Sommaire
Holidays in December
During the festive season! All those pretty snowy landscapes, all those heavenly tropical white sandy beaches – how lucky that Christmas comes when some of the world’s best winter-sun destinations are at their peak. So which is the best Caribbean island in December? Where are the best places to spend the New Year? Where to ski at Christmas? Where can you escape the holiday crowds? One thing’s for sure: don’t even think about going back to the office in boring old January without a tan and without looking like you’ve just had the most fun Christmas holiday ever.
The best places to spend the festive season
Berlin
There’s no wrong time to visit Berlin. We love Berlin in the summer, wandering around its crazy, creative places – but what a place to party in December! Berlin is one of the best places in the world to spend New Year’s Eve, when they throw a city-wide street party with concerts and celebrations all along the Party Mile.
Goa, India
Goa is love, it’s crazy in December. Every palm tree strung with tinsel and fairy lights, every beach bar rocked by the most beautiful, happy-go-lucky people, find themselves dancing like loons, night and day. The weather is perfect and the evenings reach their peak. Christmas is the occasion for a big party all over India – no more so than in Goa, with fireworks, Christmas trees and incongruous Santa hats in the heat and dust. It all turns into a New Year’s party, with parties and raves on the beaches and in the bars (Goa is India’s most liberal state). It gets crowded, so book in advance. Avoid staying too long in Anjuna, unless you’re a hardcore raver – dance until the sun comes up, then head to a quieter spot (we like Arambol, Mandrem, Palolem, quite dreamy) for another sunrise.
St Barth’s, Caribbean
Known for its beautiful cruising spots, everyone is in St Barth’s in December. Partly because the island is the original discreet-A-lister’s sunny paradise with the world’s most perfect beaches, restaurants, hotels and villas, and partly because everyone is. The super rich, the super famous, the beautiful and the blessed.
If you don’t book your December holiday here, you’ll only have yourself to blame for FOMO, uncommon FOMO, sitting around watching the rain and scrolling through photos of everyone laughing at the perfect teeth on the world’s most beautiful beaches.
Cambodia and Laos
South East Asia is beautiful in December, the weather is perfect – which means that yes, everyone wants to visit too. But why come when it’s humid and unbearably hot? Come in December, and enjoy the festive season, when the eateries are bustling, when the beautiful colonial towns of Laos (we love Luang Prabang) are lively, when Siem Reap is at its peak. Cambodia and Laos are big, largely empty countries, where it’s always possible to find a little space for yourself, even at Angkor Wat (go at sunrise, if possible). Yes, it may take a bit more planning and booking, but if you want to be spontaneous, there’s always a room in a charming teak house, where the birds sing in the banana trees next to the veranda.
