Istanbul is not tropical! It snows in the winter and most of the winters you see some snow sticking on the ground. Summers are hot and dry but not too hot like the Mediterranean costs of Turkey. In mid July in the night, you might even need a light jumper or coat if you are outside along the Bosphorus.
Although Istanbul is interesting and beautiful all around the year, from mid-April to mid-November can still be considered as the best time to visit the city.
Note that from mid-June mid-September it is school holidays in Turkey and city becomes less crowded. This is true for the traffic as well. I really like summers in Istanbul. It’s less crowded but never quiet, buzz of Istanbul never ends! Also, it is pretty easy to reach some of the very nice Istanbul beaches in 30-60 minutes time from the city center.
Weather in Istanbul at different months:
Spring (April – May):
Nice temperatures. Quite a few days might be rainy though. A t-shirt might be enough for day time for some of the days in May but in the evenings you’ll still need some jumpers and a coat.
Summer (June – September):
10-15 days during July and August tend to be very hot for Istanbul which is around 36-40 centigrade celsius but normally temperatures are comfortable and you’ll hardly need an air-con at your hotel room. A t-shirt will be fine day and night but if you are around the Bosphorus or at the seaside during the evening, you might need a jumper or a light jacket. This is also a very dry period, so there would be 5-10 rainy days in 4 months time. Beginning of June and towards the end of September you might need a jumper and light jacket. You can head to some nearby beaches for swimming, windsurfing and kite surfing.
Autumn (October – November):
You should bring some jumpers, a coat and an umbrella. This will not be a time that you can walk around with a t-shirt most likely not even during the day time. Rainy days and dry days might be equal during this period.
Winter (December – March):
Cold time. You will definitely need a warm coat, warm socks and gloves and a hat. Most likely that 10-15 days will be snowy and many other days it will rain. Even if the sun is out, it will still be cold! Time to drink some sahlep to warm up. If you are willing to do as short as 1.5 hours car journey, then you can go for skiing.
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