Best Places to Travel in December

If you’re searching for the best places to travel in December, there’s usually one simple reason: you finally have time off. Work slows down, kids are out of school, and use-it-or-lose-it PTO is about to expire. That’s reason enough to start looking, whether or not the trip has anything to do with Christmas.

That could mean chasing better weather, timing your trip around New Year’s, or grabbing flights that are cheaper than expected.

Here’s our real list of the best places to travel in December, sorted by what you’re actually after.

Best Weather in December: Where To Go

Some of the best places to travel in December don’t just tolerate the month. It’s genuinely their best time of year to visit.

Thailand

December marks the start of the dry season across the Andaman coast, making it a perfect window to visit Thailand. Phuket, Krabi, and Koh Lanta settle into calm seas and clear skies. That’s right, as the rest of Southeast Asia is still drying out from monsoon season. Expect highs in the 79–90°F range, low humidity, and 8–9 hours of sunshine a day. Those conditions are ideal for diving, island-hopping, or just sitting still on a beach.

For divers specifically, timing matters even more here. The Similan Islands (one of Thailand’s best diving locations) are a protected national park. It closes entirely from mid-May to mid-October every year, to let the reefs recover. December and early January are widely considered the sweet spot of the reopened season. Expect calm water and some of the year’s clearest visibility.

Thailand’s temple lights and lantern festivals also run through the month, so there’s plenty going on after dark, too.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica hits its own dry season, locally called verano, right around December. The Pacific coast (Guanacaste, Tamarindo, the Nicoya Peninsula) sees daytime highs of 82–91°F, minimal rainfall, and warm, surfable water. It’s genuinely one of the most comfortable months of the year for beach time or hiking in the national parks. Worth knowing: the Caribbean side of the country stays wetter into December. If sunshine is the goal, prioritize the Pacific coast.

December also opens a good window for whale watching. Marino Ballena National Park, near the town of Uvita, is one of the best spots. Northern Hemisphere humpback whales arrive there from December into April. It’s one of the more reliable wildlife sightings you can plan a trip around, rather than just hope for.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka‘s south and west coasts (Galle, Mirissa, Unawatuna) flip into their dry season this month, too. Expect temperatures generally in the mid-70s to high-80s°F, with much lighter rainfall than the rest of the year. December also falls within Sri Lanka’s blue whale-watching season off the south coast, which runs roughly November through April.

Along the coast, Galle Fort adds a cultural stop to the mix. It’s a walkable, UNESCO-listed old town of Dutch colonial streets, right in the same dry-season window. If you’d rather trade beaches for cooler hill country, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya sit in the 60s°F. That’s ideal for tea plantation visits.

Kenya

Kenya rounds out this list with a very different kind of good weather. December sits inside the country’s short dry season, a window between the long and short rains. Safari operators consider this the prime viewing window. Expect daytime temperatures in the upper 70s to mid-80s°F, with clearer, drier conditions. That makes wildlife easier to spot across the Maasai Mara and other parks.

Amboseli National Park is worth calling out specifically. Its dry-season water holes draw large elephant herds into the open. Mount Kilimanjaro is often visible in the background, across the Tanzania border. It’s one of the more photogenic safari combinations in East Africa.

Best Places for New Year’s Eve

If timing your trip around the countdown is the whole point, these cities do it better than almost anywhere else. In fact, this list doubles as some of the best places to travel in December for anyone chasing a countdown.

Sydney, Australia

Sydney gets to the new year before almost anyone else. Its Harbour Bridge and Opera House fireworks are some of the most broadcast New Year’s images in the world. Since Sydney sits in the Southern Hemisphere, you’re watching them during an Australian summer night, not a winter one. That’s a genuinely different feeling than a cold countdown.

The city actually runs two displays: a family-friendly show at 9pm, then the main event at midnight. Most harbourside vantage points are free, though you’ll need to arrive early to claim a good spot. A handful of premium locations sell tickets if you’d rather guarantee your view than stake one out.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro is the one most people underestimate. Réveillon on Copacabana Beach holds the Guinness World Record for the largest New Year’s Eve celebration on Earth. The most recent edition drew more than 5 million people across the city. Over 2.6 million of them packed onto Copacabana alone. Locals traditionally dress in white for luck. The fireworks launch from barges just offshore, timed to a night of live music on stages spread across the beach.

New York City

New York is the domestic pick. It’s worth including even though ASAP specializes in international routes. We book plenty of domestic trips too. The Times Square Ball Drop is the most famous countdown in the country, running since 1907. Organizers have floated crowd estimates as high as a million. Crowd-safety researchers, though, put the realistic number closer to 100,000.

