Vol. 1 · Summer 2026
Independent travel journalism
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Where to travel in January
Every country scored for the month you can actually travel.
When are you free? Click a month, or drag across several
Jan
J
Feb
F
Mar
M
Apr
A
May
M
Jun
J
Jul
J
Aug
A
Sept
S
Oct
O
Nov
N
Dec
D
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Temperature you want
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ZW
ZM
YE
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UY
FM
MH
MP
VI
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AS
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GS
SH
PN
AI
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KY
BM
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TC
MS
JE
GG
IM
GB
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UA
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TV
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Mixed
Challenging
214 curated guides · the rest scored from climate normals
Best this month
95
Egypt
Curated
Cool and clear — the best month for the Nile valley, and the busiest.
95
Maldives
Curated
Dry season at its best — calm seas, superb visibility, peak prices.
95
Oman
Curated
Warm days and cool nights — the best month in the north.
95
Qatar
Curated
The best month — around 22 degrees and dry.
95
Saudi Arabia
Curated
The best month — mild everywhere, with cold interior nights.
95
Thailand
Curated
Cool, dry and clear nationwide. The best month for almost every part of the country.
95
United Arab Emirates
Curated
The best month — warm days around 24 degrees and cool evenings.
94
Antarctica
Curated
94
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Curated
93
Gambia
Curated
93
Palau
Curated
92
Antigua and Barbuda
Curated
Peak dry season — steady trade winds, 27 °C days, minimal rain.
92
Chad
Curated
92
Colombia
Curated
Peak dry season nationwide; crowds and prices high until mid-January.
92
Costa Rica
Curated
Dry and breezy Pacific-wide; high season in full swing.
92
Cuba
Curated
Peak dry season — clear, dry, pleasantly cool nights; peak crowds mid-month.
92
Djibouti
Curated
92
Ethiopia
Curated
92
Guam
Curated
92
Guinea-Bissau
Curated
92
New Zealand
Curated
92
Northern Mariana Islands
Curated
92
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Curated
92
Senegal
Curated
92
Sierra Leone
Curated
92
Tanzania
Curated
Calving in the southern Serengeti — predator action at its most concentrated.
90
Anguilla
Curated
Dry, breezy and fully open.
90
Aruba
Curated
Dry, breezy and fully booked.
90
Bangladesh
Curated
Cool, dry and clear — the best month, with river mist at dawn.
90
Barbados
Curated
Dry, breezy and reliable; peak-season crowds and prices.
90
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Curated
Dry and breezy across all three.
90
British Virgin Islands
Curated
Steady trades and dry air — prime sailing.
90
Cambodia
Curated
Cool and dry, 25–30 °C. The best temple weather of the year.
90
Cayman Islands
Curated
Dry, calm seas and the best visibility.
90
Côte d'Ivoire
Curated
90
Curaçao
Curated
Dry, breezy, 28 °C.
90
Dominican Republic
Curated
Dry and breezy; humpbacks arrive in Samaná Bay mid-month.
90
Falkland Islands
Curated
Peak summer, long days, chicks in every colony.
90
Ghana
Curated
90
Grenada
Curated
Dry, breezy prime; yachting season in full swing.
90
Guadeloupe
Curated
Dry and warm; the best month for both wings.
90
Guinea
Curated
90
Laos
Curated
Cool, dry and clear; mornings cold in the northern mountains.
90
Martinique
Curated
Dry, 27 °C, and the island at its best.
90
Norfolk Island
Curated
90
Panama
Curated
Peak verano — trade winds, blue skies, calm San Blas seas.
90
Philippines
Curated
Cool, dry and calm — the best month for the islands and for diving.
90
Puerto Rico
Curated
Dry, 27 °C, and the whole island is open.
90
Saint Barthélemy
Curated
Dry, breezy and at full capacity.
90
Saint Martin
Curated
Dry, breezy and fully open.
90
São Tomé and Príncipe
Curated
90
Sint Maarten
Curated
Dry, breezy and busy.
