London in May: Weather, Events and the Best Tours
Written and checked by the Best London Tours editorial team. .
May gives London its longest days of this guide: 15 hours 36 minutes of daylight on the 15th, with sunset at 20:45 and 21:06 by the end of the month. Highs average 17.4C. Two bank holidays fall on 3 and 31 May, and RHS Chelsea runs 18 to 22 May.
Quick pick: the best London tours in May
| # | Tour | Best for | Duration | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photography Tour | A golden hour that lands at 20:00 | 1 hour | £39 | 5 (18) |
| 2 | Thames River Cruise | An 19:00 sailing that is still full daylight | 1-2 hours | £17 | 4.5 (24,711) |
| 3 | Hop-On Hop-Off Bus | The open top deck, at its best | Full day | £25 | 4.3 (8,092) |
| 4 | London Bike Tour | Long light and warm evenings | 3 hours | £42 | 4.8 (151) |
| 5 | Tower of London | A full day on summer hours, before the July crowds | 2-3 hours | £37 | 4.6 (31,489) |
| 6 | London Eye | A late slot with the city still lit by daylight | 30 minutes | £25 | 4.6 (39,011) |
| 7 | Kensington Palace | Chelsea month, and the gardens around it | 1.5-2 hours | £19 | 4.4 (4,647) |
| 8 | London Zoo | An outdoor family day in Regents Park | 3-4 hours | £31 | 4.4 (2,526) |
| 9 | Borough Market Food Tour | The open sections of the market | 3 hours | £92 | 4.8 (593) |
| 10 | Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath | An eleven-hour day with light to spare | 11 hours - 1 day | £71 | 4.5 (3,440) |
Prices, ratings and review counts verified against live GetYourGuide listings on 28 July 2026. Duration varies by the option you choose at checkout.
Is May a good time to visit London?
May is the best month in this guide for anyone who wants to be outdoors. Daylight reaches 15 hours 36 minutes mid-month, sunset is 20:45, and average highs of 17.4C are the warmest here outside August. The one thing you cannot do in May is go inside Buckingham Palace.
May is where London's outdoor life restarts properly. Sunset at 20:45 on the 15th, rising to 21:06 by the 31st, gives you a genuine second half of the day: you can do a full day of sightseeing and still have three hours of light afterwards. That is not true of any other month in this ten-month set except August, and August costs considerably more.
The temperature has caught up with the light. At 17.4C the mean high is three and a half degrees above April and only five below August, and the 8.4C mean low means the evenings no longer collapse the way April's do. Rainfall is back up to 57mm across eleven wet days, a little above April, but well within the range where an outdoor plan is the right default.
What May does not have is the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. The 2026 season ran 9 July to 27 September, and the 2027 dates were not published when this was written. May is the closest month to summer in which the Palace is still shut, which catches people out because everything else about the month feels like the season has started.
London weather in May
May averages 17.4C highs and 8.4C lows with 57mm of rain across eleven wet days. Sunrise is 05:09 and sunset 20:45 on the 15th, giving 15 hours 36 minutes of daylight, the most in this guide, and the month gains a further 1 hour 26 minutes.
| Measure | May | Annual context |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 17.4C | Ranges from 7.7C in January to 22.6C in July |
| Average low | 8.4C | Ranges from 1.7C in January to 13.9C in July |
| Rainfall | 57mm | Driest is April at 40mm, wettest is October at 77mm |
| Wet days (1mm or more) | 11 days | Fewest in April at 10, most in March at 13 |
| Daylight, mid-month | 15h 36m | From 7h 52m in mid-December to 16h 36m in mid-June |
| Sunrise and sunset, 15th | 05:09 to 20:45 | From 15:51 in mid-December to 21:19 in mid-June |
| Change across the month | gains 1h 26m | Clocks go back on 25 October 2026 and forward on 28 March 2027 |
Temperature, rainfall and wet days are the 2015 to 2024 means from ERA5 reanalysis for central London, 2015 to 2024, via the Open-Meteo historical archive. Daylight, sunrise and sunset are for the 15th, from timeanddate.com sunrise and sunset tables for London.
Fifteen and a half hours of daylight changes what a day in London can contain. Sunrise is before 05:15 mid-month and the light does not go until well after nine in the evening, which means a full day at the Tower and a river cruise afterwards is a comfortable itinerary rather than a rush. By 31 May sunset is 21:06 and there is 16 hours 17 minutes of daylight.
