Best Time to Visit Nanjing, by Season

1 October Is Nanjing's Best Month, but Skip the First Seven Days

The plane trees along Nanjing's old boulevards start to rattle in October. On an evening walk the air smells of roasted chestnuts, not wet asphalt. The Open-Meteo archive puts October's average high at 22.5°C and its low at 14.7°C, and by our reading that makes it the most comfortable month in Nanjing. The low is the number to watch. April's high is almost the same at 22.6°C, but its nights fall to 12.7°C, so October evenings run 2.0 degrees warmer. In October you can eat outside after dark in a light shirt. In April you'll want a jacket by 9pm.

There is one catch, and it is a big one. China's National Day holiday runs from October 1 to 7, and Nanjing is a short train ride from Shanghai, so the famous sights fill fast that week. The obvious trap is the Confucius Temple district on the Qinhuai River. During Golden Week its lanes turn into one slow queue, and the lantern-lit boat rides sell out early. Locals avoid it that week and head for their neighbourhood parks instead.

So our pick is October 8 to 31. The weather is the same, with a 22.5°C high and a 14.7°C floor, the holiday crowds have gone home, and hotel rates drop from their peak. That said, weekends in mid-October still draw day-trippers, so plan the big sights for Tuesday to Thursday. The runner-up is the second half of September, covered in section five. It suits travellers who will put up with a 28.7°C high in exchange for thinner crowds. Late October also leaves some margin before November, when the average high drops to 17.4°C. If you have to pick one month blind, pick October and skip its first seven days. On weather alone, October keeps you between 14.7°C and 22.5°C.

If you have to pick one month blind, pick October and skip its first seven days.

2 April Beats March for Spring in Nanjing by 5.5 Degrees

In March the wind off the Yangtze still bites. The plum blossom on Nanjing's eastern hills carries a faint honey smell against cold stone. March averages a high of 17.1°C and a low of 7.3°C, so mornings run closer to winter than spring. April raises the high to 22.6°C and the low to 12.7°C: a gain of 5.5 degrees at the top and 5.4 at the bottom in a single month, the steepest spring climb in Nanjing's calendar.

April is the best spring month; March suits only one kind of traveller. The blossom on Plum Blossom Hill, on the slopes of Purple Mountain, peaks from late February into March, and weekend crowds follow it. If blossom is why you're going, go on a weekday in March and pack a down layer for the 7.3°C mornings. Everyone else should wait for April.

April suits walkers best. A 22.6°C afternoon is exactly right for a long day on the Ming city wall or the paths around Xuanwu Lake. The warmth arrives in April; the heavy humidity comes later, in June. The Qingming holiday in early April brings a short spike in domestic travel: avoid those three days if you can.

The spring runner-up is early May, with a 26.4°C high and a 17.0°C low. By afternoon May feels like summer, and its own holiday starts on May 1. For couples and walkers, pick April 10 to 30. For blossom photographers, pick mid-March and accept the 7.3°C mornings. Families with small children may prefer late April, when nights around 12.7°C are mild enough for an evening stroll along the Qinhuai.

April raises the high to 22.6°C and the low to 12.7°C: the steepest spring climb in Nanjing's calendar.

3 May Is the Last Comfortable Month Before Nanjing Heats Up

By late May the ginkgos in Nanjing's courtyards cast hard shade, and by 11am you can smell heat rising off the stone paving. May averages 26.4°C by day and 17.0°C at night: warm and still comfortable for most visitors. June changes the equation. The average high climbs to 29.9°C and the low to 21.9°C, putting nights 4.9 degrees warmer than in May. That rising low is the real warning: once nights stay above 21°C, the city never cools off and each day starts warm.

June also brings the plum-rain season to the lower Yangtze: grey, damp weeks that make 29.9°C feel heavier than it sounds. Don't plan a first trip to Nanjing around June.

May has its own trap on the calendar. The Labour Day holiday starts on May 1 and usually runs five days. During that week, domestic tour groups flood the headline sights: the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the Confucius Temple: and locals avoid the famous places entirely.

