Where to go in April 2018 for pleasant weather?
 

Hello,
We will be traveling to France in April 2018 to visit our daughter who lives there and to attend a family event, so we are not flexible with dates. Whenever we visit our daughter, we like to add on an extra week or two to see another European country before we fly home to the U.S. I love to buy and read guidebooks but obviously don't want to buy any books yet until we know where we will go. So I would appreciate suggestions from other travelers (or people who live in Europe) as to which country will have pleasant weather in April. We don't want to go somewhere that is cold and rainy in April. We don't need beach weather, but comfortable temps (60s, 70s, 80s) with mostly sun is desirable. The countries that are at the top of our bucket list are the following:

Ireland
Scotland
Portugal
Croatia
Romania
Norhern Italy

We are going to southern Spain this September (and have received lots of helpful information from Fodorites), and we have been to Barcelona and Rome, which is why they aren't on my list.

I have checked weather underground, and they give average temps of 55F for Ireland, 66F for Portugal and 62F for Dubrovnk. But nothing about precipitation. I also like to hear from other travelers who have been to these places at this time of year, instead of only relying on weather reports. Friends of ours were in Ireland last June, and they said it was cold, which makes me a little nervous about going there in April.

Thank you!

I was stuck in Romania with snow in late march early april.
A nightmare.

Northern italy is bascially like france : gray, dull, humid, windy is to be expected.

No idea about Croatia.

Portugal : north will be miserable, south will be better.

Ireland and Scotland : we've had had snow on Hadrian wall late april early may. It is not unusual to see remnants of snow along the M??? Macnhester -Leeds. Under a gray sky.

I have ordered 6 books at my local library in Portumna Ireland, cheaper than buying them.

If you want advice on Ireland you are better asking on a solo country question or a different forum. But for what its worth I don't have a clue what the weather is going to be like this April never mind next. It depends where you / your friends are from.. lets face it its cold, its February, but its warmer than New York!

Front end of April or back end of April?
Later in April you have more chance of better weather in any of your choices.
Scotland and Ireland can be cold and rainy any time of year, but they can also be beautifully sunny and relatively warm. I really wouldn't let the prospect of rain put you off visiting either - all that green has to come from somewhere.

Regarding guidebooks, yes, check your library, but I've felt it very cost-effective to buy guides to places I'm even just considering, money well spent, especially if I get the feeling after perusing them that the place may not be for me.

I find it best to check statistical historical data rather than anecdotes, and then you can decide how it fits your ideas. I do consider 80s beach weather, for example, but you don't.

I'm not sure where you are looking on wunderground as they do give precipitation and for Dublin the average for April was a 56 high (not a 55 overall average). IN general, I don't find the "averages" weather sites give you very meaningful as they are the average between the low and the high, I look at the low and high separately. For example, this is their page for Dublin for April 2016, and it gives precipitation at the bottom https://www.wunderground.com/history...eqdb.wmo=03969

However, I do find holiday-weather.com more user-friendly as an easy way to get monthly historical weather details for a city. This is their page for Dublin for April

http://www.holiday-weather.com/dublin/averages/april/

Your best bet would be Portugal. Agree with Perdu that buying guidebooks has saved me both money and bother plus provided a mini-trip.

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied so far! I didn't expect so many responses so quickly.

We live near Boston so right now it's cold and snowing! This is our 3rd day of snow out of 4 days, with snow expected tomorrow, too. Our friends who went to Ireland in June also live near us. So I am housebound right now, and dreaming of future trips!

Christina, I apologize if my comment about temps was confusing. I do consider 80's beach weather; what I meant to say is that we don't plan on going to the beach so we don't necessarily require a location that would have beach weather in April. I love to go to the beaches near us (such as Cape Cod), but it is not a priority when traveling to Europe. We prefer to do and see things we can't do at home.

The page I was looking at had low temps, high temps and average for Dublin, but the precipitation was blank. Not sure why. Thanks for the holiday-weather.com site. I already checked it out, and I agree it is more user-friendly.

We will be visiting our daughter in southern France in early to mid-April, so the second part of our trip would be most likely the last week of April, which is better than early April.

