Where to go in December

239 destinations genuinely in season, warmest first: typical daytime highs, budget level and the full travel window for each. Tap one for photos and details, or let the quiz pick for your whole group.

• Bissau & the Bijagós Archipelago Guinea-Bissau 34°C / 94°F $ Dec–May
• Dakar & the Petite Côte Senegal 34°C / 92°F $ Nov–Apr
• El Salvador's Pacific coast El Salvador 33°C / 91°F $ Nov–Apr
• Goa India 33°C / 91°F $ Nov–Feb
• Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 33°C / 91°F $ Dec–Apr
• Kerala's backwaters India 33°C / 91°F $ Oct–Mar
• Lagos Nigeria 33°C / 92°F $ Nov–Feb
• Banjul & the Gambian coast Gambia 32°C / 90°F $ Nov–Apr
• Cartagena Colombia 32°C / 89°F $ Dec–Mar
• Cartagena & the coffee region Colombia 32°C / 89°F $ Dec–Mar
• Krabi & Bangkok Thailand 32°C / 89°F $ Nov–Mar
• Nicaragua's volcanoes and colonial towns Nicaragua 32°C / 90°F $ Nov–Apr
• Perth & Margaret River Australia 32°C / 90°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Phnom Penh Cambodia 32°C / 89°F $ Nov–Feb
• Rottnest Island Australia 32°C / 90°F $$ Sep–Mar
• San Cristobal de las Casas Mexico 32°C / 90°F $ Oct–Apr
• Siem Reap & Angkor Wat Cambodia 32°C / 89°F $ Nov–Feb
• Yangon Myanmar 32°C / 89°F $ Nov–Feb
• Accra & the Cape Coast Ghana 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Mar
• Cotonou Benin 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Mar
• Diani Beach & the Kenyan coast Kenya 31°C / 88°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Douala & Mount Cameroon Cameroon 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Mar
• Freetown & the Sierra Leone coast Sierra Leone 31°C / 88°F $ Nov–Apr
• Iguazu Falls Argentina 31°C / 88°F $$ Sep–Feb
• Langkawi Malaysia 31°C / 87°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Lome Togo 31°C / 88°F $ Nov–Mar
• Madurai India 31°C / 88°F $ Oct–Mar
• Monrovia & the Liberian coast Liberia 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Apr
• Panama City & the canal Panama 31°C / 87°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Pattaya & Rayong Thailand 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Mar
• Phuket Thailand 31°C / 87°F $ Nov–Apr
• Rio & Iguaçu Brazil 31°C / 88°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Abidjan & Grand-Bassam Côte d'Ivoire 30°C / 86°F $ Nov–Feb
• Conakry & the Fouta Djallon Guinea 30°C / 87°F $ Nov–Mar
• Galle Sri Lanka 30°C / 87°F $ Dec–Mar
• Guayaquil & the Ecuadorian coast Ecuador 30°C / 85°F $ Dec–Apr
• Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 30°C / 86°F $ Any month, driest Jun–Aug
• Lamu Kenya 30°C / 86°F $ Jul–Oct, Dec–Mar
• Mumbai India 30°C / 86°F $ Nov–Feb
• Mysore India 30°C / 85°F $ Oct–Feb
• Nouakchott & the Sahara Mauritania 30°C / 86°F $ Nov–Feb
• Pune India 30°C / 86°F $ Oct–Feb
• Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 30°C / 87°F $ Dec–Mar
• Aruba Aruba 29°C / 84°F $$$ Any month
• Bagan Myanmar 29°C / 85°F $ Nov–Feb
• Bora Bora & Moorea French Polynesia 29°C / 84°F $$$ Any month
• Chennai & the Coromandel Coast India 29°C / 84°F $ Nov–Feb
• Chiang Mai Thailand 29°C / 83°F $ Nov–Feb
• Chuuk Lagoon Micronesia 29°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Curaçao Curaçao 29°C / 84°F $$ Any month
• Gabon — Loango National Park Gabon 29°C / 84°F $$$ Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb
• Guam Guam 29°C / 84°F $$ Dec–Jun
• Heron Island Australia 29°C / 85°F $$$ Oct–Mar
• Jeddah & the Red Sea coast Saudi Arabia 29°C / 84°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Luang Prabang Laos 29°C / 84°F $ Nov–Feb
• Luang Prabang & the Mekong Laos 29°C / 84°F $ Nov–Feb
• Malabo Equatorial Guinea 29°C / 84°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Merida Mexico 29°C / 85°F $ Nov–Mar
• Nauru Nauru 29°C / 83°F $$ Any month
• Palau Palau 29°C / 83°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• Pohnpei Micronesia 29°C / 84°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Raja Ampat Indonesia 29°C / 85°F $$$ Oct–Apr
