Where to go in January

The best destinations to visit in January, ranked by weather, crowds, prices and events — with the data behind every pick.

January rewards travellers who match the destination to the season. Below, every place is scored on real climate normals, typical crowd levels and price trends for January — so you can trade heat for value, or crowds for perfect weather, with your eyes open.

Best destinations for January

1 Ideal Maldives Maldives · 30° · $$$ 2 Ideal Siem Reap Cambodia · 31° · $$$ 3 Ideal Cape Town South Africa · 26° · $$$

Top tours in the best places to go in January

The most popular tour in each of the month's top picks, from our booking partner.

Free cancellation

Siem Reap

Private Full-Day Tour of Angkor Wat

4.7(310)9h

from$55

Book for January

Free cancellation

Cape Town

Cape Peninsula Private Tour

5(260)9h

from$247

Book for January

Costa Rica

San José Free Walking Tour

4.9(881)3h

Book for January

Sydney

Free Walking Tour in Sydney

4.9(418)2h30

Book for January

Free cancellation

Tulum

Tulum & Coba Day Trip

4.4(1406)12h

from$93

Book for January

Free cancellation

Phuket

Phi Phi Islands & Maya Bay Day Trip

4.5(573)10h

from$60

Book for January

More good picks for January

4 Ideal Costa Rica Costa Rica · 31° · $$$ 5 Ideal Sri Lanka Sri Lanka · 30° · $$$ 6 Ideal Sydney Australia · 26° · $$$ 7 Ideal Tulum Mexico · 29° · $$$ 8 Ideal Phuket Thailand · 32° · $$$ 9 Ideal Havana Cuba · 26° · $$

Best value in January

Cairo Egypt · $$ Save 8% Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam · $$ Save 8% Luxor Egypt · $$ Save 5% Havana Cuba · $$ Save 7%

Maybe skip these in January

Santorini Greece · 14° Avoid Amalfi Coast Italy · 13° Avoid Dubrovnik Croatia · 12° Avoid Great Barrier Reef Australia · 31° Avoid