December travel destinations: warm, a short flight away, New Year's Eve

Which destinations are worth visiting in December?

December destinations are worthwhile above all where daytime temperatures stay around 20 °C or warmer. Within a short journey, that means only a few islands and coasts in the Atlantic and on the Red Sea. Everything else in Europe is mild to cool in December. Which trip is worth it comes down to three questions: How warm do you want it to be? How much rain will you accept? And how long may the journey take?

This guide answers the first two questions with two kinds of data. The long-term averages come from the national weather services and are published by the World Weather Information Service of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Alongside them stands the actually measured December 2025, taken from the global climate data of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD).^[1] For distances, Adtouro calculated the straight-line distance from Frankfurt am Main itself, as the great-circle distance between the airports. How sources are selected and checked is described in the methodology.

Christmas and New Year's Eve: the 2026/27 holiday dates

According to the holiday calendar of the Kultusministerkonferenz, the first Christmas holidays begin on 21 December 2026 in Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein.^[2] Bavaria starts last, on 24 December, and Saarland ends its holidays first, on 31 December. From 24 to 31 December, all 16 German states therefore have holidays at the same time. The last Christmas holidays end on 12 January 2027 in Hesse.

This yields a window that is useful for trip planning: after the end of the Bavarian autumn holidays on 6 November and up to and including 20 December, no German state has school holidays. Anyone not tied to school holidays travels in these weeks outside the peak season. Anyone flying over Christmas and New Year plans around full demand from all over Germany.

Why this guide does not quote prices

This guide does not quote fixed prices, because flight and hotel prices change daily and Adtouro has not checked them with its own price comparison. Dates and distances can be substantiated. Whether a date before 21 December is actually cheaper than one over New Year only a comparison on the day of booking will show.

Where is it warm in December with a short flight time

In December, warm destinations with a short flight time are the Canary Islands, Agadir and Hurghada, with more than 21 °C during the day on long-term average. Madeira and Marrakesh fall just below that, at 20.0 and 20.2 °C. The table places the long-term average, the measured December 2025 and the distance from Frankfurt side by side.

The December 2025 figures come from the DWD tables for Africa^[1] and Europe.^[16] They contain no station for Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Agadir or Hurghada, which is why a dash appears there.

The columns are not directly comparable. The averages come from different periods: 1981 to 2010 for the Spanish stations and Hurghada, 1991 to 2020 for Agadir and Marrakesh, 1961 to 1990 for Funchal and Malta. In addition, each weather service counts rainy days using its own threshold; the DWD counts days with 1 mm of precipitation or more.

What December 2025 shows

December 2025 was noticeably wetter than usual on the Canary Islands, with 286 per cent of the usual rainfall in Las Palmas and 198 per cent in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.^[1] Temperatures stayed close to the long-term average. Even so, Las Palmas recorded 219 hours of sunshine and Santa Cruz 184 hours. A single December can therefore deviate from the average without making the destination unsuitable; rain gear still belongs in your luggage.

Madeira averages 13 rainy days and is better suited to hiking than to swimming. Hurghada is the opposite: the Egyptian weather authority reports 23.2 °C by day for December, but only 13.0 °C at night.^[12] Evenings there are cooler than on the Canary Islands: in December 2025, the average low was 15.7 °C in Las Palmas and 16.7 °C in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.^[1]

According to the German Federal Foreign Office, the following applies to Egypt: German citizens need a visa, which costs 30 US dollars on arrival; alternatively, it can be applied for in advance as an eVisa. A partial travel warning is in place for the north of the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian-Israeli border area with the exception of Taba, and remote areas of the Sahara, as of 22 October 2026.^[17] Read the advisories again shortly before departure; they change.

Mild rather than warm: destinations with the shortest flight

Malta and Málaga are the quickest to reach, but in December they are mild rather than warm: on the long-term average they reach 16.7 and 17.5 °C by day and are better suited to city breaks and excursions than to beach holidays. Marrakesh, at 20.2 °C, sits just at the edge of warm. In December 2025, Marrakesh cooled to an average of 7.3 °C at night.^[1] Further guides by destination and month are collected in the Destinations section.

Best destinations november december warm

The best warm destinations for November and December lie outside Europe, in places where the dry season runs through December. This applies most clearly to the Gulf region, Thailand and Cape Town. For November itself there is a dedicated guide: destinations in November.

The measured December 2025 confirms this picture for the Gulf and Thailand, and shows two exceptions.^[28] Abu Dhabi reached 27.0 °C during the day with 227 sunshine hours, Bangkok 33.8 °C without a single day with at least 1 mm of rain. On Sal, where it almost never rains in December, however, 39 mm of rain fell on two days; the DWD records this as more than 800 percent of the usual rainfall.^[1] On Sri Lanka, the DWD recorded 284 mm of rain on 14 days in Trincomalee on the east coast, and 139 mm on 9 days in Colombo in the west. Anyone travelling to Sri Lanka in December should therefore plan for the west coast.

Which destination suits which trip

There is no universal ranking. The destinations here are ordered by disclosed criteria: daytime high and rainy days from the tables, distance from our own calculation.

• Sunshine with a short flight: the Canary Islands, Agadir or Hurghada. Among the destinations in the first table, only these average above 21 °C.
• Hiking and nature: Madeira and the Canary Islands; on Madeira with 13 rainy days on average.
• Beach weather with little rain: Dubai, Muscat or Bangkok, which in December count at most two rainy days in the long-term average.
• A longer holiday over the New Year period: Cape Town, where December is summer; the DWD counted 366 sunshine hours and one rainy day there in December 2025.^[1]

For whom a destination is less suitable matters just as much. Anyone expecting beach weather may be disappointed in Málaga, Malta or Marrakesh in December. The Caribbean and Phuket are warm, but with eight to eleven rainy days on average not reliably dry. Long-haul destinations are mainly worthwhile for longer stays, given the long journey.

Finding your December destination in three steps

1. First set your dates: before 21 December if you are not tied to school holidays, or deliberately across the shared holiday days from 24 to 31 December.
2. Then compare daytime high, rainy days and night-time temperature for two or three destinations from the tables above.
3. Finally, get flight and accommodation prices on the same day, and factor in visa fees and the longer travel time for long-haul destinations.

For Hurghada and Marrakesh, pack a warm layer for the evening — nights there are noticeably cooler than the days. For Madeira and the Canary Islands, our guide to the water column of rain jackets helps you choose rain gear. For general guidance on choosing your travel month, see the best time to travel section. Cross-check your travel dates against the climate table and your budget before booking.

Frequently asked questions

Where is it warmest in Europe in December?

On the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas and Puerto del Rosario reach around 22 °C during the day on a long-term average; Madeira sits at 20 °C.

Where is it warm at New Year's Eve with a short flight?

On the Canary Islands, in Agadir and in Hurghada — the warmest destinations with a short flight from the first table. Hurghada is the driest, but noticeably cooler at night.

Can you swim in the Canary Islands in December?

The air temperature averages around 22 °C during the day. None of the sources used here include water temperature; check it separately for your destination.

When is it low season in December 2026?

Through 20 December 2026 inclusive, no German state has school holidays. From 21 December, the first Christmas holidays begin.

Which long-haul destination is most reliably dry in December?

Bangkok, Muscat and Dubai, which count one to two rainy days in December on a long-term average. In the Caribbean, it is eight to eleven.

Sources

1. dwd.de
2. kmk.org
3. aemet.es
4. worldweather.wmo.int
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28. dwd.de