• Recife & Fernando de Noronha Brazil 29°C / 85°F $$ Sep–Mar
• Saipan Northern Mariana Islands 29°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Jun
• Salvador & the Bahia coast Brazil 29°C / 84°F $ Dec–Mar
• Singapore & Malaysia Singapore 29°C / 84°F $$ Any month
• The Andaman Islands India 29°C / 84°F $$ Nov–Apr
• The Marquesas Islands French Polynesia 29°C / 84°F $$$ Any month
• Trinidad Cuba 29°C / 83°F $ Nov–Apr
• Antigua & Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda 28°C / 82°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• Barbados Barbados 28°C / 82°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• Bengaluru & Mysore India 28°C / 82°F $ Oct–Mar
• Bonaire Bonaire 28°C / 83°F $$ Any month
• Cebu & the Visayas Philippines 28°C / 83°F $ Dec–May
• Copán & western Honduras Honduras 28°C / 82°F $ Nov–Apr
• Costa Rica Costa Rica 28°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Djibouti Djibouti 28°C / 82°F $$ Nov–Feb
• Florianópolis Brazil 28°C / 82°F $$ Dec–Mar
• French Guiana French Guiana 28°C / 82°F $$ Aug–Dec
• Grenada Grenada 28°C / 82°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Guadeloupe Guadeloupe 28°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Hyderabad India 28°C / 83°F $ Oct–Mar
• Jamaica Jamaica 28°C / 82°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Komodo Island Indonesia 28°C / 83°F $$ Apr–Dec
• Martinique Martinique 28°C / 82°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Mauritius Mauritius 28°C / 82°F $$$ Sep–Dec, Apr–Jun
• Oaxaca Mexico 28°C / 82°F $ Oct–Feb
• Palawan Philippines 28°C / 83°F $ Nov–May
• Pondicherry India 28°C / 83°F $ Oct–Feb
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 28°C / 82°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• San Juan & the Puerto Rican coast Puerto Rico 28°C / 82°F $$ Dec–May
• Santo Domingo Dominican Republic 28°C / 83°F $ Dec–Apr
• St Lucia Saint Lucia 28°C / 82°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• The Cayman Islands Cayman Islands 28°C / 82°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• The Galápagos Ecuador 28°C / 82°F $$$ Any month
• The Maldives Maldives 28°C / 83°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• The Marshall Islands Marshall Islands 28°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Vientiane Laos 28°C / 83°F $ Nov–Feb
• Yap Micronesia 28°C / 83°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Belize Belize 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Byron Bay & the Gold Coast Australia 27°C / 81°F $$ Sep–Apr
• Cape Town & the Garden Route South Africa 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Dominica Dominica 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Jun
• Esperance Australia 27°C / 81°F $$ Oct–Mar
• Fernando de Noronha Brazil 27°C / 81°F $$$ Aug–Dec
• Havana & the Cuban coast Cuba 27°C / 81°F $ Dec–Apr
• Kolkata India 27°C / 80°F $ Nov–Feb
• Punta Cana Dominican Republic 27°C / 81°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Punta Cana & Samaná Dominican Republic 27°C / 81°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Roatán & the Bay Islands Honduras 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Stellenbosch South Africa 27°C / 80°F $$ Sep–Apr
• The Sunshine Coast Australia 27°C / 81°F $$ Sep–Apr
• Tulum Mexico 27°C / 80°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• Vinales Cuba 27°C / 81°F $ Nov–Apr
• Yucatán & the Riviera Maya Mexico 27°C / 80°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 26°C / 78°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Cabo San Lucas Mexico 26°C / 79°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• Cape Verde Cape Verde 26°C / 78°F $$ Nov–Jun
• Chittagong Bangladesh 26°C / 79°F $ Nov–Feb
• Christmas Island Christmas Island 26°C / 79°F $$ Oct–Dec
• Da Lat Vietnam 26°C / 78°F $ Dec–Mar
• Dhaka Bangladesh 26°C / 78°F $ Nov–Feb