90
Sri Lanka
Curated
Peak dry season on the south and west coasts; excellent in the interior.
90
Togo
Curated
90
Turks and Caicos Islands
Curated
Dry and calm; the whales arrive.
90
Uganda
Curated
90
United States Virgin Islands
Curated
Dry and breezy; the whole territory is open.
90
Uruguay
Curated
Peak summer — best weather, biggest crowds, highest prices.
88
Belize
Curated
Dry-season trade winds; peak crowds ease after New Year.
88
Equatorial Guinea
Curated
88
Eritrea
Curated
88
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Curated
88
Guatemala
Curated
Dry and clear; cold highland nights, perfect trek visibility.
88
Jamaica
Curated
Peak dry season — trade winds, low humidity, high prices.
88
Nicaragua
Curated
Dry, windy, green — peak conditions Pacific-wide.
88
Niger
Curated
88
Nigeria
Curated
88
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Curated
Dry-season peak; trade winds and clear water.
88
Saint Lucia
Curated
Dry-season peak; trade winds keep the heat civil.
88
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Curated
Settled trade-wind weather; charter high season.
88
Yemen
Curated
Cool and dry — the best season on Socotra and in the highlands.
85
Bahamas
Curated
Dry and sunny; cold fronts occasionally brush the northern islands — sea at its coolest (~24 °C).
85
Chile
Curated
Peak southern summer: Patagonia in full swing, 17-hour days, maximum crowds and prices in Paine.
85
Dominica
Curated
Dry season underway; calm leeward seas for whales and diving.
85
El Salvador
Curated
Dry, clear volcano summits; Ruta de las Flores in bloom.
85
Haiti
Curated
Dry season across the country; warm days, cool mountain evenings.
85
India
Curated
Cool and dry nationwide; northern-plain smog and fog are the caveat.
85
Mexico
Curated
Dry season nationwide; monarch butterflies in Michoacán; cool highland nights.
85
Montserrat
Curated
Dry and clear; good views of the dome.
85
Myanmar
Curated
Cool and dry; the best climatic month. Security conditions remain the binding constraint.
85
Trinidad and Tobago
Curated
Dry season; the fete calendar and panyard rehearsals build toward Carnival.
80
Argentina
Curated
High summer — Patagonia peak with long days; Buenos Aires hot (30 °C+), Iguazú steamy.
80
Hong Kong
Curated
Cool and dry — genuinely pleasant, though Lunar New Year fills the city.
80
Macau
Curated
Cool and dry; Lunar New Year fills the hotels.
78
Rwanda
Curated
78
Venezuela
Curated
Dry season across the north; Los Roques and Roraima prime.
76
Central African Republic
Curated
75
South Africa
Curated
Cape summer at its best; the Kruger bush green, wet and harder for wildlife.
74
Republic of the Congo
Curated
74
Western Sahara
Curated
72
Brazil
Curated
Peak summer: hot beaches, afternoon downpours, Pantanal flooded, peak coast prices.
72
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Curated
72
Honduras
Curated
Interior dry; islands shaking off the Oct–Jan wet tail.
72
Vatican City
Curated
Cool and the quietest month, with short museum queues.
70
Austria
Curated
Peak ski season; Vienna cold, quiet and deep in concert season.
70
Christmas Island
Curated
70
Ecuador
Curated
Warm/wet season: sunny coast and calm Galápagos seas; Andean afternoons shower.
70
Namibia
Curated
Hot with occasional storms; the desert dramatic and the north green.
70
Pitcairn Islands
Curated
70
Seychelles
Curated
70
Switzerland
Curated
Peak ski season; valleys can sit under cloud for weeks while the tops are clear.
70
Taiwan
Curated
Cool and often grey in the north; the south stays warm and dry.
66
Gabon
Curated
66
Gibraltar
Curated
65
Bhutan
Curated
Cold and very clear; cranes still in Phobjikha, high passes snowed in.
65
Brunei
Curated
Wet tail of the northeast monsoon, warm throughout.
65
Japan
Curated
Powder season in the north; clear dry cold in Tokyo and the year's best Fuji views.
