These 12 winter sun destinations will get you some much-needed sunshine in time for Christmas.
Since the cold is taking hold in Europe, sun seekers are generally forced to take a longer flight. Winter is a great time for a far-flung getaway, when vitamin D is practically required. Sure, there are spots closer to home that linger around 20°C, but it is also a great time for a long and powerful getaway. The summer season will finally arrive in hot African and Australian cities this month, while tropical islands and the world’s most hidden corners will reach their peak as well.
Check out our guide to winter sun destinations for more travel inspiration.
Dubai
Average December Temp: 26°C
Even though London to Dubai is a seven-hour flight, with a four-hour time difference, it feels a world away from chilly England in December, and the distance is just about medium-haul. Certainly, there’s the glitzy side to Dubai – its mega-malls and skyscraping hotels are decorated with festive lights and ginormous trees for the holidays – but it’s also got a more laidback side. Those looking to end the year on a healthy note should check out Life’n One yoga retreat, while indie galleries and arthouse cinemas are available on Alserkal Avenue.
Accommodation: 25 hours Hotel One Central is a cool new un-Dubai hotel that’s a hub for creatives, digital nomads, and the in-crowd. A great option for families is Anantara World Islands Dubai Resort, if all you’re interested in is the pool and nothing else. The secluded five-room hotel and spa Al Faya Lodge is an hour east of Dubai and is unlike anything else you’ll find in Dubai. See our list of the best hotels in Dubai for more details.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Average December Temp: 21°C
It’s a surprisingly cool Canary Island, but we weren’t talking about the weather. Because Lanzarote lies off Africa’s west coast, you’ll still be able to swim in December even if it’s a bit cool. In fact, the further you stray from the tourist hotels, the more surprises lie in store. Visit Papagayo Beach at the southern tip, or try world-class surfing in Famara on the northwest coast. One Million Years BC was filmed in the volcanic wilderness of Timanfaya National Park, which has a surreal, succulent amphitheater in Guatiza; or a surreal succulent amphitheater in Guatiza. A seductive ranch-like retreat in the central wine region owned by a couple of designers who moved to Lanzarote from London, Finca Malvasia is also worth mentioning, and you might just join the designers after your winter in Lanzarote.
Accommodation: For more about Lanzarote villas, check out the best of our list of slick and earthy villas.
Bali, Indonesia
Average December Temp: 27°C
Its lush rainforests and white sand beaches tick all the boxes when it comes to a warm-weather escape, which is why tropical Bali is South-east Asia’s winter-sun kingpin. In addition to digital-nomads and blissed-out surfers, once-scrappy Canggu attracts artists’ village Ubud, which offers spiritual retreats.
Accommodation: As a wellness retreat on Bali’s southern coast, Six Senses Uluwatu sits on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. A 12-room bolthole with a unique mix of art, music and interior design, The Slow is one of our favorites in Canggu. In an ideal base that avoids desert-island clichés, Capella Ubud feels like a tented camp from the 19th century. You can stay in a villa or Airbnb in Bali if you have a group, like Laputa Villa, known as the “Bamboo Castle in the Sky.” For more Bali hotels, see our picks.
Marrakech, Morocco
Average December Temp: 20°C
There’s nothing like a three-and-a-half-hour flight to another world when winter is in full swing. While Marrakech is chaotic, a recent influx of design hotels – many of which reimagine glorious, red-brick riads – means you can always find a sedate place to escape. In the meantime, you could stay at a palace. Our best hotels in the world Gold List includes La Mamounia, an opulent palace with gardens, fountains and tiles. If you want to experience Marrakech at its best, stay at the city’s most lavish hotel, the Royal Mansour.
Accommodation: If you are looking for a traditional Moroccan riad with kaleidoscopic walls and a gallery-worthy art collection, Riad Goloboy is a great choice.
Miami, USA
As a result of year-round warm weather, the beach parties continue in December, when other sun spots, like California, pull on sweaters. If you prefer a calmer vibe, go to the northern end of Miami Beach, which is less developed. Amidst potted palms and white-coated waiters, Thomas Keller serves elegant classics (oysters, steak tartare, lobster thermidor) at the landmark The Surf Club, once known as the go-to for the 1950s jet set. There’s a recently extended Four Seasons here with hacienda-style architecture. Typically, Miami might not be associated with refined luxury, but this is a breath of fresh air.
Accomodation: It is housed in the skeleton of a giant 1950s hotel, the Seville, with a bar that offers uninterrupted ocean views and nods to the past.
Bahamas, Caribbean
Average December Temp: 26°C
In the Bahamas, peak season is in full swing, so even though the beaches are likely to be busy, the weather is perfect. Head to Harbour Island, a 3-mile-long, mile-and-a-half-wide sliver with pink sand, where sunbeds are plentiful. There are just 11 rooms at the smartest hotel in the area, Bahama House. It has a sunken tiki bar and retro Palm Beach vibes. In addition to diving in secret grottoes or swimming with swine on Pig Beach, you can also enjoy custom experiences with Eleven Experience, an experiential-travel specialist.
