Best time to go
Where to go in December
24 vetted destinations are at their best in December, across 11 countries. Each one is rated from ten years of daily temperature and rainfall recorded at that city's own coordinates — so this is a weather answer, not a popularity ranking, and the figure beside every place is the actual average it earns that rating on.
A rating of “ideal” means the month lands in that destination's comfortable band for both heat and rain. It says nothing about crowds or prices, which move on school holidays rather than on the weather — a city can be at its climatic best and still be at its busiest, and several here are both.
- Rome · ItalyComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (131mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (54mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (25mm rain).
- Delhi · IndiaComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (5mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (117mm rain).
- Mexico City · MexicoComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (7mm rain).
- Hanoi · VietnamComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (22mm rain).
- Los Angeles · United StatesComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (127mm rain).
- Nice · FranceComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (110mm rain).
- Bodrum · TürkiyeComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (132mm rain).
- Chiang Rai · ThailandComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (31mm rain).
- Sicily · ItalyComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (55mm rain).
- Athens · GreeceComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (86mm rain).
- Seville · SpainComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (92mm rain).
- Agra · IndiaComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (8mm rain).
- Sintra · PortugalComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (146mm rain).
- Oaxaca · MexicoComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (1mm rain).
- Ha Long Bay · VietnamComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (11mm rain).
- Las Vegas · United StatesComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (13mm rain).
- Cannes · FranceComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (113mm rain).
- Pamukkale · TürkiyeComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (46mm rain).
- Amalfi Coast · ItalyComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (137mm rain).
- Mykonos · GreeceComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (59mm rain).
- Granada · SpainComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (89mm rain).
Where to skip in December
These are worth going to — just not now. The same ten-year record puts each of them outside its comfortable band this month, and every one has a better window on its own guide.
- Zermatt · SwitzerlandCold, around 1°C (126mm rain).
- Dubrovnik · CroatiaVery wet — 304mm rain across the month (14°C).
- Kraków · PolandCold, around 4°C (55mm rain).
- Hoi An · VietnamVery wet — 341mm rain across the month (24°C).
- Porto · PortugalVery wet — 267mm rain across the month (14°C).
- Yellowstone · United StatesCold, around -6°C (66mm rain).
- Corfu · GreeceVery wet — 281mm rain across the month (15°C).
- Lake District · United KingdomCold, around 4°C (244mm rain).