I think I am leaning towards Portugal or Croatia right now. My other daughter went to Romania on her honeymoon in early October and loved it. It was cool and very pretty with fall foliage. But there was snow on the mountain tops. Fewer crowds, too. So might save Romania for the autumn season.

Woin, when you say you were stuck in snow in Romania, do you mean you couldn't get out because of the snow?

Perdu, l like your suggestion of buying travel guide books before we decide where to go! I will take you up on that!

I'm not sure I'd recommend Croatia in April -- the places that rely heavily on tourism -- and that top most people's wish lists for Croatia -- will be largely shuttered. That said, there are places that are year-round destinations -- like Split and Zagreb.

Another fan of guidebooks -- well worth their costs, IME!

I'm going to Majorca early this April. Weather averages indicate very dry that time of year. May not necessarily mean a lot of sun and hi temps but going with the odds.

Kja, thanks for your comments about Croatia. Some general research I did suggests going in the spring, but maybe that is false marketing. I know I want to see Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes. When did you go? I think I read your trip report. I Love reading travel guidebooks, it's just that I usually buy them after I have decided on a destination. Now I see the value in reading them before I choose a destination!

Scrb11, will look into Majorca! Hope you will let us know how your trip goes.

Have you considered Morocco? I'm headed there this April, so no first hand experience yet. But from what I read, the weather should be sunny then. We are doing three days in Lisbon and then taking an inexpensive flight to Marrakech. I suspect there would be budget flights from France as well.

I visited Croatia from mid-May (when many locations were just "waking up") through mid-June. Dubrovnik and the Plitvice Lakes National Park would probably be OK in April (although some things in Dubrovnik would like still be closed). The cities with large universities would be "open for business" -- Split (my favorite city in Croatia), Zagreb (of course), Zadar, Varazdin, probably Sibenik.... With few exceptions, the islands would be exceedingly quiet and ferry schedules won't be particularly frequent (they move to the "summer" schedule on about 1 June). You'll have to check some weather statistics to get a sense of likely rain, temperatures, etc. -- perhaps wunderground.com or timeanddate.com. I can't imagine that water anywhere would be warm enough for swimming (except, of course, for heated or indoor pools). And with something like the Plitvice Lakes, you would have to be prepared for a "lost" day if weather doesn't cooperate. BUT if you are willing to limit yourself to the larger cities, maybe Croatia would make sense.... It certainly is a beautiful country, and since it can't be seen in any one trip of even two weeks, visiting part at a time that's convenient certainly has its merits.

Hope that helps!

I also visited Corsica in April a few years ago. A couple of cloudy days but some good sun as well.

Not beach and swimming in the ocean weather.

The Calanques in Piana and the Golfe de Porto were spectacular in the sun. Took a cruise there and it was a bit chilly so you'd need layers. You could see snow in the distant mountains.

Also went to Capri one April, around Easter. Either before or after, not when they mark up rates. Plenty of sun but some services are closed, like the chairlift to the top of the island.

However, people were swimming in the beaches.

Hi Karen
Yes, poor driving conditions. 4+ hours for 150 kms (it is 100 miles roughly).
Another time it was fog. Another 4 hours, same journey.

I would go to Morocco or Sicily, but I live in Europe and am used to the vagaries of weather in April. It can be beautiful and warm anywhere, or rainy and cold. We head way south when we travel in April and want warm weather.

En avril ne te découvre pas d'un fil.

Kja, what was the weather like in mid May? I read Andrew's trip report; he was there in late April into May for 2 weeks, and it seems like he had a lot of rain. Now I think I would enjoy Croatia better in June. Weather should be warm, but hopefully it wouldn't be as crowded as July and August.

WoinParis, after your experience, I think I'll save Romania for the autumn season. Portugal looks like it could have the best weather in April.

I plan on going to Barnes & Noble in the next few days to buy some guidebooks!

Malta should be nice. Have you checked averages on weatherbase.com?

I had glorious weather! One day in mid-June in Mostar was unreasonably (and unseasonably) hot. I encountered a brief thunderstorm (less than an hour) one evening in the 3rd week of May (Dubrovnik); one day of drenching rain in late May, which cleared by late afternoon / early evening (Trogir); and a brief thunderstorm (complete with stunning double rainbow) as I reached Varazdin in early June. Otherwise, absolutely delightful. I was in the area for a month, from mid-May though mid-June.