Best time to go
Where to go in January
24 vetted destinations are at their best in January, 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.
- Santorini · GreeceComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (48mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (44mm rain).
- Delhi · IndiaComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (45mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (34mm rain).
- Mexico City · MexicoComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (7mm rain).
- Hanoi · VietnamComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (51mm rain).
- Phuket · ThailandBeach weather at 30°C, and dry (38mm rain).
- San Francisco · United StatesComfortable days around 13°C, and little rain (111mm rain).
- Okinawa · JapanComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (96mm rain).
- Palermo · ItalyComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (85mm rain).
- Çeşme · TürkiyeComfortable days around 13°C, and little rain (134mm rain).
- Mykonos · GreeceComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (75mm rain).
- Seville · SpainComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (38mm rain).
- Agra · IndiaComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (27mm rain).
- Porto · PortugalComfortable days around 13°C, and little rain (144mm rain).
- Oaxaca · MexicoComfortable days around 26°C, and little rain (5mm rain).
- Ha Long Bay · VietnamComfortable days around 20°C, and little rain (46mm rain).
- Krabi · ThailandBeach weather at 32°C, and dry (65mm rain).
- Los Angeles · United StatesComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (98mm rain).
- Syracuse · ItalyComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (27mm rain).
- Crete/Chania · GreeceComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (93mm rain).
- Mallorca · SpainComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (51mm rain).
- Jaipur · IndiaComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (21mm rain).
- Sintra · PortugalComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (63mm rain).
Where to skip in January
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 (74mm rain).
- Kraków · PolandCold, around 3°C (54mm rain).
- Plitvice Lakes · CroatiaCold, around 3°C (137mm rain).
- Yellowstone · United StatesCold, around -7°C (49mm rain).
- Neuschwanstein / Füssen · GermanyCold, around 3°C (110mm rain).
- Český Krumlov · CzechiaCold, around 4°C (50mm rain).
- Corsica · FranceCold, around 4°C (143mm rain).
- Lake District · United KingdomCold, around 3°C (196mm rain).