The verdict: May 6 to 31, when you get the 26.4°C high without the holiday crowds. First-time visitors who dislike heat should aim for May 6 to 20; by the last week of May the weather starts to look like June. The runner-up is late April at 22.6°C: cooler, but with shorter warm evenings. Early risers who don't mind warmth can push into the first days of June, with 29.9°C as the ceiling. After that, June's 21.9°C nights take over.

Once nights stay above 21°C, the city never cools off and each day starts warm.

4 July and August Are Nanjing's Worst Months for Sightseeing

At 7am in July, the air in Nanjing already feels like a damp towel, and on the tree-lined avenues the cicadas are louder than the traffic. Nanjing earns its place among China's 'furnace cities'. July averages a high of 32.7°C and a low of 26.0°C. August edges it out at 32.9°C, with a low of 25.8°C. The lows matter most. With nights around 26.0°C the air never cools off, so a walking day that starts hot ends even hotter.

Summer has its defenders, though not convincing ones. Business hotels in Nanjing are easier to book mid-week in July. But Chinese school holidays pack the museums with families at the same time. That is a thin trade against 32.9°C afternoons.

July and August are the two worst months for sightseeing in Nanjing. The outdoor circuit around Purple Mountain and the Ming city wall is punishing at midday. The evening boat ride on the Qinhuai becomes a slow crawl through humid crowds.

If you have to go, restructure the day. Be outside from 6am to 10am. Spend noon to 4pm indoors, at the Nanjing Museum or your hotel. Head out again after 7pm, when the heat eases a little, though it rarely drops below 26.0°C. If you have a choice between the two months, take late August over mid-July, because August's 25.8°C low is slightly easier to live with. Travellers who can only come in summer should know that September is the real alternative, when the high drops 4.2 degrees to 28.7°C.

With nights around 26.0°C the air never cools off: a walking day that starts hot ends even hotter.

5 Late September Is Nanjing's Underrated Month

Nanjing's first cool morning usually comes in the second half of September, and you feel it through your shirt before any forecast mentions it. September averages a high of 28.7°C and a low of 21.8°C. That is warm, but the high is 4.2 degrees below August's 32.9°C, and the nights are 4.2 degrees cooler than July's 26.0°C. September also falls before the October 1 to 7 National Day holiday, which makes it one of the quieter windows in Nanjing's year.

This is the underrated month. Most guides send you to October, and on weather alone they're right. Late September, though, trades 6.2 extra degrees at the top (28.7°C against 22.5°C) for thinner crowds at the headline sights. The Mid-Autumn Festival lands in September or early October depending on the lunar calendar, and in 2026 it falls on September 25. It brings a short holiday and mooncake stalls, and it draws families into the parks for the evening.

Who should pick September? Budget travellers first. Hotel prices rise heading into National Day week, and the last two weeks of September usually sit below that peak. Next, anyone who likes warm evenings, because a 21.8°C night is ideal for dinner by the Qinhuai. Last, travellers who already know Nanjing in April and want to see the city in another season.

Who should skip it? Anyone who struggles with humidity should avoid early September, which still feels like August. Our window is September 15 to 30. The runner-up is October 8 to 20, at 22.5°C, for travellers who want cooler walking weather and can live with busier weekends.

Late September trades 6.2 extra degrees for thinner crowds at the headline sights.

6 November Is Nanjing's Best Month for Photographers and Queue-Haters

Late November brings a dry, clean cold to Nanjing, and fallen ginkgo leaves turn the pavements a flat, buttery yellow. November averages 17.4°C in the afternoon and 8.7°C at night. Compared with October's 22.5°C and 14.7°C, the high falls 5.1 degrees and the low falls 6.0. You'll want a coat after sunset. At noon you won't.

Compare November with March, its spring twin. March averages 17.1°C and 7.3°C, so November is 0.3 degrees warmer by day and 1.4 degrees warmer by night. It is the same temperature band with softer mornings and no blossom crowds. November also carries no national holiday on the scale of Golden Week or Spring Festival. That is why we rate it the best month for photographers and for travellers who hate queues.

