Best time to visit Windhoek

Namibia · Africa

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Windhoek

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in Feb, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct or Dec — these months score within a whisker of each other; 29C max, 0 rainy days. Nov is the next best.

Dry all year: 6 or fewer rainy days in every month.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

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Things to do in Windhoek

Christuskirche The old Lutheran church.
Heroes' Acre A war memorial with graves and a giant statue to the unknown soldier…
Independence Memorial Museum History museum in Windhoek, Namibia
Alte Feste Museum
Reiterdenkmal, Windhoek National Monument of Namibia
Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve Hiking trails and lots of ungulates.
St. Mary's Cathedral, Windhoek Building in Namibia

Tours and tickets in Windhoek

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Windhoek), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	30°	5d	44%	11.7h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Feb	29°	5d	52%	11.1h	sweet spot	29C max, 5 rainy days
Mar	28°	5d	50%	11.3h	good	28C max, 5 rainy days
Apr	26°	2d	48%	11.0h	sweet spot	26C max, 2 rainy days
May	24°	0d	35%	10.5h	sweet spot	24C max, 0 rainy days
Jun	21°	0d	33%	10.3h	sweet spot	21C max, 0 rainy days
Jul	22°	0d	28%	10.3h	sweet spot	22C max, 0 rainy days
Aug	25°	0d	21%	11.1h	sweet spot	25C max, 0 rainy days
Sep	29°	0d	20%	11.4h	sweet spot	29C max, 0 rainy days
Oct	31°	1d	22%	11.8h	sweet spot	31C max, 1 rainy day
Nov	31°	1d	26%	12.5h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Dec	31°	4d	36%	12.2h	sweet spot	31C max, 4 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the centre, 41 km from the airport (WDH): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in November; quietest in May.

Then and now

Windhoek's October days now average 30.5°C, 2.1°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 6 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	30.1°	27.9°	27.2°	25.0°	23.0°	20.0°	20.3°	23.4°	27.0°	28.4°	30.3°	30.9°
2017–26	30.1°	28.8°	28.0°	25.9°	23.9°	21.1°	21.7°	25.0°	28.6°	30.5°	31.3°	30.8°
Change	-0.1°	+0.9°	+0.9°	+0.9°	+0.8°	+1.1°	+1.3°	+1.6°	+1.7°	+2.1°	+1.0°	-0.1°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Windhoek is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Cost of living	cheap — prices run about 41% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025)
Currency	Namibian dollar
Languages	English
Plugs	Type D, 220 V
Driving	On the left
Calling code	+264
Travel advice	No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2025-12-10
Health	UK Foreign Office health advice

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — The Namibian dollar is fixed one to one to the South African rand, and both can be used freely in Namibia, but the Namibian dollar is not legal tender in South Africa. Major cards are widely accepted in the cities and ATMs are widely available, but carry cash outside the towns and for fuel, as petrol stations do not take credit cards. Card skimming happens at some hotels and lodges: keep your card in sight when paying, and use ATMs inside a bank or business or in well-lit public places.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — A small tip, in cash, for the attendant who fills your car at a petrol station is common, and somewhat expected of visitors.

Getting around Windhoek

Hosea Kutako International Airport is 45 km east of Windhoek, and transport to and from it is by airport shuttle; the LEFA app also books rides to the airport, and the major car-hire firms operate there. Public transport covers the bare minimum, and the tourism board calls a car the best way to get around the country.

Apps — Rides: LEFA. Maps: Google Maps. Do not hail taxis in the street, especially in Windhoek, as foreigners have been robbed by taxi drivers: have your hotel, guest house or tour operator recommend a reputable taxi firm, use only registered taxis showing the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (NABTA) logo, agree the fare before you set off, have small notes ready, and never share a taxi with strangers.

Most hotels and hostels are close to the city centre, so you can easily walk to most shops, restaurants, clubs and sights. After dark it is not safe to walk, though. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Windhoek, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Open in Google MapsWindhoek on the map

Help

Emergency — 10111 or 999 or 112 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (12)

Windhoek in pictures

Tintenpalast, Windhoek, Namibia, 2018 08 04, DD 04 — i

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Iglesia de Cristo, Windhoek, Namibia, 2018 08 04, DD 01 — i

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Windhoek Landscape — i

Pekondjelo Himufe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Windhoek aerial — i

Brian McMorrow, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Windhoek City Centre 04 — i

Pekondjelo Himufe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Windhoek is like

Windhoek is Namibia's capital and largest city (population 430,000 in 2020). It is in the geographic centre of the country at an elevation of 1,600 m. This is the city where most safaris travelling through Namibia begin, and also the first point of entry in Namibia should you arrive by airplane. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Parliament of Namibia. It was the legislative assembly during the Apartheid days and is now the home of the National Assembly. There is also a new building next door for the National Council. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: AJ du Plooy Sports Fields, Socrates Street, Academia (between Academia High School and Windhoek Technical High School; follow the way to the University of Namibia (UNAM), it is roughly opposite). More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: The B1, which runs from the north to the south and the B2 (Trans-Kalahari) which runs from the east to the west through Namibia are the primary land routes into Windhoek. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Windhoek is generally safe for tourists but the usual precautions should be taken. Do not walk around displaying jewellery or electronics. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy: Due to its high elevation of about 1,600 m you can be sunburnt easily, even on the (few) cloudy days. Wear a hat and sunscreen. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Windhoek, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Windhoek

Nearby

Kind of place

Windhoek is in Namibia, Africa. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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