° | -10° to 5° | 2 |
| Nuuk | Greenland | -3° | -10° to 5° | 10 |
| Astana | Kazakhstan | -1° | -7° to 6° | 6 |
| Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka | Russia | -1° | - | - |
| High Tatras | Slovakia | -1° | -7° to 5° | 14 |
| Qaqortoq | Greenland | 0° | -7° to 7° | 8 |
| Tadoussac | Canada | 0° | -5° to 5° | 4 |
| Anchorage | United States | 1° | -5° to 7° | 2 |
| Bamiyan | Afghanistan | 1° | -7° to 10° | 10 |
| Bran Castle | Romania | 1° | -5° to 8° | 14 |
| Kazan | Russia | 1° | -5° to 7° | 8 |
| Kizhi Island | Russia | 1° | -4° to 7° | 9 |
| Mount Paektu | North Korea | 1° | -5° to 8° | 8 |
| Quebec City | Canada | 1° | -5° to 7° | 10 |
| Tromsø | Norway | 1° | -3° to 5° | 18 |
| Yellowstone National Park | United States | 1° | -5° to 7° | 13 |
| Leh | India | 2° | -8° to 13° | 10 |
| Jasper | Canada | 4° | -4° to 12° | 4 |
| Moscow | Russia | 4° | -2° to 10° | 9 |
| Harbin | China | 5° | -3° to 13° | 4 |
| Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon | Iceland | 5° | 1° to 9° | 14 |
| Curonian Spit | Russia | 6° | 2° to 11° | 7 |
| Niagara Falls | Canada | 6° | -1° to 13° | 8 |
| Sapporo | Japan | 6° | 1° to 11° | 11 |
| Stockholm | Sweden | 6° | 1° to 12° | 6 |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | 6° | 0° to 13° | 6 |
| Vladivostok | Russia | 6° | 0° to 12° | 4 |
| Whistler | Canada | 6° | 1° to 11° | 12 |
| Aalborg | Denmark | 7° | 3° to 11° | 8 |
| Bergen | Norway | 7° | 4° to 10° | 16 |
| Ketchikan | United States | 7° | 3° to 11° | 16 |
| Lake Issyk-Kul | Kyrgyzstan | 7° | 4° to 11° | 11 |
| Mount Elbrus | Russia | 7° | 0° to 15° | 16 |
| Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park | Belarus | 8° | 2° to 15° | 8 |
| Charyn Canyon | Kazakhstan | 8° | 2° to 15° | 10 |
| Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | Ukraine | 8° | 2° to 15° | 9 |
| Mount Everest North Base Camp | China | 8° | 4° to 13° | 2 |
| Świnoujście | Poland | 8° | 3° to 13° | 7 |
| Lake District | United Kingdom | 9° | 6° to 13° | 14 |
| Lviv | Ukraine | 9° | 2° to 16° | 10 |
| Neuschwanstein Castle | Germany | 9° | 2° to 16° | 12 |
| Yosemite National Park | United States | 9° | 2° to 16° | 8 |
| Dresden | Germany | 10° | 4° to 16° | 8 |
| Dublin | Ireland | 10° | 7° to 14° | 10 |
| Goes | Netherlands | 10° | 7° to 14° | 9 |
| Odesa | Ukraine | 10° | 4° to 16° | 6 |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 10° | 3° to 17° | 12 |
| Danube Delta | Romania | 11° | 5° to 17° | 4 |
| Jiuzhaigou Valley | China | 11° | 5° to 17° | 12 |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | 12° | 4° to 21° | 13 |
| Baku | Azerbaijan | 12° | 7° to 17° | 7 |
| Cappadocia | Turkey | 12° | 5° to 20° | 8 |
| L'Aquila | Italy | 12° | 6° to 18° | 9 |
| Mount Fuji | Japan | 12° | 2° to 23° | 10 |
| Pyongyang | North Korea | 12° | 6° to 18° | 4 |
| Rila Monastery | Bulgaria | 12° | 4° to 20° | 11 |
| Seattle | United States | 12° | 8° to 16° | 11 |
| Turin | Italy | 12° | 7° to 17° | 5 |
| Ushuaia | Argentina | 13° | 10° to 16° | 16 |
| Vienna | Austria | 12° | 6° to 19° | 4 |
| Colca Canyon | Peru | 13° | 11° to 15° | 28 |
| Lhasa | China | 13° | 9° to 18° | 5 |
| Mont Saint-Michel | France | 13° | 9° to 17° | 10 |
| Sochi | Russia | 13° | 7° to 19° | 13 |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 14° | 5° to 23° | 11 |
| Elba | Italy | 14° | 11° to 17° | 6 |
| La Paz | Bolivia | 14° | 12° to 17° | 14 |
| Matera | Italy | 14° | 10° to 18° | 6 |
| Poreč | Croatia | 14° | 10° to 18° | 8 |
| Safranbolu | Turkey | 14° | 8° to 21° | 10 |
| Bordeaux | France | 15° | 11° to 20° | 10 |
| Great Wall of China, Mutianyu | China | 15° | - | - |
Readings come from the last ten years of daily weather data, so they reflect the climate as it is now, not as it was decades ago. Data: Visual Crossing global historical archive. How we compute this
Frequently asked
- Where is reliably cool in March?
- The driest 12-18°C cool-comfort picks in March, all with a wider day-to-day spread, are: Mogao Caves, Dunhuang (15°C, about 1 rain day, an 11° spread); Kashgar (16°C, about 1 rain day, a 12° spread); Great Wall of China, Mutianyu (15°C, about 2 rain days, a 13° spread); Santorini (17°C, about 4 rain days, a 6° spread).
- What counts as a coolcation in March?
- On this site, a coolcation is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. In March that filters 80 of 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record. The warmest in-band pick is Hangzhou at 18°; the steadiest day-to-day is Colca Canyon with a 4° spread.
- Is March the right month for a coolcation?
- It depends on where you go. In March the ten-year record puts 80 curated destinations at or below 18°C mean daily high. If that count is small, the northern hemisphere is warming and southern-hemisphere hill stations or high-latitude coasts do most of the work. If it is large, the reverse.