Accommodation: White-sand beaches, lush boulevards, and beautiful seascapes are all part of the Pelican Bay Hotel, a Caribbean-style hotel with waterside rooms.
Cape Town, South Africa
Average December Temp: 27°C
Visiting Cape Town is always a good idea, but it’s especially worthwhile in December when the fledgling South African summer lights up beaches and vineyards. With its dramatic, craggy mountain backdrop, you’ll be able to banish the winter blues with just the sight of gorgeous crowds bronzing. A pair of super-hot hotels only make the Mother City even more appealing when it goes and adds raw good looks, smart design, and world-class food to its repertoire.
Accommodation: Ingeniously positioned within a former grain elevator house on the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, The Silo is the top exhibit at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. We have also included Ellerman House on our Gold List because it has stunning views of the Atlantic and one of the best private art collections in the country.
Auckland, New Zealand
Average December Temp: 22°C
Auckland is a big, beautiful city that’s seldom in a hurry. Perhaps that’s due to the nature that surrounds it – rainforest-covered hills here and the shimmering Hauraki Gulf there. With the Britomart complex, a series of waterfront heritage buildings converted into boutiques and restaurants, and Iko Iko, a fabulous concept store with Emilia Wickstead’s fans, the notion that the affable country is somehow behind the times is rebuffed. Take a ferry trip to nearby Waiheke Island and visit a vineyard winery for a true Kiwi experience.
Accommodation: Located in a gleaming wharf shed that resembles a cruise ship, Hilton Auckland is a hotspot for retro futurism.
Merida, Yucatan Peninsula
Average December Temp: 31°C
If you don’t mind a short drive, check out Mérida, the state capital in south-east Mexico, for the best of everything: Mayan ruins, a charming colonial town, dense jungle, and – if you don’t mind a short drive – beaches. There is also Chablé, an incredible estate outside the city with a spa and cenote, a restaurant run by renowned chef Jorge Vallejo, a tequila ‘library’, a sweat lodge and a local shaman. The resort also features 40 casitas with terraces and pools made of limestone and glass.
Accommodation: On the verandahs of Hacienda Xcanatun you will find rustic tables, hammocks, marble mosaic floors, and terracotta and cream exteriors, giving this 18th-century Italianate estate a lived-in feel.
Koh Samui, Thailand
Average December Temp: 27°C
Long the Shangri-La of feverish backpacker dreams, Koh Samui has grown up. While its raison d’être remains pure pleasure – surrounded by three million coconut trees and white beaches – its packaging is more Four Seasons than ratty bungalows. It has well and truly arrived here, with yoga studios, health retreats, and even monk-led mentoring available for those seeking real change. The Panacea, however, is the place to go if you want a true tropical break. A sprawling hilltop estate once occupied by one of the world’s top hedge-fund managers, it boasts five enormous residences, swimming pools 82 feet long, cinemas, nightclubs, and even a Muay Thai boxing ring (with tattooed instructor).
Accommodation: Atop a hill, Panacea offers four, five, and six-bedroom villas with tropical hardwoods, silk fabrics, petrified wood that is over a million years old. There is also a kids’ room, a private cinema, a casino, and a club. COMO Point Yamu’s 100-metre white-tiled swimming pool overlooks the Andaman Sea. Top-notch service, zingy cuisine and a beautiful spa make it a favorite among LGBTQ+ Thais and travellers alike.
Cuba
Average December Temp: 27°C
Although Havana is spectacular, exploring its steamy eastern mountains will allow you to experience a country that, despite being isolated from modernity, has much to offer. As a heavy mist hangs in Baracoa, the mystical is omnipresent. There are streets infused with music, sleepy beaches, rivers, canyons, and even thatched bars in the city, which is surrounded by the Cuchillas del Toa mountain range. The palatial Spanish buildings in Santiago de Cuba, at the very south of the island, will soon become the next high-end tourist destination, but for now it remains relatively undiscovered.
Accommodation: With three spacious bedrooms, one with a street-side balcony, and top-of-the-line bathrooms, Casa de Miriam y Sinai is an oasis of calm and space.
Melbourne, Australia
Average December Temp: 24°C
Although Melbourne’s climate is erratic, the city’s beloved laneways are ideal for exploring: narrow passages filled with street art, galleries, restaurants, and bars. December’s summer temperatures make it easy to explore the city’s beloved laneways. In Australia’s dynamic second city, there is never a shortage of new and miraculous places to explore. Trends are set here rather than followed. Coffee has a caffeine kick as well as global acclaim. As video installations play across the walls, guests eat fabulous crab capellini at Spring Street’s Brutalist Italian restaurant, Di Stasio Città.
Accommodation: A white rural hideaway in a silver-birch-lined drive, with a restaurant that uses the best local produce, lies at the Lindenderry at Red Hill.
