Last updated August 20, 2026 · Editorial policy
December is festive travel at its finest — European Christmas markets, winter sun in the tropics, fresh powder in the Alps and Japan, and New Year’s celebrations worth crossing the world for.
Why travel in December 2026?
December offers three classic trips: festive Europe (Christmas markets, illuminated cities), winter sun (Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, the UAE), or snow (the Alps, Japan). Book the Christmas–New Year window early — it is peak.
The best places to visit in December 2026
December splits between festive winter magic and tropical escapes from the cold.
- European Christmas markets — Vienna, Prague, Strasbourg and the German cities.
- Winter sun — Thailand, the Maldives, the Caribbean and the Canary Islands.
- Skiing — the Alps and North America open for the season.
- Lapland — Northern Lights, huskies and Santa for families.
Book early for the holidays — Christmas and New Year are among the busiest, priciest travel weeks of the year.
The weather catch nobody flags on these picks
December reads as reliable sunshine on this list, but two of the headline destinations carry a monsoon footnote that decides whether the trip works. The driver is the northeast monsoon, which flips the usual rules across the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka is the trap. December is the wettest stretch for the north and east, so Trincomalee and the Jaffna side see the heavy rain and rough seas, not the postcard weather. The southwest runs on the opposite calendar, which is why Galle, Mirissa and the southern beaches stay broadly dry and sunny in December. Book the south coast, skip the east, and the destination delivers.
The Maldives, by contrast, is entering its better half of the year. December sits at the edge of the dry northeast monsoon, with Male highs around 30C, warm 25C evenings and calmer, clearer water for diving than the wetter middle of the year. It is genuinely strong in December, just expensive.
That expense is the second catch. Across the whole list, the Christmas-to-New Year window is the single priciest travel block of the year, and on islands it bites hardest because room counts are fixed. If your dates are flexible, the first two weeks of December cost noticeably less than the final ten days.
- Sri Lanka: choose the dry southwest (Galle, Mirissa), avoid the wet east
- Maldives: dry-season conditions, but book early for the holiday peak
Where to travel in December 2026 FAQ
Where should I travel in December 2026?
European Christmas markets, tropical winter sun (Thailand, Caribbean), the ski slopes, or Lapland.
Is December expensive to travel?
The Christmas and New Year weeks are among the year’s busiest and priciest — book well ahead.
December 2026 at a glance: how the destinations compare
| Destination | Best for | Typical conditions | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maldives | Diving, snorkelling, honeymoons, doing very little | Dry northeast monsoon: settled sun, calmer clearer water | Festive-week rates are typically the highest of the year and room counts are fixed |
| Thailand | First trip to Asia, islands, temples, mixed budgets | Cool, dry and sunny; usually the year's most settled month | Peak-season crowds on Krabi and Samui beaches; ferries and hotels fill early |
| New Zealand | Road trips, hiking, South Island scenery | Early southern summer, long daylight, changeable in the south | Campervans and Great Walk huts book out months ahead at local holiday peak |
| United Arab Emirates | Easy family city break, desert trips, sun on a shorter flight | Warm rather than hot days, cool evenings, reliably dry | Hotel rates climb sharply over the festive fortnight and beaches are busy |
| South Africa | Safari and coast combined, self-drive, the Garden Route | Cape summer sun; hot northern bush with afternoon storms | Green-season bush is thick, so game viewing is harder, and the Cape is packed |
| Argentina | Patagonia trekking, wine country, city and nature combos | Long days, warm north, cool windy Patagonian afternoons | Patagonian wind is relentless and El Chalten beds are booked far ahead |
| Australia | Beach summer, coastal drives, Sydney and the reef | Full summer heat; north humid and stormy, south drier | The tropical north is in its wet, stinger season while the south fills with locals |
| Sri Lanka | South coast beaches, tea country, wildlife parks | Dry, sunny south-west; heavy rain and rough seas east | The east and north are in their wet season, so routes must skew south-west |
| India | Rajasthan circuits, Goa beaches, southern temples | Cool dry north by day, warm sunny Goa and the south | Delhi and the north get cold nights, winter smog and fog-related delays |
| Jordan | Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea in walkable temperatures | Mild days, cold nights, some rain before deeper winter | Short daylight, cold desert nights and the occasional wet day at Petra |
| European Christmas markets | Short festive city breaks, food and craft stalls, families | Cold, damp and often grey; short daylight, evening crowds | Most markets normally wind down around Christmas, so late-December trips miss them |
| Lapland | Northern Lights, huskies and Santa trips with young children | Snow-covered and dark; aurora possible but never guaranteed | Very short daylight, deep cold, and December packages sell out early |
| The Alps | Early-season skiing and festive mountain villages | Cold, variable snow, better high up; short ski days | Early-December snow cover is unreliable and the festive week is priciest |
| Japan | Powder skiing in Hokkaido and Nagano, plus city stops | Cold and dry in the cities, heavy snow further north | Early snow can be thin and much of the country shuts over the New Year holiday |
Conditions are typical patterns, not forecasts. Weather, crowd levels and opening seasons vary year to year, so treat this table as a way to shortlist rather than as a guarantee, and confirm anything date-specific before booking.