65
Malaysia
Curated
West coast and Borneo good; east-coast islands shut for the monsoon.
65
Singapore
Curated
Northeast monsoon — the wettest weeks, though showers are short and heavy.
65
South Korea
Curated
Cold, dry and clear; ski season and empty palaces.
65
Vietnam
Curated
Northern winter — grey, damp and 12–16 °C in Hanoi; the south is perfect.
64
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Curated
64
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Curated
62
Cyprus
Curated
Mild on the coast at 17 degrees, with snow and skiing in the Troodos.
62
Eswatini
Curated
62
Israel
Curated
Cool and wet in the north; Eilat and the Dead Sea stay warm.
62
Morocco
Curated
Cool and often wet in the north; the desert cold at night and clear by day.
62
Somalia
Curated
62
Tunisia
Curated
Wet in the north, cold in the desert at night.
60
China
Curated
Cold and dry in the north; the New Year migration makes travel hard if it falls now.
60
Finland
Curated
Deep winter and polar night in the north — peak Lapland season.
60
Iraq
Curated
Cool and often wet; the north cold with mountain snow.
60
Nauru
Curated
60
Nepal
Curated
Cold and very clear; high passes closed, low-altitude walking excellent.
60
Portugal
Curated
Cool and wet in the north; mild in the Algarve and Madeira.
60
South Sudan
Curated
60
Spain
Curated
Cold interior, mild southern coast, warm Canaries.
60
Tuvalu
Curated
58
Tokelau
Curated
55
France
Curated
Cold and quiet, with the Alpine ski season under way.
55
Georgia
Curated
Cold, with skiing at Gudauri and Bakuriani the main reason to come.
55
Greece
Curated
Cool and wet, with Athens and the mainland sites empty and cheap.
55
Iceland
Curated
Four hours of daylight; aurora season and storm season at once.
55
Italy
Curated
Cold in the north, mild in Sicily; ski season under way.
55
Norway
Curated
Polar night in the far north; deep cold and strong aurora season.
55
Pakistan
Curated
North snowbound and passes closed; Sindh and Punjab at their most comfortable.
55
Slovakia
Curated
Cold, with the Tatra ski season and busy thermal spas.
55
Slovenia
Curated
Cold, with Julian Alps skiing and a quiet Ljubljana.
55
Suriname
Curated
Short rains fading; hot and humid as always.
55
Sweden
Curated
Polar night in Lapland; aurora, dog sledding and deep cold.
55
Turkey
Curated
Cold in Anatolia with snow in Cappadocia; Istanbul grey and quiet.
52
New Caledonia
Curated
50
Bulgaria
Curated
Cold, with skiing at Bansko and Borovets at European bargain prices.
50
Fiji
Curated
50
Germany
Curated
Cold and dark, with Bavarian skiing and good museum weather.
50
Guyana
Curated
Tail of the short wet season; coast soggy, interior improving.
50
Hungary
Curated
Cold and grey, though the outdoor thermal baths are at their best in snow.
48
American Samoa
Curated
48
Cook Islands
Curated
48
French Polynesia
Curated
48
Peru
Curated
Sierra wet season; Lima beach summer at its best.
48
Samoa
Curated
46
Niue
Curated
46
Réunion
Curated
46
Vanuatu
Curated
46
Wallis and Futuna
Curated
45
Bolivia
Curated
Wet season peak — muddy Altiplano roads, but the flooded Salar becomes the famous mirror.
45
Czech Republic
Curated
Cold, grey and short-dayed, with poor air quality in the industrial north.
45
French Guiana
Curated
The short rains; humid and grey.
45
Indonesia
Curated
Peak wet season on the main tourist axis; ferries cancelled in rough seas.
45
San Marino
Curated
Cold and often inside cloud at 750 metres, with many places closed.
45
United States
Curated
Winter split — Florida, the Gulf and ski country deliver; northern parks shut.
44
Comoros
Curated
44
Mozambique
Curated
42
Canada
Curated
Deep winter: superb skiing and northern lights, brutal road-trip conditions.
