Where to Go in December: 10 Destinations for Sun or Snow

December in Paris means an average high of 8.6°C (48°F), 69 mm of rain and thirteen wet days. In Luxor, Egypt, four and a half hours away by plane, the thermometer reads 25°C (77°F) in the afternoon and the weather station has not logged a millimetre of rain in five Decembers. That is the choice this month puts to you: chase the sun a few flight hours away, or embrace winter and go find it where it looks its best.

December is the most reliable month of the year across much of the tropical northern hemisphere: the dry season is settled over mainland Southeast Asia, the Red Sea, the Gulf and West Africa. It is also the month of school holidays and the festive season, which means high prices wherever demand piles up. The ten destinations below are split into two families, sun first and then snow, each with actual temperatures, expected rainfall, entry requirements for a European passport and the catch when there is one.

The climate figures are December averages over the last five years (2021-2025), computed from Open-Meteo reanalysis data taken as close as possible to each city mentioned. Flight prices depend too much on when you book to appear here as firm amounts: December sells out early, and that is the one rule that holds everywhere. If you are still weighing up the month, our where to go in November selection covers the previous month with the same method.

Lanzarote and southern Tenerife: 21°C and two rainy days

Lanzarote records 20.8°C (69°F) in December, nights around 16°C (61°F) and ten millimetres of rain over the whole month, spread across two days. Together with Fuerteventura it is one of the two driest Canary Islands, and the only sun destination on this list inside the European Union, four hours from Paris and under four and a half from London.

Southern Tenerife holds its own: 22.3°C (72°F) in Costa Adeje and fewer than three rainy days. The north of the island catches the trade-wind clouds instead: Santa Cruz logs four times more rain than Lanzarote in the same month. The rule is the same as in November: sleep in the south, head north and up to Mount Teide on day trips. Our guide to Tenerife's highlights covers the national park and the black-sand beaches.

The catch applies to all the Canaries in winter: the sea drops to around 20°C (68°F), still swimmable if you are determined but nothing like tropical. For sunshine, hiking through the lava fields of Timanfaya and cycling, December is ideal. For spending your days in the water, you will need to go further south.

Egypt: Luxor at 25°C without a drop, the Red Sea at 23°C

Luxor is the driest destination in this selection: 24.8°C (77°F) in the afternoon, 11.5°C (53°F) at night and zero millimetres of rain recorded in five consecutive Decembers. This is the season when the Nile Valley can be visited without suffering, when the Valley of the Kings, a 40°C furnace in summer, turns into a pleasant walk.

On the Red Sea, Hurghada gives 23.2°C (74°F) by day and 16°C (61°F) at night, with sea temperatures holding around 23 to 24°C. It is no longer October's heat, but diving and snorkelling carry on as normal, and that is exactly why the coastal hotels are full. The day-night contrast in Luxor is the one thing to plan for: a thirteen-degree swing, so pack a fleece for dawn temple visits.

On paperwork, the official e-visa at visa2egypt.gov.eg costs 25 US dollars for a single entry. A visa can also be bought on arrival at the airport, in cash, but the e-visa skips the counter queue and is done from home. If you pass through the capital, our Cairo guide and our article on reaching the Giza pyramids without a taxi cover the logistics.

Oman: 27°C in Muscat and a desert you can finally cross

Muscat records 26.6°C (80°F) in December, 19°C (66°F) at night and nine millimetres of rain for the month, a single wet day on average. This is the heart of Oman's high season, the window when you can string together the capital, the wadis, the Wahiba dunes and the Hajar mountains without the heat dictating the schedule.

Salalah, in the far south, climbs to 28.4°C (83°F) with a warm sea and empty beaches: it is the country's beach option in winter, provided you accept a domestic flight or an eleven-hour drive from Muscat. Oman's catch is not the weather but the budget: accommodation is expensive and a rental car, which you cannot do without, adds to the bill. Our Oman guide lays out the full itinerary, from the desert to the fjords of Musandam.

French and most EU passport holders enter visa-free for stays of 14 days or less. Beyond that, the e-visa is applied for online before departure. Two weeks is enough for a first road trip.

Thailand: Bangkok and the north are dry, the islands not yet

Bangkok in December means 31.6°C (89°F), 14 mm of rain and three wet days: the most pleasant month of the year for the capital, with humidity that is finally bearable. The north, Chiang Mai and the mountains, is cooler still at night and this is the dream season for hiking there. Our list of Bangkok's must-see sights can be worked through without sweating, for once.