• Hawai‘i — Big Island & Maui United States 26°C / 79°F $$$ Any month
• Kigali Rwanda 26°C / 79°F $$ Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb
• Montevideo Uruguay 26°C / 79°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Montevideo & Punta del Este Uruguay 26°C / 79°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Muscat & the Wahiba Sands Oman 26°C / 78°F $$ Oct–Mar
• Providenciales & Grace Bay Turks and Caicos 26°C / 79°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• Puerto Vallarta Mexico 26°C / 79°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Sydney & the NSW coast Australia 26°C / 79°F $$$ Dec–Mar
• Tegucigalpa Honduras 26°C / 79°F $ Nov–Apr
• The Big Island of Hawai‘i United States 26°C / 78°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• The British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands 26°C / 79°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• The US Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands 26°C / 79°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• Dubai & the desert United Arab Emirates 25°C / 77°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Guadalajara Mexico 25°C / 78°F $ Oct–Apr
• Honolulu & Waikiki United States 25°C / 78°F $$$ Nov–Apr
• Lima & the Peruvian coast Peru 25°C / 78°F $ Dec–Apr
• Miami & South Beach United States 25°C / 77°F $$ Nov–Apr
• The Exumas Bahamas 25°C / 78°F $$$ Dec–Apr
• Uganda — gorillas and the source of the Nile Uganda 25°C / 78°F $$ Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb
• Antigua & Tikal Guatemala 24°C / 76°F $ Nov–Apr
• Antigua Guatemala Guatemala 24°C / 76°F $ Nov–Apr
• Doha Qatar 24°C / 74°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Iquique Chile 24°C / 74°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Lake Atitlan Guatemala 24°C / 76°F $ Nov–Apr
• The Florida Keys United States 24°C / 74°F $$ Dec–Apr
• Udaipur India 24°C / 76°F $$ Oct–Mar
• Varanasi India 24°C / 74°F $ Oct–Mar
• Aswan & Nubia Egypt 23°C / 74°F $ Oct–Apr
• Auckland New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Bay of Islands New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Coromandel Peninsula New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Easter Island Chile 23°C / 73°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Jaipur India 23°C / 73°F $ Nov–Feb
• Lalibela & the Ethiopian Highlands Ethiopia 23°C / 73°F $ Oct–Mar
• Lord Howe Island Australia 23°C / 74°F $$$ Sep–May
• New Zealand — North Island New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$$ Dec–Mar
• Pucon Chile 23°C / 74°F $$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Aug for ski
• Rajasthan India 23°C / 73°F $ Nov–Mar
• San Luis Potosi Mexico 23°C / 73°F $ Oct–Feb
• Tauranga New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Waiheke Island New Zealand 23°C / 73°F $$$ Dec–Feb
• Agra India 22°C / 71°F $ Oct–Mar
• AlUla Saudi Arabia 22°C / 72°F $$$ Oct–Mar
• Aqaba & the Jordanian Red Sea Jordan 22°C / 71°F $$ Oct–Apr
• Asmara Eritrea 22°C / 72°F $ Dec–Mar
• Bahrain Bahrain 22°C / 71°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Bariloche Argentina 22°C / 72°F $$ Dec–Feb, or Jul–Aug for ski
• Hanoi Vietnam 22°C / 71°F $ Oct–Dec, Mar–Apr
• La Serena Chile 22°C / 71°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Lake Taupo New Zealand 22°C / 71°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Riyadh Saudi Arabia 22°C / 71°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Sharm El Sheikh & the Red Sea Egypt 22°C / 72°F $$ Oct–Apr
• Tampa United States 22°C / 72°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Christchurch & Canterbury New Zealand 21°C / 70°F $$ Nov–Mar
• Delhi & the Golden Triangle India 21°C / 69°F $ Oct–Mar
• Gran Canaria Spain 21°C / 70°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Kuwait City Kuwait 21°C / 69°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Lanzarote Spain 21°C / 70°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Medellin Colombia 21°C / 69°F $ Year-round