Temperature-wise May is the month London becomes reliably pleasant. A 17.4C mean high sits in the range where walking all day is easy, and the 8.4C mean low is the first since October that does not require a serious layer after dark. The urban heat island means central London runs a degree or two above these figures in the evenings.
Rainfall at 57mm across eleven wet days is a modest step up from April's 40mm and ten, and well below the 77mm of October. May rain tends to arrive as afternoon showers rather than settled fronts, which is annoying rather than day-ruining. A shell in the bag is enough; you will not need it most days.
Crowds, prices and what to book ahead
May is busy without being peak. Two bank holidays on Monday 3 and Monday 31 May create long weekends that fill hotels, and RHS Chelsea from 18 to 22 May concentrates demand in the west. Between those, mid-May weekdays are one of the best-value windows of the warm half.
The two bank holidays shape the month at either end. The early May bank holiday falls on Monday 3 May and the spring bank holiday on Monday 31 May, and both create three-day weekends when domestic demand fills central hotels and the family attractions run at holiday capacity. The eleven days between the 6th and the 17th are the quietest stretch of the month.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs 18 to 22 May at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It is the biggest event in the British gardening calendar, tickets go through the RHS rather than general sale, and it fills hotels across Chelsea, Victoria and South Kensington for the whole week. Even if you are not going, it affects where you can affordably stay.
Prices are lower than August across the board while the weather is nearly as good, which is the fundamental case for May over the summer. Where August wins is the Buckingham Palace State Rooms, which are open then and closed now. That is a genuine trade rather than a tie-break, and it is the single reason to prefer August to May.
The best tours in London in May
May's ranking is built entirely on the longest daylight in this guide. With sunset at 20:45 and 17.4C highs, the outdoor, on-water and evening products take every top position, and the indoor attractions that dominated December and January do not appear at all.
1. Photography Tour
5 out of 5 from 18 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £39 • 1 hour
First place on seasonal fit, from the second-smallest review base in our list. May gives London its longest, softest evening light of this guide: sunset at 20:45 mid-month with a slow dusk after it. In December the equivalent hour is 15:51 and usually grey.
Best for in May: A golden hour that lands at 20:00
2. Thames River Cruise
4.5 out of 5 from 24,711 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £17 • 1-2 hours
The third most-reviewed product on the site, and May is when the open deck between Westminster and Greenwich becomes the best hour you can buy in London. At 17.4C and with two hours of light after a 19:00 departure, nothing about the trip is a compromise.
Best for in May: An 19:00 sailing that is still full daylight
3. Hop-On Hop-Off Bus
4.3 out of 5 from 8,092 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £25 • Full day
This is the month the upper deck is unambiguously the right choice. City Sightseeing at £25 sits at the bottom of the £25 to £32 range London operators charge, and unlike April there is no Marathon weekend to work around.
Best for in May: The open top deck, at its best
4. London Bike Tour
4.8 out of 5 from 151 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £42 • 3 hours
Holds a top position from April. May is slightly wetter at 57mm against 40mm, but it is three and a half degrees warmer and has nearly two more hours of daylight, which makes an evening ride through the Royal Parks a genuinely different proposition.
Best for in May: Long light and warm evenings
5. Tower of London
4.6 out of 5 from 31,489 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £37 • 2-3 hours
On summer hours since 1 March and not yet carrying summer visitor volume. Much of the Tower is outdoors, so May's combination of long light and 17.4C is close to ideal, and the Crown Jewels queue has not yet reached its August length.
Best for in May: A full day on summer hours, before the July crowds
6. London Eye
4.6 out of 5 from 39,011 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £25 • 30 minutes
The most-reviewed product on the site. A 20:00 rotation in mid-May is still a daylight rotation, which sounds obvious and is the opposite of what the same booking gives you in December, when it would be dark by 16:00.
Best for in May: A late slot with the city still lit by daylight
7. Kensington Palace
4.4 out of 5 from 4,647 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £19 • 1.5-2 hours
Ranked up for May specifically. This is the month London's gardens are the point, with RHS Chelsea from the 18th to the 22nd, and at £19 this is the cheapest palace in our list with Kensington Gardens and the Sunken Garden on its doorstep.
Best for in May: Chelsea month, and the gardens around it
8. London Zoo
4.4 out of 5 from 2,526 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £31 • 3-4 hours
Returns after seven months out of the ranking. The Zoo is largely an outdoor site and it only works properly in the warm half of the year. In November the same ticket buys a cold walk between indoor houses; in May it is a full day outdoors.