The trap lies with the islands, and the numbers make it plain. Phuket still gets 128 mm over 17 days in December, as the western monsoon retreats slowly. Koh Samui and the Gulf are worse: 174 mm over 18 days, with highs down to 25°C (77°F), the peak of their wet season. For beaches, aim for the second half of December on the Andaman coast and save Samui for February. Our Phuket guide points out the sheltered beaches.

Entry rules: since 15 September 2026, the visa exemption for French citizens is 30 days maximum, down from 60; check the current rule for your own passport before booking. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) is filled in online, free of charge, within 72 hours before your flight. December is also the most expensive month of the year in the country, hotels and domestic flights included.

Cambodia: Angkor at 30°C, 39 mm of rain

Siem Reap gives 30.2°C (86°F) in December, 21°C (70°F) at night and 39 mm of rain spread over five days. The dry season has just settled in, the moats of Angkor are still full from the monsoon that has just ended, and the morning light on the temples is the sharpest of the year. It is the best compromise in Southeast Asia that month between heat, dry weather and prices.

The south coast, Kampot, Kep and the islands of Koh Rong, is in the same pattern: calm sea, clear skies and crowds that bear no comparison with the neighbouring Thai islands. Our Cambodia guide links Angkor, Phnom Penh and the islands in two weeks.

A visa is still required. The tourist e-visa is applied for on the official site evisa.gov.kh for 30 US dollars plus a 6-dollar fee, issued in around three working days, for a 30-day stay. The visa on arrival at the airport costs 30 dollars, in cash, with a passport photo. Either way, the free Cambodia e-Arrival form must be completed online within seven days before you land. The catch is the crowd at Angkor Wat at sunrise, at its peak over the Christmas holidays: the outlying temples, Banteay Srei or Beng Mealea, stay quiet.

Caribbean Colombia: Cartagena enters the dry season

Cartagena de Indias records 30.8°C (87°F) in December and 35 mm of rain, against 191 mm in November: this is the month when Colombia's Caribbean coast flips into its dry season. If you read our November selection, Colombia was listed among the destinations to avoid. One month later, the verdict is reversed.

The eleven rainy days recorded hide short late-afternoon showers that do not get in the way of touring the walled city or heading out to the Rosario Islands. The humid heat, though, is real: 25°C (77°F) at night, no respite. For a breather, the coffee region and Medellín, up in the hills, offer 20 to 25°C by day. Our road trip from Cartagena to the coffee region combines both.

French citizens enter visa-free for up to 90 days, with an onward ticket; most other Western passports get the same 90 days. The Check-Mig migration form from Migración Colombia is completed online before the flight, both outbound and inbound. The catch: the year-end holidays are peak season for Colombians themselves, and Cartagena is packed between Christmas and New Year.

Senegal: 29°C in Dakar, three millimetres of rain

Dakar records 28.8°C (84°F) in December, 22°C (72°F) at night and 2.7 mm of rain for the month, one wet day on average. The rainy season has been over since October and the harmattan is not yet blowing in earnest: this is the most comfortable window of the year, under six hours from Paris with just one hour of time difference for European travellers.

The country suits a short circuit: Dakar and Gorée Island, Lake Retba (the Pink Lake), Saint-Louis and its colonial houses, then the Sine-Saloum delta and its mangrove channels by pirogue. The beaches of the Petite Côte, Saly and Somone, serve as a seaside base. Our Dakar guide covers the capital. Further south, Casamance has found its calm again: our update on safety in Casamance separates the facts from old reflexes.

French citizens are visa-exempt for stays under three months, with a passport valid for more than six months; check your own country's rule before you go. The catch is the ocean: the Atlantic drops to around 22 to 23°C (72°F) in December, pleasant but cooler than October, and the swell makes some of Dakar's beaches poor for swimming.

Finnish Lapland: the real Christmas, at -5°C

Rovaniemi records -5.2°C (23°F) by day and -10.5°C (13°F) at night in December, with guaranteed snow on the ground and thirteen days of precipitation, all of it as snowflakes. It is one of Europe's most in-demand snow destinations that month, and the only one on this list where the cold is the product you come to buy.

Santa Claus Village sits at Napapiiri, eight kilometres north of the town centre, right on the Arctic Circle. Around it: snowmobile safaris, husky and reindeer sleds, saunas and, when the sky is clear, the northern lights. Daylight is very short, around two to three hours of real light in late December, but it never disappears completely at this latitude. That blue midday twilight is part of the experience, not a flaw.

