Home › Journeys › Speyside & the Cairngorms › Best time
Best Time for Speyside & the Cairngorms
Last updated:
Sweet spot: April, May, September. Computed from NASA POWER climate normals across the route's overnight towns, balancing temperature, rainfall and daylight.
💡 Good to know
- Distillery tours run full schedules, ospreys fish Loch Garten, and the Lecht and Cairnwell passes are reliably open — September adds the Braemar Gathering.
- The high passes shut in snow and Aviemore turns ski resort — a fine winter base, but the whisky loop needs flexible plans.
| Month | Low | High | Rain | Daylight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −0.3°C | 3.3°C | 83 mm | 7.0 h | ❄ |
| February | −0.7°C | 3.7°C | 70 mm | 9.0 h | ❄ |
| March | 0.1°C | 5.6°C | 70 mm | 11.4 h | ❄ |
| April | 2.1°C | 8.8°C | 65 mm | 14.0 h | ❄ |
| May | 4.6°C | 12.0°C | 78 mm | 16.3 h | |
| June | 7.6°C | 14.6°C | 97 mm | 17.6 h | |
| July | 9.5°C | 16.4°C | 106 mm | 17.1 h | |
| August | 9.0°C | 15.7°C | 116 mm | 15.0 h | |
| September | 7.3°C | 13.5°C | 79 mm | 12.5 h | |
| October | 4.8°C | 9.8°C | 107 mm | 10.0 h | |
| November | 2.1°C | 6.2°C | 90 mm | 7.6 h | |
| December | 0.3°C | 4.0°C | 81 mm | 6.4 h | ❄ |