Ultra Network

The best places to travel in May

May is the Mediterranean’s finest month, warm and before the crowds: the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Greece and the French Riviera during the Cannes Film Festival. Further afield, Morocco’s Rose Valley festival, the Andean dry season in Peru and calm seas in the Seychelles.

Updated · Ultra Network

19 destinations at their best in May.

Europe

Amalfi CoastShoulder SeasonCliffside grandeur on the Mediterranean's most storied coastline
  • Private yacht charter along the coast — Positano, Capri, Amalfi, with lunch at a waterfront restaurant
  • Michelin dining circuit: Don Alfonso 1890, Rossellinis, Lo Scoglio
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsTuscanyBest season: May – June, September – OctoberWhere la dolce vita was born — rolling hills, Renaissance art, and vineyards that produce liquid gold
  • Private after-hours tour of the Uffizi Gallery with art historian
  • Wine blending session at a Super Tuscan estate (Ornellaia, Sassicaia)
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsGreeceShoulder SeasonAntiquity and azure infinity, concentrated in a single archipelago
  • Private guided Acropolis access at dawn before public opening hours
  • Superyacht island-hopping circuit: Mykonos, Delos, Naxos, Folegandros, Santorini
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsFrench RivieraCannes Film FestivalWhere Europe's oldest money still takes its summer
  • Private superyacht charter along the Riviera coastline with Monaco port entry
  • Three-Michelin-starred dinner overlooking the Casino de Monte-Carlo
Typical stay: 5 – 14 nightsMontenegroAdriatic SpringEurope's newest riviera: superyachts, Byzantine walls, mountain fjords.
  • Sunset sailing through the Bay of Kotor aboard a restored traditional Jadran schooner, anchoring at the Island of Our Lady of the Rocks for a private seafood dinner
  • Exclusive island buyout of Sveti Stefan for a group of eight, with personal use of the 15th-century village, private beach, and resort spa
Typical stay: 5–10 nightsAlbaniaMountain Trekking WindowEurope's last undiscovered coastline, utterly and gloriously intact.
  • Private superyacht anchorage in Ksamil bay, with snorkelling over Greco-Roman ruins at Butrint
  • Exclusive guided tour of Gjirokastër's citadel and old bazaar with a local historian
Typical stay: 7–10 nightsGeorgiaSpring Vineyard SeasonEight thousand years of wine, walled in ancient amber stone.
  • Private qvevri winemaking workshop at a Kakheti estate — foot-treading and clay-vessel sealing
  • Sulphur bath private session in Abanotubani's historic bathhouse district, Tbilisi
Typical stay: 7–10 nightsPortugalShoulder Season ValueAtlantic light, ancient palaces, and Europe's last wild coast.
  • Private sunset cruise along the Comporta coastline aboard a traditional rabelo, with a Lisbon sommelier presenting single-quinta Setúbal wines
  • Exclusive after-hours access to Sintra's Palácio Nacional da Pena with a royal historian, followed by dinner in the palace gardens
Typical stay: 7–12 nights

Africa and the Middle East

Asia

JapanBest season: March – May, October – NovemberForty centuries of refinement distilled into every gesture, garden, and grain of rice
  • Private after-hours visit to Kinkaku-ji or Fushimi Inari (before public opening)
  • Omakase at an 8-seat sushi counter (Michelin-starred, reservation required months ahead)
Typical stay: 10 – 16 nightsBaliBest season: April – OctoberThe island that taught the world that spirituality and luxury are the same thing
  • Private water purification ceremony with a Balinese high priest at a thousand-year-old spring temple
  • Sunrise trek to the crater lake of Mount Batur — breakfast cooked in volcanic steam
Typical stay: 10 – 14 nightsBhutanBest season: March–May and September–NovemberThe last Buddhist kingdom, carbon-negative and incomparably serene.
  • Pre-dawn ascent to Tiger's Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang) with a private guide before other visitors arrive
  • Five-valley lodge circuit — private vehicle transfers between all five lodges over 10 nights
Typical stay: 7–14 nightsUzbekistanSpring Cultural SeasonTilework and turquoise domes where caravans once rested.
  • Private evening access to the Registan, Samarkand — illuminated, empty, arranged through the flagship resort
  • Scholar-led walking tour of Bukhara's medieval bazaar domes and Kalon Mosque complex
Typical stay: 7–12 nights

The Americas

The Indian Ocean and the Pacific

French PolynesiaBest season: May – OctoberBora Bora and beyond — the South Pacific's most iconic overwater paradise
  • Sunset catamaran cruise across the Bora Bora lagoon
  • Drift diving the Tiputa Pass in Rangiroa (dolphin encounters)
Typical stay: 10 – 14 nightsSeychellesCalmest SeasPrehistoric granite islands where the world's rarest ecosystems meet barefoot luxury
  • Private sunset cruise through the Ste Anne Marine Park
  • Snorkeling the granite reef formations unique to the Seychelles
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsPapua New GuineaDry Season / Diving PeakEight hundred languages and a world still inventing itself.
  • Private access to Mount Hagen Sing-Sing cultural show with a specialist tribal culture facilitator
  • Multi-day Sepik River longboat expedition visiting haus tambaran spirit houses and master carvers
Typical stay: 10–14 nights

Where to go in May, by what you love.

Every destination here is in its peak season in May. Choose by the kind of journey you have in mind:

  • For sun, sea and islands: Bali, Turks & Caicos, Amalfi Coast, French Polynesia, Greece and Seychelles.
  • For wildlife: Botswana.
  • For culture, food and wine: Japan, Bali, Amalfi Coast, French Polynesia, Tuscany and Greece.
  • For snow and mountains: Japan.
  • For adventure and wild places: Bali, Morocco, Seychelles, Albania, Bhutan and Uzbekistan.
  • For wellbeing: Japan, Bali, Turks & Caicos, Tuscany, Morocco and Seychelles.

Planning a May journey.

Peak season is when the best suites, villas, guides and tables are most in demand, and the most sought-after of them are reserved well ahead. The earlier the plan begins, the more of them remain open to you.

An independent Ultra Advisor knows which of these destinations suits the journey you have in mind in May, what can still be secured, and how to join two of them into one trip. They design the itinerary around you, book every part of it and look after it until you are home.

Your questions.

Where is the best place to travel in May?

It depends on the journey you want. The most searched destinations at their best in May are Japan, Bali and Turks & Caicos: Japan for best season: March – May, October – November; Bali for best season: April – October; Turks & Caicos for best season: November – May.

Where do luxury travellers go in May?

For sun, sea and islands, Bali, Turks & Caicos and Amalfi Coast. For wildlife, Botswana. For culture, food and wine, Japan, Bali and Amalfi Coast. All 19 destinations on this page are in their peak season in May.

How far ahead should I plan a May trip?

As early as you can for peak-season stays at the most sought-after hotels and villas. An advisor can tell you what is still possible for May, including at shorter notice.

Can I combine two destinations in May?

Often, when both are in season and the journey between them is easy. An advisor plans the route, the flights or private aviation and the timing, so the trip feels like one journey.

Does it cost more to plan a May trip with an advisor?

Usually not: most advisors are paid by the hotels and suppliers they book, so the rate is typically the one you would pay directly, and asking Ultra for an advisor is free.

Tell us about the May journey you have in mind.

Recommendations chosen for you, an itinerary crafted around them, and every booking managed by an independent Ultra Advisor.

Free to ask, no obligation.