What the score measures
The Atlas Ranger Score answers one question: how good is it to be in this place, this month? It is a timingscore, not a verdict on whether a destination is worth visiting at all. A world-class city with cold, wet winters will score lower in January than a tropical island in its dry season — that doesn't make the island “better,” it means January is a better time to be on the island.
How it's calculated
Weather comfort is the dominant input — it's most of what makes a month pleasant or punishing. On top of that, we add small bonuses for the things that make a trip better beyond the forecast: fewer crowds, better value, and a notable festival or event.
- Weather comfort (the core, 0–100). Peak comfort sits around a 25°C daytime high. We penalise deviation from that, plus heavy rain (up to a monsoon-level cap), muggy tropical nights with no overnight relief, and freezing nights. Good sun hours nudge it up.
- Fewer crowds (bonus).Shoulder and low-season months earn a small bonus — the same place is more pleasant when it isn't packed. Peak season earns no bonus; its reward is its high weather score.
- Better value (bonus).Off-peak months earn a small value bonus, since that's when flights and hotels are cheapest.
- What's on (bonus). A month with a major festival or event earns a small experience bonus — being there for cherry blossoms or a defining festival is part of the trip.
The four combine into a single 0–100 figure for every month, and the twelve monthly scores average into a destination's headline annual score. There is no ranking by popularity, ad spend, or tourist-arrival numbers — a quiet shoulder-season gem scores the same as a famous hotspot if the timing is genuinely as good.
What it deliberately leaves out
The score is about timing, so it doesn't try to rate things that don't change month to month — a destination's food, culture, or scenery aren't in the number (those live in the full destination guides and the side-by-side comparisons). It's also a planning aid, not a guarantee: climate is a long-run average, and any single year can run warmer, wetter, or stormier than normal. For conditions right now, every destination page carries a live weather + air-quality panel.
Where the data comes from
Monthly climate normals (temperature, rainfall, sunshine) come from national meteorological agencies and Open-Meteo's ERA5 historical reanalysis. Season classifications and festival calendars are set per destination from those primary sources and official tourism boards, and reviewed before publication. Each destination guide lists its own sources.
Why we publish the formula
Because a score you can't inspect is just an opinion with a number stuck on it. Publishing exactly how the Atlas Ranger Score works means you can challenge it, and it means when the score says “April in Tokyo” or “Vietnam edges Thailand,” that's a claim we're showing our working for — not asking you to take on faith.