Best for in May: An outdoor family day in Regents Park
9. Borough Market Food Tour
4.8 out of 5 from 593 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £92 • 3 hours
Borough is part covered and part open, and May is when the open half stops being a compromise. Three hours on foot around Southwark at 17.4C is a pleasant afternoon rather than an endurance exercise.
Best for in May: The open sections of the market
10. Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath
4.5 out of 5 from 3,440 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £71 • 11 hours - 1 day
With sunrise at 05:09 and sunset at 20:45, an eleven-hour coach itinerary uses barely two thirds of the available daylight, so nothing is rushed and both Stonehenge and the Windsor grounds are seen in good light rather than at the edges of the day.
Best for in May: An eleven-hour day with light to spare
Not one indoor attraction appears in the May ten. Madame Tussauds, the London Dungeon, SEA LIFE, the Churchill War Rooms, the Warner Bros Studio Tour and the Natural History Museum tour are all out, having between them held the top places from October to February. With 15 hours 36 minutes of daylight and 17.4C highs, spending a May day indoors is the one thing this month makes hard to justify. Buckingham Palace is still closed: its season does not begin until the summer.
Events and festivals in May 2027
May has two bank holiday Mondays, on 3 and 31 May, and one large ticketed event: RHS Chelsea Flower Show from 18 to 22 May. Buckingham Palace remains closed, with the 2027 summer season dates unpublished at the time of writing.
| Event | Dates | Where | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early May bank holiday | Monday 3 May | England and Wales | Bank holiday |
| RHS Chelsea Flower Show | Tuesday 18 to Saturday 22 May | Royal Hospital Chelsea, SW3 | Ticketed through the RHS |
| Spring bank holiday | Monday 31 May | England and Wales | Bank holiday |
| Longest evenings in this guide | Sunset 21:06 on 31 May | Citywide | Free |
| Changing the Guard | Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays | Buckingham Palace forecourt | Free to watch |
Both May bank holidays fall on Mondays, on the 3rd and the 31st, and both behave the same way: domestic weekend demand fills central hotels, transport runs a Sunday-style service on the Monday itself, and family attractions run at holiday capacity for the three days. The eleven days between the 6th and the 17th are the value window in the month.
RHS Chelsea from 18 to 22 May is the largest fixed event in a London May. Tickets are sold through the Royal Horticultural Society rather than general ticketing, they go on sale months in advance and the show sells out most years. Its effect on a visitor who is not attending is on accommodation: Chelsea, Victoria and South Kensington are difficult and expensive that week.
The one thing not happening in May is Buckingham Palace. The State Rooms have been closed since 27 September and the 2027 summer season had not been announced when this was written. That is the single reason someone might choose August over May, and it is worth weighing honestly, because on daylight, temperature and price May is otherwise the stronger month.
What is closed in May
Nothing in our list closes in May except Buckingham Palace, which has been shut since 27 September. There is no seasonal closure, no clock change and no maintenance shutdown. It is, alongside April, the cleanest month in this guide.
| Site or service | Closed | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Buckingham Palace State Rooms | All month | The only closure in May. Shut since 27 September, with the 2027 summer season dates unpublished when this page was written. The 2026 season ran 9 July to 27 September. |
| Changing the Guard | Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays | Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. The most reliable time of year for it to actually go ahead, since cancellations are weather-driven. |
| Chelsea, Victoria and South Kensington hotels | Effectively full, 18 to 22 May | Not a closure, but RHS Chelsea makes accommodation in those areas scarce and expensive for the whole week. |
| Bank holiday Mondays | 3 and 31 May, reduced transport | Sunday-style service on both. Attractions are open and busy rather than closed. |
Buckingham Palace opening season: Royal Collection Trust, visiting Buckingham Palace. Changing the Guard days are published a month at a time on the Household Division Changing the Guard listing, and the ceremony can be cancelled at short notice in bad weather.
May and April are the two months in this guide with essentially nothing shut. Everything in the ranked ten is running normal hours, the Tower has been on summer opening since 1 March, and the London Eye has been back from its January maintenance for four months. The only door you will find locked is the one at Buckingham Palace.