Getting a spot takes commitment. Viewing pens typically close hours before midnight once they fill up, and once you’re inside one, you’re not getting out. No bathroom breaks, no food runs. It’s free and genuinely iconic, but it rewards people willing to plan around the inconvenience.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh turns New Year’s into a full production called Hogmanay. It’s a three-day affair. A Torchlight Procession moves through the city on December 30. A Street Party of roughly 40,000 people follows on the 31st. Then comes the Loony Dook on January 1 — a very cold voluntary jump into the River Forth. Midnight itself is marked by fireworks over Edinburgh Castle. The whole city then sings “Auld Lang Syne” together. It’s fitting, since a Scottish poet wrote the song in the first place.

Dubai, UAE

Dubai goes for scale. The Burj Khalifa fireworks show is synchronized to music and paired with fountain and light projections. Downtown Dubai closes to traffic so crowds can gather safely. General public viewing is free, though the best restaurant and rooftop reservations book out weeks ahead. Expect the celebration to stretch into a multi-day festival, running into the first week of January. Evening temperatures stay warm, around 68°F.

London, England

London draws around 100,000 spectators to the Thames. The display centers on the London Eye, typically with more than 12,000 fireworks synced to a live musical theme. One practical note: London usually requires free advance tickets for the best riverside viewing spots. This countdown needs planning, not a last-minute show-up.

Pro Tip: All six of these book up fast. Hotel rates for NYE weekend specifically run higher than almost any other night of the year. If a big countdown is the plan, lock in flights and rooms well before December starts.

Best Value: Where December Is the Off-Season

Here’s the part most people miss about the best places to travel in December: the month isn’t uniformly expensive. It’s expensive during a specific stretch (roughly December 21 through New Year’s) and noticeably cheaper right before it.

Flights during Christmas week can run nearly 60% higher than typical shoulder-season fares. Hotel rates follow a similar pattern. They often drop well below summer highs early in the month, then climb hard for the holiday week. If your schedule is flexible, fly out in early December instead of the week of the 20th. Same destination, meaningfully cheaper trip.

Morocco

Morocco is a strong example of a place where this timing works in your favor twice over. December brings mild, dry weather to Marrakech — daytime highs around 64°F, minimal rainfall. It also falls outside the country’s actual peak season, which runs October–November and March–April. That means lower crowds and some of the best-value pricing of the year. The weather is still genuinely pleasant, too.

Beyond the city, December is also a solid month for a Sahara Desert trip. Days at the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga stay mild and sunny, typically in the low-to-mid 60s°F. Nights are a different story — temperatures can drop into the upper 30s°F. So a desert camp stay means packing real warm layers, not just a light jacket. Camel treks and stargazing are the classic ways to spend an evening out there.

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon works on the same logic. December is firmly Lisbon’s low season, with daytime highs around 50–61°F. It’s still the sunniest capital city in Europe even in winter, averaging close to 8 hours of sunshine a day. It’s also the city’s rainiest month, so pack accordingly. What you get in exchange is a noticeably quieter, cheaper version of the city. The rest of the year, it’s genuinely crowded and pricier.

The upside of visiting off-peak is having neighborhoods like Alfama and Belém largely to yourself. A day trip to Sintra is also easier off-peak — the hillside town of pastel-colored palaces outside the city. Without the summer tour-bus lines, it’s a far more pleasant visit. TAP Air Portugal’s home hub in Lisbon connects directly to a long list of US cities. That tends to keep routing simple.

Istanbul, Türkiye

Istanbul is a good pick if you want a major city rather than a beach. Its high season runs roughly April through October, so December falls well into the off-peak stretch. That means thinner crowds at places like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. It’s not a warm-weather destination this time of year — expect daytime temperatures in the 40s and 50s°F. But for travelers prioritizing culture and value over sunshine, it’s one of the better trades on this list.

A slower-paced Bosphorus cruise is one of the better upsides of visiting in the off-season. The boats run year-round, just with far fewer tourists crowding the rails. Istanbul is also one of the most connected hub cities in the world for onward routing. That can work in your favor if you’re combining it with another stop nearby.

Pro Tip: This value window applies almost everywhere, not just the destinations above. If you’re flexible on dates, ask an agent to compare pricing for early-December departures against Christmas week itself. The gap is often bigger than people expect.

Planning a Christmas Trip Specifically?

If your December trip is built around the holiday, we’ve got you covered. Our Where to Fly for Christmas guide covers routing for family reunions, warm-weather Christmas escapes, and a few destinations most people haven’t considered.

Ready to Actually Use That Time Off?

You fought for that time off. Spend it somewhere that’s actually worth it, not just wherever’s left once everyone else has already booked.

Wherever you land, that’s the point of a list like this. The best places to travel in December aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re whatever actually fits your version of time off.

Maybe that’s a beach in Costa Rica, a countdown on Copacabana, or a quiet week in Lisbon. Whatever it is, the trip works out better the sooner you start planning it. That’s just as true for NYC as it is for Thailand.

Call 844-300-7983 and let an ASAP Tickets agent help you actually use the time off you earned.