42
Mayotte
Curated
42
Solomon Islands
Curated
42
Tonga
Curated
42
Zimbabwe
Curated
40
Armenia
Curated
Cold with snow closing mountain roads; skiing at Tsaghkadzor.
40
Azerbaijan
Curated
Cold and windy in Baku with the mountain villages snowbound.
40
Belgium
Curated
Cold, grey and wet.
40
Bermuda
Curated
Around 18 °C, windy, sea too cold to swim.
40
Croatia
Curated
Cold and wet, with most coastal tourism closed.
40
Denmark
Curated
Dark, grey and windy, with seven hours of daylight.
40
Iran
Curated
Cold across the plateau, with heavy snow and severe Tehran smog.
40
Lithuania
Curated
Cold and dark, with eight hours of daylight.
40
Netherlands
Curated
Cold, dark and wet — museum weather and little else.
40
Papua New Guinea
Curated
40
Poland
Curated
Cold, grey and short-dayed, with poor southern air quality.
40
Romania
Curated
Cold and grey; mountain roads closed and Bucharest bleak.
40
Serbia
Curated
Cold and grey with poor Belgrade air quality.
40
Syria
Curated
Cold and wet, with snow in the mountains and around Damascus.
40
Timor-Leste
Curated
Wet season — mountain roads wash out, dive visibility poor.
40
Turkmenistan
Curated
Cold and windy across the desert plain.
40
United Kingdom
Curated
Dark, cold and wet, with sunset before four in Scotland.
40
Uzbekistan
Curated
Cold and grey with poor winter air quality in Tashkent.
40
Zambia
Curated
38
Estonia
Curated
Cold and dark, with six hours of daylight and the countryside closed.
38
Latvia
Curated
Cold and dark, with seven hours of daylight.
38
Montenegro
Curated
Wet on the coast, deep snow inland, and most tourism closed.
35
Albania
Curated
Cold and wet; mountains snowbound and the coast closed.
35
Belarus
Curated
Cold and dark, with eight hours of daylight.
35
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Curated
Cold with severe Sarajevo air pollution; ski season on the Olympic mountains.
35
Ireland
Curated
Dark, wet and windy, with many rural attractions closed.
35
Moldova
Curated
Cold and grey with little open outside the capital.
35
North Korea
Curated
Severe continental cold with few tours running.
35
North Macedonia
Curated
Cold with severe Skopje air pollution; skiing at Mavrovo.
35
Paraguay
Curated
Peak summer: 38–42 °C, high humidity — travel becomes logistics between air conditioners.
35
Russia
Curated
Deep winter — Moscow around minus ten, Siberia far colder.
34
Jersey
Curated
32
Guernsey
Curated
30
Afghanistan
Curated
Deep winter with the central highlands snowed in.
30
Isle of Man
Curated
30
Kazakhstan
Curated
Deep continental winter; excellent skiing, brutal steppe.
30
Kyrgyzstan
Curated
Deep winter with passes closed; Karakol skiing is the exception.
30
Ukraine
Curated
Cold and dark; strikes on the grid have made winter the hardest season.
26
Faroe Islands
Curated
25
Greenland
Curated
Darkest and coldest; few visitors and fewer flights.
25
Tajikistan
Curated
Pamir passes closed and deep cold across the country.
22
Åland Islands
Curated
20
Mongolia
Curated
Minus thirty and worse; Ulaanbaatar air quality among the worst on earth.
20
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Curated
Cold, dark and storm-bound.
0
Sudan
Curated
Scores suspended — active conflict.
95
Bahrain
Climate estimate
95
Benin
Climate estimate
95
Botswana
Climate estimate
95
Burkina Faso
Climate estimate
95
Cabo Verde
Climate estimate
95
Cameroon
Climate estimate
95
Kenya
Climate estimate
95
Liberia
Climate estimate
95
Mali
Climate estimate
95
Marshall Islands
Climate estimate
95
Mauritania
Climate estimate
90
Burundi
Climate estimate