Speyer is at its most pleasant in late spring (May and June) and early autumn (September and October). The weather is reliably warm, the cathedral and old town are uncrowded, and the outdoor tables along the Maximilianstrasse are in use but not heaving. Summer weekends bring day-trippers from Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, both less than 30 kilometres away, and Rhine boat traffic picks up from June onwards.
The city's main annual event is the Brezelfest in early July — a traditional Volksfest built around the pretzel, with beer tents, rides, and a weekend of outdoor eating that takes over the Maximilianstrasse. It is unpretentious and fun, and very local in feel. December brings a Christmas market around the cathedral that is one of the better ones in the Rhineland: the setting in the cathedral square is hard to beat, and it tends to draw fewer coach tours than the famous markets in Cologne or Strasbourg.