Where to Travel in December: 26 Places at Their Best
Quick answer: for warm weather in December, go to Mexico’s Pacific coast: Acapulco averages 85°F / 30°C with 1 rain day, and Ixtapa, Huatulco, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta are as dry. Bangkok, Havana and Ho Chi Minh City are the warm cities at their best, and Cairo, Mexico City, Dubai and Marrakech the mild ones. 26 of the 173 places in our tool fit.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on December: switch the kind of trip, or pick any of the 173 places for its weather all year. Below, every place at its best in December, sorted from the fewest rainy days.
Beach trips at their best in December (12)
The eastern Caribbean’s season starts: Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Martin, Tortola and Turks and Caicos are at their best, and so is Costa Rica’s Guanacaste coast (86°F / 30°C, 4 rain days). Cancún, Punta Cana and Aruba rate good but showery.
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Acapulco Mexico | 85 / 71°F 30 / 22°C | 1 |
| Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo Mexico | 84 / 73°F 29 / 23°C | 1 |
| Huatulco Mexico | 80 / 58°F 27 / 15°C | 1 |
| Mazatlán Mexico | 79 / 70°F 26 / 21°C | 1 |
| Puerto Vallarta Mexico | 80 / 60°F 27 / 16°C | 2 |
| Guanacaste (Tamarindo) Costa Rica | 86 / 74°F 30 / 23°C | 4 |
| Varadero Cuba | 82 / 71°F 28 / 21°C | 6 |
| Turks and Caicos (Providenciales) | 80 / 78°F 27 / 26°C | 8 |
| Anguilla | 81 / 79°F 27 / 26°C | 8 |
| St. Barts St. Barthélemy | 81 / 79°F 27 / 26°C | 8 |
| St. Martin / Sint Maarten | 81 / 79°F 27 / 26°C | 8 |
| Tortola British Virgin Islands | 81 / 79°F 27 / 26°C | 9 |
Warm cities at their best in December (4)
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok Thailand | 87 / 68°F 31 / 20°C | 2 |
| Havana Cuba | 82 / 69°F 28 / 21°C | 5 |
| Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam | 87 / 71°F 31 / 22°C | 6 |
| Santo Domingo Dominican Republic | 85 / 72°F 29 / 22°C | 9 |
City breaks at their best in December (10)
| Place | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Cairo Egypt | 70 / 49°F 21 / 9°C | 1 |
| Mexico City | 67 / 41°F 20 / 5°C | 2 |
| Chiang Mai Thailand | 76 / 58°F 25 / 14°C | 2 |
| Oaxaca Mexico | 72 / 47°F 22 / 8°C | 3 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 76 / 74°F 25 / 23°C | 3 |
| Cape Town South Africa | 69 / 63°F 21 / 17°C | 4 |
| Hanoi Vietnam | 70 / 53°F 21 / 12°C | 4 |
| Marrakech Morocco | 66 / 44°F 19 / 7°C | 5 |
| Los Angeles California | 65 / 47°F 18 / 8°C | 6 |
| Orlando Florida | 74 / 55°F 24 / 13°C | 6 |
Mountains and nature at their best in December (0)
None of the 12 mountain and nature places in the tool is at its best in December by the rule below. Closest: La Fortuna (Arenal), good but warm and showery, with a high of 79°F.
Popular places in December
Honolulu and Maui rate too wet in December, and so do Bali and Phuket, while Orlando, Dubai and Bangkok are at their best.
