Budapest averages 2000 hours of sunshine a year, among the highest in Europe. It means there are opportunities to visit Budapest throughout the year in reasonably fine weather. Both spring and autumn are glorious in Budapest, with plenty to see and do, and the winter cold doesn't really hit until mid-December. However, even in winter there are occasionally spectacular blue skies. Summer can be hot and lazy.

Hungary's climate is temperate, and the country can be divided into three climatic zones: Mediterranean in the south, Continental in the east, and Atlantic in the west. In Southern Transdanubia, summers are long and winters mild and wet. The Great Plain has the most extreme seasonal differences with cold, windy winters and hot, usually dry summers. Summers can be very hot in Budapest and Western Transdanubia, with winters relatively short, often cloudy but sometimes brilliantly sunny. The mean average temperature in Hungary is 11 degrees centigrade. January is the coldest month (minus two degrees Celsius) and July the hottest (28 degrees Celsius).