Nanjing's best-known autumn scenes are the plane-tree canopy over the old avenues and the maple colour on Qixia Mountain, east of the city. Qixia is the trap. Its maple weekends draw heavy crowds, and traffic backs up on the approach roads. Locals who want the colour go on a weekday morning. Others stay in town and walk the plane-tree streets near the Presidential Palace at 8am, before the tour buses arrive.

Our pick is November 10 to 30, for photographers, walkers, and anyone who wants Nanjing with fewer tour groups. The runner-up is late October at 22.5°C, warmer but busier. Skip early December unless you like the cold. December's high drops to 10.0°C, 7.4 degrees below November's, and its low falls to 1.2°C.

November is the same temperature band as March, with softer mornings and no blossom crowds.

7 Winter in Nanjing Works for Museum Visits if You Avoid Spring Festival

On a January morning in Nanjing your breath hangs in the air. Street vendors sell roasted sweet potatoes from steel drums, and the smoke smells of caramel and charcoal. January is the coldest month, with an average high of 9.2°C and a low of exactly 0.0°C. December averages 10.0°C and 1.2°C, and February edges up to 10.3°C and 1.9°C. All three highs fall within 1.1 degrees of each other, and none of the three months is comfortable for long days outdoors.

The bigger winter hazard is the calendar. Spring Festival falls in late January or in February depending on the lunar year, and it sets off China's largest annual travel migration. Trains out of Nanjing fill in the days before it. In the Confucius Temple district, the Qinhuai Lantern Festival draws huge crowds for the whole holiday. The lanterns are beautiful. The crush on the main lanes is not.

Locals handle it differently. They see the lanterns on a weekday evening after the first holiday week, or they watch the displays from quieter stretches of the Qinhuai away from the temple's main gate.

Who should come in winter? Budget travellers who can avoid the festival weeks, because hotel rates are low in early December and early January. Museum-focused visitors too, since a 9.2°C day costs you little if you spend it indoors at the Nanjing Museum or the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Our pick is December 1 to 20, when the 10.0°C high is slightly kinder than January's 9.2°C and the festival crowds are still weeks away. February, at 10.3°C, is the runner-up, but only in years when Spring Festival falls in January.

The lanterns are beautiful. The crush on the main lanes is not.

8 The Best Nanjing Window for Every Kind of Traveller

Stand on the Ming city wall at dusk in late October and the air smells faintly of osmanthus and river damp, temperature near 20°C. Few Nanjing evenings are better. Across the year, Nanjing's averages run from a 0.0°C January low to a 32.9°C August high, so the right window depends on who you are. Every verdict below comes from the Open-Meteo averages.

First-time visitors. October 8 to 31, at 22.5°C by day and 14.7°C at night. Runner-up April 10 to 30, at 22.6°C and 12.7°C.

Couples. Late April, after the Qingming holiday, when evenings around 12.7°C are mild enough for dinner by the Qinhuai. Runner-up late October, with 14.7°C nights.

Families with children. Mid-to-late October, when a 22.5°C high keeps small legs moving. Avoid July's 32.7°C and August's 32.9°C unless the school calendar forces it. Runner-up May 6 to 20, at 26.4°C.

Photographers. November 10 to 30, for ginkgo colour with highs of 17.4°C and lows of 8.7°C. Runner-up mid-March for plum blossom on Purple Mountain, at 17.1°C.

Budget travellers. September 15 to 30, at 28.7°C, before National Day prices rise. Runner-up December 1 to 20, at 10.0°C.

Heat-averse walkers. April or November, the two months when the average high sits between 17.1°C and 22.6°C.

Summer-only travellers. Take late August over July, for a 25.8°C low instead of 26.0°C, and plan to be indoors from noon to 4pm. Better still, push to September at 28.7°C.

Avoid entirely. October 1 to 7 and Spring Festival week, whatever the weather says. Also June, when the low reaches 21.9°C and the plum rain tends to set in.

Avoid October 1 to 7 and Spring Festival week, whatever the weather says.