Meteo Zara in settembre

September is the month the Plitvice forum recommends without much argument - crowds well down on July and August, and mid-September weekdays quiet enough that the upper lakes can be close to empty early on. The advice is all about the hour and the direction: start early, and remember the lower lakes are heaving by late morning because that is where the coach groups begin, so walking against them helps. Days above 30C are rare by mid-month. The one thing that can shut part of the park is water - heavy rain floods the wooden walkways and the upper section closes, though ordinary rain will not do it. Our row carries 161.6mm over 12.8 precipitation days. The record: 18.9C days, 10.1C nights and 9.6 hours of sun.

Forum posters consistently name November as one of Croatia's rainiest months along the coast, with average coastal temperatures around 10C and often strong winds accompanying the rain. Posters are direct that many smaller towns and islands shut down for the season by November, with restaurants and boat tours largely unavailable, but note that larger mainland destinations like Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik stay open and can still offer genuinely nice weather between rain systems. Posters generally recommend sticking to these bigger coastal cities rather than island-hopping in November, since services there remain reliable even as the wider region turns quiet and wet. Posters generally rate November as manageable for visiting Zadar specifically, provided visitors pack for cool, changeable, occasionally windy and wet conditions and skip plans that depend on island infrastructure.

May is a fairly ideal month for the Dalmatian coast on the forum's telling — pleasant temperatures, far fewer tourists — with Zadar near 21°C and good bus connections down to Šibenik and beyond. Two honest caveats. The weather is genuinely unpredictable: one poster describes a week of lovely sun followed by a fortnight of cold and rain, and the record puts May at ten wet days. And the sea is the real catch, about 18°C, which regulars call too cold for comfortable swimming for most people. May here is a sightseeing month, not a swimming one.