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.
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
| Destination | Why December | Early December | Festive fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Barts | Dry season begins, the season opens | USD 2,500 – 6,000 | USD 8,000 – 25,000+ |
| Barbados | Dry, breezy, sea at 27°C | USD 900 – 3,000 | USD 3,500 – 12,000 |
| Mustique | The social fortnight of the Caribbean | USD 3,000 – 8,000 | USD 10,000 – 30,000+ |
| Los Cabos | Dry, whale season begins | USD 1,200 – 4,000 | USD 4,000 – 15,000 |
| Verbier & Zermatt | Snow from mid-month, festive alpine peak | USD 1,500 – 4,500 | USD 5,000 – 18,000 |
| Maldives | Dry season starts, clearest water | USD 1,500 – 5,000 | USD 5,000 – 20,000+ |
| Marrakech | Cool, bright days, no summer heat | USD 700 – 2,200 | USD 1,800 – 5,000 |
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 houses 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 best-value 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
Most December searches start in the United States, and the shortlist changes once flight time is part of the decision. From the East Coast, the Caribbean is a three-to-five-hour hop: Barbados is roughly four and a half hours from New York, St Barts four and a half via St Maarten, and Turks and Caicos under four. From the West Coast, Los Cabos is two hours from Los Angeles and three from San Francisco, which is why it fills first over Thanksgiving weekend and again from 20 December.
US school calendars concentrate the demand: most districts break between 19 and 22 December and return between 2 and 6 January, so the festive fortnight is effectively fixed for families. The consequence is that the best-value December week for an American traveller is almost always 1–14 December, before the break — the same weather, often at half the festive rate, and with the pick of the houses still open.
| Destination | From New York | From Miami | From Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbados | 4h 30m direct | 3h 45m direct | 1 stop, ~10h |
| St Barts | ~5h via St Maarten | ~4h via St Maarten | 1–2 stops |
| Turks & Caicos | 3h 45m direct | 1h 45m direct | 1 stop, ~9h |
| Los Cabos | 6h direct | 4h 30m direct | 2h 30m direct |
| Maldives | 1 stop, ~19h | 1 stop, ~20h | 1–2 stops, ~22h |
| Zermatt / Verbier | ~8h to Geneva, 3h transfer | ~10h, 1 stop | ~11h, 1 stop |
| Marrakech | 1 stop, ~10h | 1 stop, ~12h | 1 stop, ~14h |
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, 27°C 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 houses 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 the reliable answers: Barbados, St Barts, Mustique and Los Cabos all enter their dry seasons in December with sea temperatures around 26–27°C. The Maldives' dry season also begins mid-month.
- 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 houses 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 weather in the Caribbean, Mexico and the Maldives is already dry-season weather, while rates sit 60–150% 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.