Portugal Weather in December: 10 Cities Compared

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Where to go in Portugal in December, by what you want

• Is December a good time to go to Portugal? Yes for a mild, quiet winter trip in the south or on Madeira. No for a dry city break in the north.
• Warmest day and night: Funchal, with a mean of 17.6 °C (64 °F).
• Warmest on the mainland: Lagos, with a mean of 14.8 °C (59 °F).
• Quietest: Lagos, at 19% of its busiest month.
• Driest on the mainland: Evora, with 1.9 mm of rain a day, but 6.5 °C (44 °F) at night.
• Wettest, so pack for it: Braga with 4.0 mm a day and Porto with 3.9 mm.

In the 10 cities, December ranks between 3rd and 11th of 12 months on our score. Funchal’s December is its 3rd-best month. Evora’s is its 11th.

How the 10 cities rank for December

We ranked the 10 cities for December with one rule: mild, dry and not too full scores best. The score runs from 0 to 1. In December no city gets above 0.34. The table shows the high and the low. The score uses a separate long-term mean of day and night, so it can read a little colder than sites that print only the high.

Is Portugal crowded in December? Not by our measure, but one city is far fuller than the rest. December overnight stays range from 19% of the busiest month in Lagos to 68% in Funchal. Braga and Coimbra sit at 58% and 57%, close to the top, even though they are the coldest cities.

What is the weather like in Portugal in December?

Portugal in December is mild by day and cool at night. Daytime highs run from 12.1 °C (54 °F) in Braga to 19.2 °C (67 °F) in Funchal. Nights fall to 4.5 °C (40 °F) in Braga and stay near 17.4 °C (63 °F) in Funchal. Rain is 1.7 mm a day in Funchal and 4.0 mm in Braga, so the north is the wet part.

The north: Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra and Braga

The north is the wettest and coldest part of our set. Braga is lowest for both highs and lows, and Porto ranks 8th of the 10 cities; the Porto best-time page shows every month for the city.

The Lisbon area: Cascais and Sintra

Is Porto or the Lisbon area better in December? On our rule, Cascais scores 0.26 and Sintra 0.16, and Porto scores 0.05. We do not cover Lisbon itself, so this page prints no Lisbon figure.

The Algarve and Madeira: Lagos, Faro and Funchal

The south has the mildest nights on the mainland and Madeira beats all of it, which is why Funchal ranks first even though our rule also counts crowds. Compare the full year on each city’s best-time page.

Inland Alentejo: Evora

Evora has a mild afternoon, 16.6 °C (62 °F), and the driest air on the mainland, 1.9 mm of rain a day. It drops to 6.5 °C (44 °F) at night, so it ranks 6th of the 10 cities and 11th of 12 months in its own year.

Is it better to visit Portugal in November or December?

We compared overnight stays from INE, Statistics Portugal, for November and December in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and put them next to each city’s score. The crowd pattern is clearer than the weather pattern in these three years.

• We compared the two months: December scores higher than November in most of the 10 cities. November scores higher in only 2, Evora and Coimbra, and Sintra and Braga tie.
• Per INE, November is busier than December in 9 of the 10 cities, and Braga is level at 58% in both months.
• In Lagos, the share of the busiest month falls from 28% in November to 19% in December, and the score rises from 0.25 to 0.32.
• For the full month before, see Portugal in November, where November is the wettest month in 9 of the 10 cities.

What we cannot tell you yet

• Can you swim in Portugal in December? We have no sea-temperature data for these cities, and air temperature does not tell you the water temperature, so we do not guess.
• Is December cheap? INE counts overnight stays, not prices. Demand runs from 19% of the busiest month in Lagos to 68% in Funchal, but we have no monthly price data. For one city’s costs, see what a trip to Porto costs.
• How busy is Christmas week? INE publishes monthly totals. We have no weekly data and no sourced event data, so this page does not cover Christmas markets, lights or New Year’s Eve.

What to pack for Portugal in December

• Pack a warm layer for evenings and a rain jacket if you go north.
• Nights are cold inland. Braga drops to 4.5 °C (40 °F), Coimbra to 5.3 °C (42 °F) and Evora to 6.5 °C (44 °F).
• The north is wet. Braga gets 4.0 mm of rain a day and Porto 3.9 mm. Funchal gets 1.7 mm.
• Phone data: our page on eSIM options for Portugal compares two brands on what their own pages say.

Planning an earlier trip? See Portugal in November. Planning a later trip instead? See Portugal in January, Portugal in February, Portugal in March, Portugal in April or Portugal in May. Figures as of October 2026. Our climate figures are for a grid square of 0.5 by 0.625 degrees, about 56 by 54 km, not a city weather station. Near the coast that square mixes in sea air, so day and night are closer together than in town. Lisbon is not in our 10 cities.

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