Guide L — Calendar — December
Best Places to Travel in December: Where to Go, What It Costs, When to Book
December splits in two: the quiet, excellent first fortnight and the festive fortnight, which is the most contested inventory in travel. Where to go in each half, and what the difference costs.
Photo: Illustrative image: aerial view of overwater villas on a turquoise lagoon.
TL;DR — the short version
In brief
Best places to travel in December: the destinations at their best in early and late December, indicative villa and chalet rates by week, crowd levels, and how far ahead the festive fortnight books out.
Where is the best place to travel in December for sun?
The Caribbean and Mexico are established December options: compare the current forecast for Barbados, St Barts, Mustique and Los Cabos before choosing a coast. The Maldives Meteorological Service treats December as a transition month before the drier northeast-monsoon period centred on January to March.
Typical price band
Check live partner rates
Indicative only. Our booking partners confirm live rates and availability for your exact dates.
The two Decembers
December is not one month. The first two-and-a-bit weeks are shoulder season wearing a party hat: warm-weather destinations are dry, sunny and quiet, and rates sit at some of the lowest points of the winter. Then, roughly around 20 December, the festive fortnight begins — the single most contested stretch of inventory in the travel year, priced accordingly and booked months or years ahead.
The practical consequence: if your dates are flexible, travel in the first half of December and take the same weather for materially less money. If your dates are fixed to the school holidays, the question is not whether to pay the premium but how early you commit to it.
Where December is at its best
Rates vary widely by property, season and party size, so we do not publish indicative price bands here; compare live partner rates for your dates.
How to choose between them
For guaranteed sun with the shortest flight from the US
Los Cabos and the Caribbean. December is the start of the dry season on both coasts, and the early-month lull means the pick of the villas is still open.
For a festive week that justifies the premium
St Barts and Mustique are priced the way they are because the fortnight is genuinely unlike the rest of the year — the island is full, the restaurants are open, the season is at its height. Pay it once, knowingly.
For snow at Christmas
Book the highest resorts: Zermatt, Val d'Isère, Courchevel. Early-season snow is a forecast, not a promise, and altitude is the only insurance that matters in December.
For value
Marrakech and Menorca's off-season villas aside, the shoulder-season December trip is simply any warm destination taken between 1 and 18 December — same weather, a fraction of the festive rate.
Best places to travel in December from the US
For travellers starting in the United States, flight time often shapes the shortlist. The Caribbean and Mexico's Pacific coast are generally closer to US hubs than the Maldives, the Alps or Morocco, but scheduled times, direct routes and connections vary by carrier, season and departure city. Check the current airline timetable for your exact route before choosing a destination.
School holiday dates vary by US district. Check your own district's calendar and compare live quotes for the same villa on your exact dates rather than assuming a fixed festive premium.
December by US region
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
Barbados, Turks and Caicos and St Barts are the natural picks — non-stop or one short connection, dry season from the first week, and enough direct lift out of JFK and Newark that a Saturday arrival is easy to arrange.
Florida and the Southeast
Miami's short-haul reach across the Caribbean is the best in the country. Anguilla, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas are all under two hours, which makes a first-fortnight December long weekend genuinely practical.
Texas and the Midwest
Los Cabos and Punta Mita via Dallas or Houston are the efficient routes, with whale season beginning off Baja in December and dry, warm days on the Pacific coast.
West Coast
Los Cabos for sun, Aspen and Jackson Hole for snow. Both mountain towns are a single connection from LAX or SFO and hold better early-season cover than most of the lower European resorts.
The booking calendar
Festive fortnight inventory in the top Caribbean villas is typically committed by the previous spring, and the best alpine chalets not long after. Early December, by contrast, can still be assembled in the autumn at short notice. If you are reading this in September, you are on time for the first fortnight and already late for the best of the second — though cancellations surface through October and November, and a good list of second choices goes a long way.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the best place to travel in December for sun?
- The Caribbean and Mexico are established December options: compare the current forecast for Barbados, St Barts, Mustique and Los Cabos before choosing a coast. The Maldives Meteorological Service treats December as a transition month before the drier northeast-monsoon period centred on January to March.
- Is early December cheaper than Christmas week?
- Dramatically. The first two weeks of December sit at shoulder-season rates in most warm destinations, while the festive fortnight (roughly 20 December to 3 January) carries premiums of 60–150% and minimum stays of one to two weeks.
- How far ahead should I book Christmas travel?
- For the top Caribbean villas and alpine chalets, by the previous spring. For early December, the autumn is usually fine. Cancellations do surface in October and November, so it is always worth asking even late.
- Where is it guaranteed to snow at Christmas?
- Nowhere is guaranteed, but altitude is the hedge: Zermatt, Val d'Isère and the higher French resorts hold the most reliable early-season snow. Lower resorts are a genuine risk in mid-December.
- Where should I travel in December from the US?
- From the East Coast, Barbados, Turks and Caicos and St Barts are all four to five hours and enter their dry season in early December. From the West Coast, Los Cabos is two to three hours, and Aspen or Jackson Hole are a single connection for snow.
- What is the cheapest week to travel in December?
- The first two weeks — roughly 1 to 14 December, before US and UK school holidays begin. The Caribbean and Mexico are already in their dry seasons, and the Maldives is in the transition to its dry monsoon, while rates are usually well below the festive fortnight.
Editorial note & limitations
Weather figures are long-run seasonal averages and rates are indicative planning figures assembled from resort-market research and connected partner inventory in September 2026, not quotations. Festive weeks are quoted separately by the partner holding those dates.