| Place | December | High / low | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancún Mexico | Good (showery) | 81 / 74°F 27 / 23°C | 12 |
| Punta Cana Dominican Republic | Good (showery) | 81 / 80°F 27 / 26°C | 12 |
| Montego Bay Jamaica | Good (showery) | 83 / 78°F 29 / 25°C | 13 |
| Nassau Bahamas | Good (cool) | 77 / 75°F 25 / 24°C | 9 |
| Aruba | Good (showery) | 83 / 80°F 28 / 27°C | 12 |
| San Juan Puerto Rico | Good (showery) | 82 / 76°F 28 / 25°C | 15 |
| Honolulu (Oʻahu) Hawaii | Off (too wet) | 78 / 73°F 25 / 23°C | 16 |
| Maui (Kahului) Hawaii | Off (too wet) | 76 / 73°F 24 / 23°C | 15 |
| Miami Beach Florida | Good (cool) | 76 / 71°F 24 / 22°C | 9 |
| Key West Florida | Good (cool) | 76 / 73°F 24 / 23°C | 8 |
| Orlando Florida | Best | 74 / 55°F 24 / 13°C | 6 |
| New York City | Off (too cold) | 45 / 36°F 7 / 2°C | 11 |
| Las Vegas Nevada | Good (cool) | 58 / 37°F 15 / 3°C | 3 |
| New Orleans Louisiana | Good (showery) | 63 / 51°F 17 / 11°C | 10 |
| Cabo San Lucas Mexico | Good (cool) | 78 / 68°F 26 / 20°C | 2 |
| Puerto Vallarta Mexico | Best | 80 / 60°F 27 / 16°C | 2 |
| Paris France | Off (too cold) | 45 / 35°F 7 / 2°C | 13 |
| London United Kingdom | Off (too cold) | 46 / 37°F 8 / 3°C | 14 |
| Rome Italy | Good (cool, showery) | 56 / 41°F 13 / 5°C | 11 |
| Barcelona Spain | Good (cool) | 57 / 42°F 14 / 5°C | 5 |
| Lisbon Portugal | Good (cool) | 60 / 54°F 16 / 12°C | 10 |
| Athens Greece | Good (cool) | 58 / 48°F 15 / 9°C | 9 |
| Santorini (Fira) Greece | Off (too cold) | 62 / 58°F 16 / 15°C | 12 |
| Tokyo Japan | Good (cool) | 54 / 39°F 12 / 4°C | 7 |
| Bali (Denpasar) Indonesia | Off (too wet) | 84 / 76°F 29 / 24°C | 27 |
| Bangkok Thailand | Best | 87 / 68°F 31 / 20°C | 2 |
| Phuket Thailand | Off (too wet) | 83 / 79°F 28 / 26°C | 20 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | Best | 76 / 74°F 25 / 23°C | 3 |
| Cusco (Machu Picchu) Peru | Off (too wet) | 58 / 39°F 15 / 4°C | 21 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | Off (too cold, too wet) | 35 / 28°F 1 / -2°C | 20 |
| Banff Canada | Off (too cold) | 14 / -1°F -10 / -18°C | 15 |
| Grand Canyon (South Rim) Arizona | Off (too cold) | 45 / 25°F 7 / -4°C | 6 |
Plan a December trip
- December bucket list ideas
- The best cold-season destinations
- Iconic Christmas experiences in New York
- Top beach towns in Mexico
- Warm-weather American resort towns
FAQ
Where to travel in December?
By the weather, 26 of the 173 places in our tool are at their best in December. Beach trips: Acapulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Huatulco and Mazatlán; warm cities: Bangkok, Havana, Ho Chi Minh City and Santo Domingo; city breaks: Cairo, Mexico City, Chiang Mai and Oaxaca; mountains and nature: none. The tables above list every one, with its average high, low and rain days.
What are the best places to travel in December?
The driest place at its best for each kind of trip: for beach trips, Acapulco at 85°F / 30°C with 1 rain day; for warm cities, Bangkok at 87°F / 31°C with 2 rain days; for city breaks, Cairo at 70°F / 21°C with 1 rain day.
What are warm places to travel in December?
16 beaches and warm cities are at their best in December. The warmest of them: Bangkok at 87°F / 31°C; Ho Chi Minh City at 87°F / 31°C; Guanacaste (Tamarindo) at 86°F / 30°C; Acapulco at 85°F / 30°C.
What are the warmest places in the US in December?
By average high: Kona (Big Island) at 78°F / 26°C; Honolulu (Oʻahu) at 78°F / 25°C; Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe) at 77°F / 25°C; Marathon at 76°F / 25°C; West Palm Beach at 76°F / 25°C. Of the US places at least “good” in December, Marathon, West Palm Beach and Key Largo lead.
Is December hurricane season?
No. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and the eastern Pacific’s from May 15 to November 30. The most in December: 2 of the last 50 seasons had a storm within 100 miles of Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo.
How “at its best” is decided
A place is at its best in a month when its average daily high falls in the range for its kind of trip and it rains (1 mm or more) on 10 days or fewer. At a beach, a month in which a tropical storm or hurricane came within 100 miles in 5 or more of the last 50 seasons cannot be best.
| Kind of trip | Average high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| Beach | 79–88°F (26–31°C) | 10 or fewer |
| Warm city | 79–90°F (26–32°C) | 10 or fewer |
| City | 63–79°F (17–26°C) | 10 or fewer |
| Mountains and nature | 59–77°F (15–25°C) | 10 or fewer |
The weather is NASA POWER’s daily record for 2006–2025, averaged for each place over about 50 km, so a beach right on the water can be a few degrees warmer, day and night, than shown, most where mountains rise behind the coast. Storms: NOAA’s hurricane tracks (HURDAT2), 1976–2025. Every month is an average: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.