Best Time to Visit São Tomé and Príncipe

Geographical location

The archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe lies about 130 miles south of Nigeria, west of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Only the Seychelles undercut the size of the second smallest state in Africa, whose larger island São Tomé is 30 miles long and 20 miles wide.

Only about 10 percent of the population live on the significantly smaller island of Príncipe, although there are only about 200,000 inhabitants in the small island state, whose southern tip rises to the equator. São Tomé and Príncipe are of volcanic origin and therefore very mountainous, the highest peak (the Pico de São Tomé) exceeds 2000 meters.

The former crown colony of Portugal has been independent since 1975, but the official language is still Portuguese. The most important export commodity is still cocoa of outstanding quality, with enormous oil discoveries off the coast of the islands promising economic change.

As a result of these possible riches, São Tomé and Príncipe suffer from quite unstable governments, which once again stumbled over corruption scandals. However, the country is considered an extremely safe destination. 80 percent of the inhabitants are Catholics, the national currency is the Dobra.

The paradisiacal island site, still far away from mass tourism, is mainly accessible via Lisbon and Porto. The international airport, for example, is served by TAP and TAAG Angola Airlines (via Luanda), the flight time from Lisbon is around 9 hours. German citizens do not require a visa for stays of up to 15 days.

Climate on São Tomé and Príncipe

The climate on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe is tropical hot and humid. This means high temperatures of around 27 °C to 30 °C all year round, even at night it cools only marginally. In addition, there is a very high humidity of up to 95 percent due to the pronounced rainy season.

The rainy season on São Tomé and Príncipe starts around mid-September and often lasts until the end of May. Statistically, October, April and May are the rainy months. It is comparatively dry and much more pleasant for us Europeans in the summer between June and the beginning of September.

There are hardly any regional differences, even at high altitudes it usually remains moist and hot. The hottest and sultriest time of the year is between December and April, where the day temperatures are often well above 30 °C. The coolest months are July and August.