That closure is worth understanding rather than resenting. The State Rooms are working royal rooms and they open to the public only when the household is not using them, which in practice means a short summer window. The 2026 window was 9 July to 27 September. We are not printing a 2027 window because the Royal Collection Trust had not published one.
If seeing inside the Palace is the point of your trip, the August and September pages in this guide are the ones you want. If it is one item on a longer list, May gives you better weather, more daylight, lower prices and shorter queues everywhere else, and Changing the Guard still takes place on the forecourt on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
What to wear and pack for London in May
May is the easiest month here to pack for. Average highs of 17.4C and lows of 8.4C mean a light layer rather than a coat, and at eleven wet days out of thirty-one you need a shell in the bag rather than on your back. Pack for long days rather than for weather.
The thing that catches people out in a London May is the length of the day rather than the temperature. Fifteen and a half hours of daylight means you will walk considerably further than you planned, and the failure point is usually footwear rather than clothing. Shoes you have already worn in matter more in May than anything else on this list.
The evening drop is real but modest. An 8.4C mean low sounds cold against a 17.4C high, but that minimum arrives around dawn rather than at 21:00, and central London holds its heat. A light jumper is enough for a 20:00 river cruise in May, where the same trip in September needs a proper jacket.
- Shoes already worn in, because 15 hours of daylight means more walking than you planned
- A light jumper for evenings rather than a coat
- A packable shell for eleven wet days out of thirty-one
- Sun cream, which most visitors do not associate with London and should
- Accommodation booked away from Chelsea if you are here from 18 to 22 May
How we chose these tours
May is ranked on daylight alone, and it is the purest version of that logic in this guide. Sunset at 20:45 puts the photography walk first from a review base of eighteen, and puts every indoor attraction out of the ten entirely. London Zoo returns after seven months. Buckingham Palace is still shut, which is the only thing August does better.
- Popularity first. The base order is the verified review count on the live GetYourGuide listing, which is the only booking signal we can check independently.
- Then seasonal fit. A tour moves up or down for a specific, stated reason tied to May: temperature, wet days, sunset time, school holidays or a closure. Every move is explained in the entry itself rather than left implied.
- Closed means out. If an attraction is shut for the month, it does not appear in the ten at any rank, however popular it is. We name it in the closures table instead so you can plan around it.
- Nothing is invented. Prices, star ratings and review counts come from the live product page, checked on 28 July 2026. We do not publish an opening time, closure or event date we could not confirm, and we say so where we could not.
- We earn a commission. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and pay us if you book. That does not change the ranking: the review counts are public and you can check every one of them against the listing.
FAQs about London in May
Is May a good time to visit London?
It is the best month in this guide for anyone who wants to be outdoors. Daylight reaches 15 hours 36 minutes mid-month with sunset at 20:45, average highs are 17.4C, and prices sit well below August for nearly the same weather. The one thing you cannot do is go inside Buckingham Palace, whose State Rooms only open for a short summer season.
Is Buckingham Palace open in May?
No. The State Rooms open only for a summer season, and the 2026 season ran 9 July to 27 September. The 2027 dates had not been published by the Royal Collection Trust when this page was written, so we are not stating one. Changing the Guard still takes place on the forecourt on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout May.
When are the May bank holidays in 2027?
Monday 3 May for the early May bank holiday and Monday 31 May for the spring bank holiday. Both create three-day weekends that fill central hotels with domestic demand and put family attractions at holiday capacity, and transport runs a Sunday-style service on both Mondays. The quietest stretch of the month is roughly the 6th to the 17th.
When is the Chelsea Flower Show in 2027?
Tuesday 18 to Saturday 22 May, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Tickets are sold through the Royal Horticultural Society rather than general ticketing, go on sale months ahead and usually sell out. Even if you are not attending, it makes accommodation in Chelsea, Victoria and South Kensington scarce and expensive across that week.
How late is it light in London in May?
Sunset is 20:45 on 15 May and 21:06 on the 31st, with 15 hours 36 minutes of daylight mid-month rising to 16 hours 17 minutes by the end. That is the longest of any month in this guide. It means a 19:00 or even 20:00 tour departure is still a full daylight experience, which is the opposite of the December position.
Should I visit London in May or August?
May on almost every measure: nearly five degrees cooler but still 17.4C, an hour more daylight mid-month, lower hotel rates and shorter queues. August wins on exactly one thing, and it is a significant one: the Buckingham Palace State Rooms are open then, from 9 July to 27 September in 2026, and closed in May.