How to choose where to go in December 2026
Start with flight time, because December daylight is short and a long travel day is a wasted one. If you only have a week, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan give warm, dry days with the least travel drag from Europe. Give it ten days or more and Thailand, Sri Lanka or the Maldives repay the extra hours in the air with warmer water and far more settled skies than anywhere closer to home.
Let budget break the tie next. On this list, India and Sri Lanka are the two places where a modest daily spend still buys good food, comfortable rooms and a driver, so they stretch a fortnight furthest. The Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand sit at the other end, and all four peak hardest over the festive fortnight. As a planning estimate, expect the last ten days of December to cost clearly more than the first two weeks.
If you want summer rather than sun loungers, the southern-hemisphere picks divide by terrain. Argentina is the trekking choice, with long Patagonian days and open trails, though the wind is constant and beds around El Chalten fill months ahead. New Zealand suits self-drive touring and gentler walking. South Africa is the one that combines a beach, a city and a safari in a single trip, which makes it the strongest pick when you want variety over depth.
Festive Europe is really a date decision, not a destination one. Christmas markets in Vienna, Prague, Strasbourg and the German cities usually run through Advent and normally close on or just after Christmas Eve, so a market trip belongs in the first three weeks and needs checking against each city's published dates. Lapland works all month for families, while Alpine and Japanese snow gets more reliable as December goes on rather than at the start.
Two picks here need a region chosen, not just a country. In Sri Lanka the December rain sits in the north and east, so anchor the trip on the south-west around Galle and Mirissa and treat Trincomalee as a different season entirely. In Australia the tropical north is in its wet, stinger half of the year while the southern coast is drier, so a reef-first itinerary and a Sydney-first itinerary are not interchangeable this month.
Practical December 2026 travel tips
- You are roughly four months out from the holidays. For departures between about 20 December and 2 January, long-haul fares and island rooms usually thin out from now on, so aim to hold flights and the first two nights before late September.
- Shifting departure into the first week of December, or to after the first week of January, typically cuts festive pricing sharply. Even moving three or four days away from Christmas Day tends to show up on long-haul fares.
- European Christmas market stalls normally pack up around 23 or 24 December and many do not reopen for New Year. Confirm each city's published dates before booking, as they vary by city and by year.
- Low-altitude Alpine snow is unreliable in early December. If you are skiing before the holidays, favour higher resorts and book accommodation with free cancellation so you can move if the snow report disappoints.
- Christmas Day and 26 December usually close shops, many museums and a lot of restaurants across Europe, with reduced public transport. Reserve Christmas dinner well ahead and check attraction hours for those two days rather than assuming.
- Australian and South African school holidays typically start around mid-December, filling coastal towns, hire cars and campervans before the date arrives. Dates vary by state and province, so check them and book vehicles now rather than in November.
- Leave a buffer day if you connect through a northern winter hub. Delhi fog and European snow regularly delay onward flights, and Maldivian seaplane transfers normally run in daylight only, so a late arrival can mean an unplanned night in Male.
Popular guides: Best New Year’s Eve destinations · Best places to spend Christmas
Planning by month? See our data study: Best Time to Travel the World 2026 — the best (and worst) months to travel, from 26 top destinations.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