• Nelson & the Abel Tasman New Zealand 21°C / 70°F $$ Dec–Mar
• New Plymouth New Zealand 21°C / 69°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Tasmania Australia 21°C / 70°F $$$ Dec–Mar
• Tenerife Spain 21°C / 70°F $$ Any month
• Dunedin & the Otago Peninsula New Zealand 20°C / 67°F $ Nov–Mar
• Hong Kong Hong Kong 20°C / 68°F $$$ Oct–Dec
• Lahore Pakistan 20°C / 67°F $ Nov–Feb
• New Zealand — South Island New Zealand 20°C / 68°F $$$ Dec–Mar, or Jul for snow
• Quito & the Ecuadorian Andes Ecuador 20°C / 67°F $ Jun–Sep, Dec–Jan
• Siwa Oasis Egypt 20°C / 67°F $ Oct–Mar
• The Nile & the Red Sea Egypt 20°C / 67°F $$ Oct–Apr
• Alexandria Egypt 19°C / 66°F $ Oct–Apr
• Amritsar India 19°C / 66°F $ Nov–Mar
• Bogotá & the Colombian Andes Colombia 19°C / 66°F $ Dec–Mar, Jul–Aug
• Franz Josef Glacier New Zealand 19°C / 66°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Madeira Portugal 19°C / 65°F $$ Any month
• Palm Springs United States 19°C / 67°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Palm Springs & Joshua Tree United States 19°C / 67°F $$ Oct–Apr
• Phoenix & the Sonoran Desert United States 19°C / 66°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Taipei Taiwan 19°C / 66°F $$ Oct–Dec, Feb–Apr
• Wellington New Zealand 19°C / 67°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Houston United States 18°C / 65°F $$ Nov–Apr
• Puerto Montt & the Chilean Lake District Chile 18°C / 64°F $$ Dec–Mar
• Stewart Island New Zealand 18°C / 64°F $$$ Dec–Feb
• The Salar de Uyuni Bolivia 18°C / 64°F $ Dec–Apr, for the mirror
• Big Bend National Park United States 16°C / 60°F $ Oct–Apr
• The Chatham Islands New Zealand 16°C / 60°F $$$ Dec–Mar
• Puerto Natales Chile 15°C / 58°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Death Valley United States 14°C / 58°F $$ Nov–Mar
• The Falkland Islands Falkland Islands 14°C / 57°F $$$ Oct–Mar
• Patagonia Chile 13°C / 56°F $$$ Dec–Feb
• Andorra & the Pyrenees Andorra 12°C / 53°F $$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Sep
• Ushuaia — the end of the world Argentina 12°C / 54°F $$$ Nov–Mar
• Sofia & the Rila Mountains Bulgaria 8°C / 46°F $ Jun–Sep, or Dec–Mar
• Alsace France 7°C / 45°F $$ May, or Dec for the markets
• Innsbruck Austria 7°C / 44°F $$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Aug
• Lake Tahoe United States 7°C / 44°F $$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Sep
• Niigata Japan 7°C / 44°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Denver & the Front Range United States 6°C / 42°F $$ Jun–Sep, or Dec–Mar
• Neuschwanstein & the Black Forest Germany 6°C / 42°F $$ Jun–Sep, or Dec for the markets
• New York City United States 6°C / 43°F $$$ Apr–May, Sep–Oct, Dec
• Nuremberg Germany 6°C / 42°F $$ Nov–Dec, Sep–Oct
• Salzburg & the Salzkammergut lakes Austria 6°C / 43°F $$ Jun–Sep, or Dec–Feb
• Whistler & the Sea to Sky Canada 6°C / 43°F $$$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Sep
• Zermatt & the Bernese Oberland Switzerland 6°C / 42°F $$$ Jun–Sep, or Dec–Mar
• Prague & Bohemia Czech Republic 5°C / 41°F $ Apr–May, Sep–Oct, or Dec for the markets
• Sun Valley United States 5°C / 41°F $$$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Sep
• Park City & the Wasatch United States 4°C / 38°F $$$ Dec–Mar
• Mammoth Lakes & the Eastern Sierra United States 3°C / 38°F $$ Dec–Apr, or Jun–Sep
• Telluride United States 3°C / 38°F $$$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Sep
• Aspen & the Colorado Rockies United States 1°C / 33°F $$$ Jun–Sep, or Dec–Mar
• Sapporo Japan 0°C / 32°F $$ Dec–Feb
• Stowe & the Green Mountains United States 0°C / 33°F $$ Sep–Oct, or Dec–Mar
• Calgary Canada -2°C / 28°F $$ Jun–Aug, or Dec–Mar
• Finnish Lapland Finland -5°C / 22°F $$$ Dec–Feb
• Swedish Lapland Sweden -7°C / 19°F $$ Dec–Mar, or Jun–Aug
• The Yukon & the northern lights Canada -9°C / 16°F $$ Sep–Mar