May and June are the finest months in Maramureș. The hay meadows are at their most vivid, the hillsides are layered with wildflowers, and the valleys are a deep, saturated green. The weather is warm but not yet hot, the roads are dry, and the light in the mornings and evenings is extraordinary. If you are here for the landscape and the villages, come in late May or early June.
September and October are equally rewarding in a different register. The harvest is underway — corn, plums, apples — and in October the plum distilleries are running, filling the valleys with the smell of fermentation. The tree colour in the hills builds through the month into something spectacular. October is also when pălincă is made, and families are busy and in good spirits.
Winter is harsh but beautiful. The wooden churches under snow are extraordinary, and the Christmas and New Year traditions in Maramureș villages — carol-singers going house to house, the ritual slaughter of the family pig on 20 December, the decorated sleighs — are among the most intact folk traditions left in Europe. You need warm clothes, patience with icy roads, and a genuine interest in cold.
Avoid March and April. The snow melt turns the unpaved village roads into deep mud, many guesthouses are closed between seasons, and the landscape is at its most stripped and grey. There is nothing wrong with the region in these months, but it is not showing its best face.