The catch is the price. December is the most expensive and busiest month of the year in Lapland, and Rovaniemi's accommodation books up months ahead for Christmas week. Two alternatives: aim for the first half of the month, or switch to northern Norway, whose odds of seeing the aurora our Iceland or Norway comparison lays out. Both Finland and Norway are Schengen countries.

The Dolomites: skiing, Christmas markets and 4°C in Cortina

Cortina d'Ampezzo records 3.7°C (39°F) by day and -4.5°C (24°F) at night in December, with seven days of precipitation. Bolzano, down in the valley, reaches 9°C (48°F). The Dolomites ski season generally opens at the start of the month, early December last year, and the big areas, Cortina, Alta Badia, Val Gardena, run at full tilt for Christmas.

What sets the Dolomites apart from the French Alps in December is the combination: the Christmas markets of South Tyrol, Bolzano first among them, open on 27 November 2026 and run until 6 January, thirty minutes from the slopes. You ski in the morning and head down to town in the afternoon. Our Dolomites guide covers the valleys and how to reach them.

The catch is the same for any ski resort in December: early-season snow cover is not guaranteed below 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), and the week between Christmas and New Year is the most expensive of the winter. The first half of the month offers the same markets, empty pistes and opening-season rates. To compare with other ranges, our pick of the best ski destinations in Europe reviews the main areas.

Strasbourg and Alsace: the Christmas market without a flight

Strasbourg does not have the climate on its side: 6.5°C (44°F) by day, 87 mm of rain and twelve wet days in December. What it has is the opposite of sunshine, and that is exactly what visitors to its Christmas market, one of the busiest in Europe, come for. The city is under two hours from Paris by high-speed train, and reachable from London in about five hours by rail, with no passport queue or cabin-bag haggling.

The market fills the historic centre from late November to Christmas Eve. The 2026 dates had not yet been published when this article was written; the 2025 edition opened on 26 November and closed on 24 December, and the calendar shifts by only a few days from one year to the next. Our Strasbourg guide covers the cathedral, the Petite France quarter and the neighbourhoods worth seeing away from the wooden stalls.

The catch: on December weekends the city is saturated and hotels charge high-season rates. Two workarounds: come midweek, or sleep in Colmar or a village on the Alsace wine route and ride the regional train up to Strasbourg. To widen the choice beyond Alsace, our tour of Europe's Christmas markets compares Vienna, Prague and Nuremberg.

Destinations to avoid in December, and when to go instead

Three winter-sun classics are poor choices in December, and the figures leave no room for doubt.

The Seychelles are in their wettest month: Mahé gets 415 mm over 26 days under the north-west monsoon. It is 27°C (81°F) and the sea is warm, but it rains almost every day. The right window is April-May or October-November, between the two monsoons. Our Seychelles guide details the seasons island by island.

Bali is in the thick of its rainy season: 268 mm over 26 days in Denpasar. The rice terraces look superb, the beaches far less so, and the Australian school holidays push prices up at the same time. Aim for May-June or September. Our Bali guide explains what to do when it rains.

Sri Lanka has not finished its transition: Colombo still records 192 mm over 20 days in December. The south-west coast dries out in January, as we already wrote for November. One month of patience changes everything, and the ETA is now free for many nationalities.

Two final caveats. Marrakech, the star of November, loses five degrees in December (20.9°C / 70°F) and above all drops to 8°C (46°F) at night: a riad without heating becomes a real problem. Namibia enters its rainy season with 31°C (88°F) in Windhoek: the country remains visitable, but it is no longer the best season for safaris in Etosha.

How to choose, depending on what you want

If you want reliable sun less than six hours from Western Europe, Egypt and Oman are statistically unbeatable in December: under ten millimetres of rain, over 25°C (77°F). Lanzarote and Dakar follow close behind, with the advantage of a shorter flight or no paperwork at all.

If you are after tropical heat and swimming, Cambodia offers the best balance of weather reliability and price in Southeast Asia that month. Thailand works provided you stick to Bangkok and the north, or wait for the second half of the month for the Andaman coast. Caribbean Colombia has just flipped into its dry season.

If you want snow, the question is budget. Lapland is the strongest experience and the most expensive; the Dolomites combine skiing and Christmas markets for less; Strasbourg delivers the Christmas atmosphere for the price of a train ticket.

In every case, the first half of December beats the second: the same conditions, lower prices and half the crowds. Also check the authorisations you need before you fly: Thailand's TDAC, Colombia's Check-Mig and Cambodia's e-Arrival are completed online, not at the airport.