Best Time to Visit Somerset: Month by Month Weather, Crowds & Tips
Somerset is one of the few places in England where the landscape does the convincing for you. The Somerset Levels stretch out like something from a fever dream of rural England – ancient, waterlogged, impossibly flat against the Mendip Hills behind them. The Quantocks roll into view before you’ve finished deciding whether to stop the car. And then there’s the light. On a clear morning in early autumn, or a luminous July evening, the light over the Vale of Avalon is the kind that makes painters move counties. It is a place of genuine, unhurried beauty – and it has the good sense not to be too obvious about it.
The question of when to visit Somerset is not as simple as “go in summer.” It is more nuanced, more interesting, and rather more rewarding than that. Each season offers something genuinely different here – not just in weather but in atmosphere, availability, crowd levels, and price. This guide covers every month so you can decide when Somerset suits you best. And if you need broader inspiration on where to go and what to do once you’ve arrived, our full Somerset Travel Guide is the place to start.
Spring in Somerset: March, April and May
Spring arrives in Somerset with a kind of tentative optimism that feels entirely English. March is still largely winter in all but name – temperatures hover between 6°C and 11°C, and rain is more likely than not. But the countryside is beginning to stir, and there is something quietly exhilarating about walking the Quantock Hills when the bracken is just turning green and you have the entire ridge to yourself.
April is when things begin to shift properly. Average temperatures rise to 9-13°C, blossom appears in the orchards around Taunton and the Mendips, and the first genuinely warm days of the year arrive – often without warning, as is the English way. Easter, whenever it falls, brings families to the area and a modest uptick in visitors to attractions like Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor, but nothing that qualifies as a crowd by any reasonable measure.
May is the jewel of spring in Somerset. Long evenings, wildflowers along the hedgerows, temperatures regularly reaching 16-18°C, and a countryside that looks as though it has been specifically arranged for your enjoyment. The Badminton Horse Trials take place in early May just across the border in Gloucestershire, drawing a certain well-heeled crowd to the region. Festivals are beginning to appear on the calendar. Accommodation prices are still below peak summer rates. For couples seeking quiet luxury without the summer school-holiday energy, May is quietly one of the best times to visit Somerset.
Summer in Somerset: June, July and August
This is, let’s be direct about it, Glastonbury Festival time. The last week of June transforms a corner of Somerset into the most famous music event on earth, and whether that appeals to you or sends you quietly mad will tell you something about yourself. The wider area during festival week is busy, booked up far in advance, and priced accordingly. If you are not going to Glastonbury, you might consider going to Somerset the week before instead.
Beyond the festival, summer in Somerset is genuinely glorious. July and August bring average highs of 20-23°C, long dry spells, and a countryside at full, golden saturation. The Somerset coast – Watchet, Porlock, the edge of Exmoor National Park – is particularly rewarding in summer. The Cheddar Gorge, always popular, becomes very popular indeed in August. Families with school-age children are the dominant demographic, which makes summer the busiest and most expensive season. Book well ahead for luxury villas, especially anything with outdoor space or a pool.
The upside of summer is obvious: everything is open, the days stretch until almost ten o’clock, local food markets are at their most abundant, and the region’s cider orchards are beginning their slow approach to harvest. Somerset in July is not a hardship.
Autumn in Somerset: September, October and November
This is the season Somerset saves for those who know what they’re doing. September is arguably the single best month to visit – temperatures remain in the mid-to-high teens, the summer crowds have retreated, the orchards are heavy with apples, and the cider-making season is beginning. There is a particular quality to autumn light in the Somerset Levels that photographers and landscape painters have been talking about for centuries. They were not wrong.
October brings the full drama of autumn colour to Exmoor and the Quantock Hills. Walking conditions are ideal – cool, clear, the paths less worn than in summer. Average temperatures of 10-14°C are perfectly manageable with the right layers, and the sense of having the landscape to yourself is deeply satisfying. Accommodation prices drop noticeably from their August peak. This is the shoulder season at its most persuasive.
November is a different proposition. Temperatures fall to 6-9°C, rain increases, and some smaller attractions and seasonal businesses begin to wind down. But for those who genuinely don’t mind grey skies – and find something atmospheric rather than depressing in a Somerset morning mist over the Levels – November has a brooding, particular appeal. The lack of other tourists is not a bug. It’s the point.
