In travel terms, the obvious response to shivery northern hemisphere winters is to escape to somewhere hotter. Be it the unexplored side of Bali, Bolivia’s salt flats at their photogenic best or a trip to the Caribbean, there’s plenty on offer beside simple fly-and-flop options for a week of vitamin D, too. And don’t immediately discount the chillier options — for there is wonderment to be had. Not just Christmas markets or skiing, but bathing apes in Japan, Dubrovnik without the tourists, the ethereal green of Lake Louise and a foodie’s trip to Lyons — where the superlative restaurants are now at their most beckoning. Here’s our pick of the best winter holiday destinations.
Main photo: visitors at the Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in Harbin, China (Getty Images)
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1. West Bali, Indonesia
Best for authenticity-seekers
Bali is no secret, yet far fewer tourists to the island venture westwards. So, for extra authenticity, swap Ubud, Uluwatu and the like in favour of a road trip past sleepy surf beaches and soulful fishing villages. You won’t find trendy yoga studios, but you will get to enjoy roadside meatball stands and lots of greenery. Trekking in West Bali National Park — eyes peeled for rare Javan langurs — is recommended during warm winters, as is diving at Menjangan Island. Try the affordable Taman Wana Resort for its infinity pool and lake-facing, stone-and-thatch rooms.
2. Dahab, Egypt
Best for diving
The Red Sea remains balmy in winter, with January liable to produce average temperatures of 20C in even the most northerly resorts. While Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada are busy, Dahab, on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, is a mellower place of turquoise waters and beachside barbecues. Most, though, come here to dive around shore-accessible coral reefs in locations such as the Blue Hole. Inland excursions to desert camel rides or St Catherine’s Monastery — the world’s oldest Christian monastery — are also available. Sociable and dive-focused, the Bridge Dahab has 12 timber-accented rooms arranged around a palm-shaded pool.
3. Florida Keys, US
Best for families
As much of America endures chilly winters, Florida remains mild. That’s especially true of its southerly Keys, a string of islands stretching off into the glittering Gulf of Mexico like a skimming stone; despite the likelihood of the odd shower, packing sun lotion is more critical than brollies. It’s most fun to gradually drive south, stopping on Key Largo to ride a glass-bottomed boat around the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, lazing on Marathon’s white-sand beaches and finishing with some celebratory key lime pie before browsing galleries or watching sunset on Key West, which is closer to Havana than Orlando.
4. Dominica
Best for another side of the Caribbean
Want to sample a real Caribbean island? Then pick Dominica. Though wondrous beaches and diving spots await here, many visitors come to capitalise on what’s inland: a bevy of ravines, verdant mountains, waterfalls, hot springs and some 365 rivers. Highlights include Boiling Lake, a flooded fumarole in which you can swim, and the Caribbean’s lone long-distance hiking trail. Try also to amble past capital Roseau’s multicoloured timber houses, to visit a chocolate producer and to spend time with the indigenous Kalinagos — ideally making time for some roasted crayfish with coconut milk atop a warmed heliconia leaf too. The 285-acre Coulibri Ridge is a modern, self-sufficient eco-resort carefully designed to aid its local community.
5. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Best for photographers
During the rainy summer season (December-February), Earth’s biggest salt flat — about the size of Jamaica, and set 11,000 feet above sea level on an Andean plateau — shows off its famous mirror effect, making for incredible optical-illusion photos. This does, however, rely on some climatic luck and means itineraries are subject to change. Still, given that the pancake-flat terrain also hosts giant cacti, geysers, hot springs and ostrich-like rhea birds, all to a bewitching backdrop of volcanoes, it’s a risk well worth taking. Audley Travel can arrange wet-season visits with trusted local guides.
6. Mount Cayambe, Ecuador
Best for active travellers
Travel geeks love Cayambe: it’s the only point on the equator to be covered in (year-round) snow, and its summit represents the point of Earth’s surface furthest from its axis, meaning it rotates faster than anywhere else. Beside all that, the 5,790m peak is incredible to climb — although, as this is an ascent tougher than Kilimanjaro, training is mandatory. Most tours begin with a day in Ecuador’s mountain-flanked capital Quito, then undertake practice ascents along the spectacular Avenue of the Volcanoes. You could visit the Galapagos or Peru’s Machu Picchu afterwards. It pays to tackle Cayambe with an experienced, veteran firm such as Ian Taylor Trekking.
Cold holiday spots
7. Lyons, France
Best for foodies
Most winter arrivals in Lyons leave immediately for the surrounding ski slopes. Their loss: France’s unofficial gastronomic capital has much to engross winter visitors. That includes December’s Fête des Lumières, a light festival in which global designers beam iridescent installations onto parks, silvery old town buildings or Rhône river bridges. Should it get too cold, duck into the Musée des Beaux-Arts to gaze at Monets or try a snuggly bouchon (the local version of a bistro) for such classic Lyonnais fare as pig’s trotters or pike quenelles. The urbane OKKO Hotels Lyon Pont Lafayette delivers top-notch bedding and breakfast spreads using the city’s famous food market, Les Halles de Lyon.
