Vejret i Dubrovnik (Dalmatia) i september

September is the answer here. The sea is at its warmest of the whole year, the cruise ships thin out after the first week, and the city walls at 26°C are survivable. In August that same walk is a genuine health hazard.

Regulars call the end of this month arguably the best stretch of the whole year here, lovely warm weather and noticeably thinner crowds than peak season, with one real caveat - the sea itself hasn't fully caught up yet for anyone specifically planning to swim. Our row backs that mild, genuinely showery read, 23.1C over 16.8C nights, with a substantial 116.5mm of rain across 14 days and humidity at 75 percent. Regulars are consistent flowers and trees are in full, glorious bloom by this point, long daylight hours making the Old Town walls and cable car genuinely pleasant to explore without summer's heat. A light jacket and scarf remain worth packing for evenings and any ferry rides. The sea sits at 18.8C, swimmable for some but still cool for most. The record: 11.9 hours of sun, a 16.2 kph wind and AQI 48.

Two crowds meet here in August. The summer holiday fills the coast, and the cruise ships land two or three thousand people at a time into an old town small enough to feel it - the board describes busy from eight in the morning until nine at night on a multi-ship day. Their advice never changes: walk the walls first thing, because there is no shade up there and the middle of the day is miserable. Our row explains the word. 31.3C reads as 36C at 67 percent humidity, over nights that stay at 24.5C, so the stone never really cools. Rain is 59.9mm across 7.3 days. The sea is 26.4C, within a third of a degree of July's peak. The record: 12.4 hours of sun, a 14.7 kph wind and AQI 54.

June here is a lovely month with the countryside at its best, and the crowd is not a function of the month at all - it is a function of which cruise ships are docked that day. Regulars say the first week can be heaving with ships in almost daily, that the old town is busy even without them, and that a docking schedule is published and can be checked before choosing a date. The walls are the pinch point: go early or after three, because the tour groups hold them from about half past ten to three, and at 28.1C reading as 31C the late morning is the worst of both. Our row gives 53.4mm across 8 days, 13.2 hours of sun and a 24.1C sea. The record: 21.8C nights, humidity 73 percent and AQI 49.

Forum posters call March a genuine toss-up: it might be warm-ish and sunny, or it might turn cool and rainy, but either way it's usually milder than most of Europe or North America at the same time of year. The Old Town stays far from deserted but foot traffic is notably light, which posters count as a real upside alongside cheaper prices. Major sights and most restaurants are open, though exact dates can shift around when Easter falls that year. Swimming is out - the sea's still too cold - and several posters suggest leaning toward the back half of March over the front half if the dates are flexible.