Winter in Somerset: December, January and February
Somerset in winter is not for the faint-hearted, but nor is it the lost cause some assume. December brings Christmas markets to Wells, Taunton and Bath (just over the county line, and worth the short drive), and the county’s many fine country pubs and restaurants come into their own when there’s a fire in the grate and local game on the menu. Temperatures range from 4-8°C. It rains. This is England.
January and February are the quietest months, and the most affordable. A luxury villa in the Somerset countryside in January, with a wood burner, a proper kitchen for cooking, and nothing planned except a walk on Exmoor and a long afternoon with a book – this is not a compromise. For couples, for writers, for anyone who finds the idea of a deliberately slow week genuinely appealing, the off-season case writes itself.
Major attractions like Glastonbury Abbey remain open year-round. Exmoor is magnificent in winter when the ponies come down from the high moor. The skies, free of summer haze, can be extraordinary. Somerset’s road-to-visitor ratio improves dramatically. And the locals are considerably more pleased to see you when the coach parties from August are a distant memory.
Month-by-Month Summary: When to Go and Who For
January & February: Off-season quiet, lowest prices, ideal for couples seeking genuine seclusion. Very limited crowds. Cold and occasionally wet. Perfect if slow travel is the goal.
March: Early spring, variable weather, beginning of the hiking season. Affordable. Good for walkers and those who enjoy a landscape before it puts its Sunday clothes on.
April & May: Blossom season, warming weather, excellent value before summer rates kick in. Ideal for couples and small groups. Early May is one of the best-kept secrets on the Somerset calendar.
June: Pre-Glastonbury is excellent. During Glastonbury week, the area is transformed entirely. Plan accordingly.
July & August: Peak season. Families dominate. Everything is open and at its most lively. Book early and expect premium pricing. Worth it, but requires planning.
September: The best month. Still warm, dramatically quieter, cider season begins, landscape at its richest. The answer most experienced travellers give when asked the best time to visit Somerset.
October: Autumn colour, walking weather, shoulder-season pricing. Excellent for active couples and groups who prefer quiet roads and empty trails.
November: Atmospheric, affordable, genuinely peaceful. For travellers who are comfortable with the idea of weather as part of the experience rather than an obstacle to it.
December: Christmas character, country house atmosphere, cosy rather than busy. Works well for groups renting a large villa for a celebratory stay.
Events and Festivals Worth Planning Around
Somerset’s event calendar is richer than its relatively rural reputation might suggest. Glastonbury Festival in late June is the obvious headline – one of the world’s great cultural gatherings, and even if you’re not attending, proximity to it shapes the region’s accommodation landscape for that entire week.
The Frome Festival, held each July, brings literature, music and art to one of Somerset’s most independent-minded market towns – the kind of event that draws an interesting crowd and rewards those who seek it out. The Taunton Flower Show in August is a venerable institution. Apple Day celebrations in October, tied to the cider harvest, are low-key but deeply local and worth catching if you happen to be in the area. Wells has its own Christmas market in December that avoids the worst of the generic mulled wine and novelty ornament experience. (Mostly.)
Shoulder Season: The Case for May and September
If the question is simply “when should I actually go?” then May and September are the honest answer. Both offer the essential character of Somerset – the green, the space, the food, the landscape – without the school-holiday crowds or the August premium pricing. Both are warm enough for outdoor dining, long walks, and sitting in the garden of a villa with something local in your glass.
May has the blossom and the lengthening evenings. September has the harvest, the light, and the particular satisfaction of discovering that summer has quietly extended itself without anyone announcing it. Luxury villas in Somerset are more available, better priced, and in many cases more enjoyable to inhabit in these shoulder months than in the peak weeks of July and August. The discerning traveller has known this for years. There’s no need to share it widely.
Plan Your Stay with a Luxury Villa in Somerset
Whatever month you choose, the way you stay in Somerset shapes the experience entirely. A luxury villa gives you the space, the kitchen, the grounds, and the privacy that no hotel can replicate – and in a county built around the pleasures of slow, rural life, that matters more than almost anywhere else. Browse our curated collection of luxury villas in Somerset and find the right base for the right season.
