When to travel
Where to go in December
Summer in the south, winter in the north, and dry across much of the tropics. Only around the holidays is it busier everywhere.
At their best
These countries call December their strongest month: weather, landscape and rhythm all line up.
South Asia
Sri Lanka
Small on the map, yet coast, highlands and culture can feel worlds apart after just a few hours' drive.
Arabian Peninsula
Oman
Mountains, wadis and a quiet coastline: a destination that reveals itself at an unhurried pace.
Arabian Gulf
United Arab Emirates
Seven emirates, not all of them skylines. Beyond the famous cities lies a land of dunes, wadis and oasis villages that move at a very different pace.
Arabian Gulf
Qatar
A peninsula that rebuilt itself within a few decades, yet just beyond the new skyline remains quiet and bare.
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi
The capital prefers to govern with calm rather than noise, putting its wealth towards culture and space rather than spectacle.
United Arab Emirates
Dubai
A city that keeps rewriting itself, though the old creek and its souks still hold on to the pace of life before the skyscrapers.
United Arab Emirates
Sharjah
The most understated of the emirates, where culture and heritage matter more than height or gloss.
Scandinavia
Norway
Vertical and unyielding: rock faces plunging straight into the fjords, with villages clinging to the edge between mountain and water.
Central America
Costa Rica
Sandwiched between two oceans, with volcanoes and cloud forest that need no introduction.
Central American Pacific coast
El Salvador
A country that's compact, not small, with volcanoes running all the way to a coast that's never far away.
Central American highlands
Guatemala
A highland where Maya culture isn't a backdrop but sets the rhythm of everyday life.
Central American lake district
Nicaragua
Two colonial cities, centuries-old rivals, separated by a lake dotted with volcanic islands, rougher around the edges than its neighbours.
Southern South America
Uruguay
Flat, green and rarely loud, a country that prefers quiet over the spectacle of its neighbours.
South-East Asia
Cambodia
Overgrown temples and a quiet resilience that say more about the past than any history book.
South Asia
India
Sacred and everyday, silence and noise: extremes that simply coexist on this subcontinent, no explanation needed.
South-East Asia
Laos
Time still flows with the river here, at a pace its neighbours traded for haste long ago.
South-East Asia
Thailand
From busy Bangkok streets to quiet mountain villages in the north, this country has as many faces as it has provinces.
South China coast
Hong Kong
Skyscrapers give way to green islands and hiking trails within half an hour, in a city that rarely stands still.
Carpathians
Slovakia
Mountains, castles and wooden villages tucked away in the shadow of the Czech Republic.
Andes and Pacific
Chile
A country 4,270 kilometres long: desert in the north, glaciers in the south and an island in the middle of the Pacific.
Nile Valley and Red Sea
Egypt
A green strip along the Nile, with temples, tombs and desert on either side.
Highlands and Yucatán
Mexico
A capital built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, colonial cities and Maya cities in the forests of Yucatán.
Oceania
New Zealand
Two islands of volcanoes, glaciers and fjords, with a Māori history you meet everywhere.
Also good
Perfectly workable in December, with a caveat spelled out on the destination page itself.
East Africa
Kenya
Wildlife and vast landscapes in a country that offers far more than the classic safari.
East Asia
Japan
A world where centuries-old tradition and radical modernity sit effortlessly side by side.
South-East Asia
Vietnam
A country best discovered at the table, one that feels like an almost different place from north to south.
Middle East
Jordan
Desert, history and a hospitality that often turns out to be the most memorable part of the journey.
Southern Africa
Botswana
A delta that changes with every season, in a country that deliberately keeps visitor numbers low across a vast expanse.
South America
Argentina
From city rhythm to Patagonian wind, a country whose vast distances are part of the appeal.
North America
Canada
Space, forests and coastlines where nature still sets the agenda.
Nordic countries
Finland
Forest and water alternate so often that the boundary blurs, a country that never needs to sell its silence because it already has plenty.
Scandinavia
Sweden
Forest and water repeat in every direction, broken only by rust-red villages that feel as much a part of the scenery as the pine trees themselves.
The High North
Lapland
A region without hard borders, where tundra and pine forest live under a light that swings between two extremes throughout the year: months of sun or months of night.
Central Africa, Great Lakes region
Rwanda
A country that doesn't hide its history, and has grown into one of the cleanest and greenest on the continent.
Indian Ocean, granite islands
Seychelles
An archipelago where granite, primeval forest and sea sit so close together it almost feels unreal.
East Africa, Swahili coast
Tanzania
A country whose scale you only grasp once you're standing in the middle of it, with plains, volcano and coast that seem to share little in common.
East Africa, Great Lakes region
Uganda
A land of volcanoes, rainforest and the source of the Nile, closer together than the map suggests.
Central American isthmus
Panama
An isthmus where two oceans almost touch and the rainforest reaches right up to the edge of the city.
Eastern Himalaya
Bhutan
Monasteries clinging to cliffs, valleys without traffic and access the country deliberately keeps limited, a calm its neighbours lost long ago.
Central Europe
Czech Republic
Prague is only the beginning; beyond it lie castles, forests and small towns that rarely make anyone's list.
Alpe-Adria region
Slovenia
Alps, karst caves and a sliver of coast all lie within a few hours of each other, in a country that never overdoes it.
Alpine republic
Austria
Austria pairs the calm of high mountains with an urban elegance that rarely raises its voice.
Low Countries
Belgium
Belgium keeps its grandeur indoors: behind a façade, in a workshop, on a plate, and never needs a big story to go with it.
Central Europe
Germany
Germany combines urban precision with forest just a short walk away, and simply lets the two coexist.
Mediterranean Europe
Italy
In Italy, beauty is not the exception but the habit, from a kitchen table to a square's façade.
Alpine countries
Switzerland
In Switzerland the mountains do not ask for attention, and order is almost a feature of the landscape.
Oceania
Australia
A reef off the north-east coast, red rock in the centre, and an Aboriginal history tens of thousands of years deep.
Indian Ocean
Maldives
Rings of coral in the Indian Ocean, with islands to go quiet on and islands where people live.
Frequently asked questions
Where should you travel in December?
In December, 23 destinations are at their best, including Sri Lanka, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Another 25 are good to visit, such as Kenya, Japan and Vietnam. Every destination is listed here because its own seasonal information says so.
Is December a good month for Nicaragua?
Yes. According to the seasonal information for Nicaragua, December is one of the strongest months of the year there. Its strongest months are January, February, March, April and December.
Can you visit Seychelles in December?
Yes. Seychelles is good to visit in December, with a caveat described on the destination page itself. Its strongest months are March, April, May and October.