8. Nagano, Japan
Best for monkey fans
There’s plenty to tempt in this moderately-high-altitude city in Japan’s central belt — 80 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train — during winter. Wood-laced ryokan inns on cobblestone lanes, fine local skiing, vast light displays in the Alps Azumino National Government Park Park (early November to early January) and December’s folksy Shimotsuki festival, whose masked bathers inspired scenes in Spirited Away. But the standout, especially for anyone keen on Instagram likes, is Jigokudani Monkey Park. Found five miles east, this is home to the red-faced Japanese macaques who frequently bathe in hot springs during winter for warmth and relaxation. Close to the vintage Buddhist temple Zenko-ji, Matsuya Ryokan offers tatami-mat floors, a green-tea maker and public hot-spring baths.
9. Dubrovnik, Croatia
Best for sustainable tourists
Croatia’s best-known destination, Dubrovnik is notorious for overtourism. That’s in summer, however; visit in winter instead and you’ll not only help with the problem but, most likely, have a nicer time anyway, given the lack of other tourists and cruise ships. It’ll be possible to walk atop those famous city walls without jostling for space, or to sample Assumption Cathedral as it once was. If the weather allows — January can see 16C temperatures this far south — ride a cable car up Mount Srd for an island-speckled panorama.
10. Bergen, Norway
Best for adventurous city breakers
From occasional northern lights appearances to a decent-sized Christmas market between the colourful buildings of Unesco-listed Bryggen, a reconstructed medieval wharf, winter visits to Bergen can enthral. Refusing to be cowed by the season’s limited daylight, Norway’s second-largest city hosts weekly orchestral concerts in its Grieghallen concert hall and maintains a spectacular, city-centre funicular service up to the summits of Mount Floyen and Mount Ulriken, where quality cafés await. You can also do some great shopping, or go on a scenic fjord cruise. Airbnb has a notably good range of lofts, penthouses and studios in Bergen.
11. Alberta, Canada
Best for scenery lovers
Banff National Park is also best known for pistes, yet skiing holidays are just one reason to come to this part of Canada. Winter here is when the glacial meltwater in Lake Louise is at its clearest. To see the lake spellbindingly blue, aim to visit on a clear, sunny day. From the resort town of Banff, it’s a 180-mile drive via the Icefields Parkway — an epic road punctuated by waterfalls and snowy, pine-laden Rocky Mountain slopes resembling Christmas cards — to Jasper National Park, whose own titular town is known for food. Guided wildlife excursions here go off in search of caribou and bears. Cosmos has various group tours that visit Banff and Jasper.
12. Tallinn, Estonia
Best for old-town strollers
Few sights in Europe are as pretty as Tallinn’s tangled old town blanketed in snow. Highlights include the hillside Toompea Castle and a cutesy town hall — but just generally strolling around, admiring merchants’ houses below pointy bell towers and stopping for third-wave coffees when necessary, can be enchanting. You could also nip out to try some of Estonia’s alternative winter sports like kicksledding, or the classic ritual of an icy swim followed by a traditional smoke sauna. Nearby Jagala waterfall, which usually freezes to form impressive icicles, is another option. Vrbo has rentals right inside Tallinn’s old town for the most atmospheric experience (and least walking).
13. Harbin, China
Best for art hounds
If ice sculpture is your bag, Harbin will be heaven. Every January, as temperatures plunge to minus 20C, this Russian-flavoured city in northeast China hosts the mammoth Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Global teams participate, entering designs of staggering intricacy, often on a colossal scale. Everything from pandas to pyramids can be seen at the three venues, from Christmas until late February. Try to stay after dark, when the works are magically illuminated, and look out for the chance to ride the ferris wheel or play ice golf. The experienced China provider Wendy Wu curates short add-on trips to Harbin.
14. Dresden, Germany
Best for architecture buffs
Saxony’s capital city has 11 different themed Christmas markets, but that’s far from the only reason for a winter city break in this part of Germany. Sufficiently compact to conquer on foot, Dresden also has a barrage of baroque architecture in its grand, café-covered Altstadt (old town), which stretches along the Elbe’s southern bank in a glut of spires and towers. Look out for the ostentatious Zwinger palace complex, whose superlative cluster of museums hoard works by Raphael and Rubens beside formal gardens. Trendy bars await across the river in the new town. Occupying one of the Altstadt’s many colourful buildings is the glamorous Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe.
Take me there
Inspired to go on a winter holiday but yet to book your trip? Here are the best packages from Tui and Jet2 Holidays.
