Ultra Network

The best places to travel in December

December is the festive season in the sun and the snow: New Year’s Eve in Gustavia harbour, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean dry seasons, the southern summer in Patagonia, New Zealand and Antarctica, and the northern lights over Lapland and the Arctic.

Updated · Ultra Network

20 destinations at their best in December.

Europe

Africa and the Middle East

Dubai & Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi Grand PrixFalcon country — where Arabian heritage meets the highest concentration of ultra-luxury hotels on Earth
  • Private sunrise hot air balloon over the Margham desert — followed by breakfast at a Bedouin-style camp
  • Behind-the-scenes tour of the Louvre Abu Dhabi with a curator — including storage vaults not open to the public
Typical stay: 5 – 10 nightsOmanBest season: October – MarchThe Arabian Peninsula's most authentic luxury destination
  • Private dhow cruise through the Musandam fjords at sunset
  • Desert camping under stars in the Wahiba Sands with Bedouin guides
Typical stay: 7 – 10 nightsRwandaBest season: June – September, December – FebruaryThe mountain gorilla encounter — the most profound wildlife moment on Earth
  • Mountain gorilla trek — 1 hour with a habituated family in the bamboo cloud forest at 3,000m
  • Golden monkey tracking through the bamboo zone of Volcanoes National Park
Typical stay: 5 – 10 nightsSaudi ArabiaTantora FestivalTwo thousand years of Nabataean silence — the world's newest frontier in ultra-luxury travel
  • Private torchlit tour of Hegra (Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO site) — 111 Nabataean tombs carved into sandstone cliffs
  • Stargazing dinner in the desert with an astronomer — zero light pollution, Bortle Class 1 skies
Typical stay: 5 – 8 nights

Asia

Sri LankaWest & South Coast SeasonAncient temples, wild leopards, and tea-scented hillsides.
  • Exclusive dawn leopard safari in Yala National Park's private concession before day visitors arrive
  • Overnight stay in a fully exclusive Tea Trails bungalow on a working Hatton tea estate
Typical stay: 10–14 nightsThailandBest season: November – MarchWhere temple gold and turquoise water converge in the world's most gracious hospitality culture
  • Private long-tail boat through the hongs (hidden lagoons) of Phang Nga Bay at dawn, before the tour boats arrive
  • Muay Thai private session with a champion trainer, followed by a traditional Thai herbal steam
Typical stay: 10 – 14 nightsRaja AmpatManta Ray SeasonThe epicentre of marine biodiversity — more species per hectare than anywhere on Earth
  • Diving the Misool karst lagoons — underwater limestone cathedrals
  • Manta ray cleaning station observation (non-disruptive approach)
Typical stay: 7 – 12 nights

The Americas

Costa RicaDry Season PacificTwo percent of Earth's life, one peninsula, infinite wonder.
  • Dawn naturalist walk through primary Osa Peninsula forest with a field biologist — scarlet macaw flights, tapir tracking, and jaguar sign identification
  • Golfo Dulce whale watching by private panga with a cetacean researcher — humpback mothers and calves during the December–April or June–October seasons
Typical stay: 7–12 nightsTurks & CaicosPeak Diving VisibilityThe Caribbean's quietest superlative — twelve miles of powder sand and nothing else
  • Private catamaran to the uninhabited cays — picnic on a sandbar that disappears at high tide
  • Wall diving at Northwest Point — 7,000-foot vertical drop within a mile of shore
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsSt. BarthélemyNew Year's Eve in Gustavia HarbourThe Caribbean's most exclusive 25 square kilometres
  • Superyacht charter around the island with stops at Colombier (boat-access-only beach)
  • Private chef dinner at your villa with a Gustavia chef (Michelin-trained)
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsQuintana RooPeak Dry Season & Luxury High SeasonWhere the Maya world meets the Caribbean's most ambitious luxury corridor
  • Private after-hours archaeological tour of Tulum's clifftop Maya ruins at sunrise — no crowds, personal archaeologist guide
  • Cenote diving in the Sac Actun system — the world's longest underwater cave network at 370+ kilometres
Typical stay: 7 – 14 nightsGalápagos IslandsWaved Albatross SeasonEvolution's living laboratory — the world's most extraordinary wildlife encounter
  • Snorkeling with marine iguanas — the world's only sea-going lizards
  • Walking among giant tortoises on Santa Cruz highlands
Typical stay: 7 – 12 nightsColombiaCaribbean Dry SeasonColonial gold, Caribbean sea, and the world's finest coffee.
  • Private sunset cocktail hour on the ramparts of Castillo San Felipe with a local historian, followed by a chef's tasting of Caribbean-Colombian cuisine in a lantern-lit colonial courtyard
  • Exclusive emerald mine tour in Boyacá with a gemologist, selecting a rough stone to be cut and set by a Bogotá master jeweller
Typical stay: 7–12 nightsPatagoniaLongest DaylightGranite spires, 50-kilometre glaciers, and a silence broken only by condor wingbeats
  • Private sunrise hike to the Torres del Paine base with gaucho-prepared breakfast
  • Helicopter landing on the Southern Patagonia Ice Field
Typical stay: 8 – 14 nights

The Indian Ocean and the Pacific

The polar regions

Where to go in December, by what you love.

Every destination here is in its peak season in December. Choose by the kind of journey you have in mind:

  • For sun, sea and islands: Costa Rica, Maldives, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, Turks & Caicos, St. Barthélemy and Quintana Roo.
  • For wildlife: Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Arctic.
  • For culture, food and wine: Dubai & Abu Dhabi, St. Barthélemy, Quintana Roo, Galápagos Islands, Colombia and Patagonia.
  • For snow and mountains: New Zealand, Finnish Lapland and Swiss Alps.
  • For adventure and wild places: Costa Rica, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, Quintana Roo, Galápagos Islands, Colombia and Patagonia.
  • For wellbeing: Costa Rica, Maldives, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, Turks & Caicos, Quintana Roo and Patagonia.

Planning a December journey.

Peak season is when the best suites, villas, guides and tables are most in demand, and the most sought-after of them are reserved well ahead. The earlier the plan begins, the more of them remain open to you.

An independent Ultra Advisor knows which of these destinations suits the journey you have in mind in December, what can still be secured, and how to join two of them into one trip. They design the itinerary around you, book every part of it and look after it until you are home.

Your questions.

Where is the best place to travel in December?

It depends on the journey you want. The most searched destinations at their best in December are Costa Rica, Maldives and Dubai & Abu Dhabi: Costa Rica for dry Season Pacific; Maldives for best season: November – April; Dubai & Abu Dhabi for abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Where do luxury travellers go in December?

For sun, sea and islands, Costa Rica, Maldives and Dubai & Abu Dhabi. For wildlife, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Rwanda. For culture, food and wine, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, St. Barthélemy and Quintana Roo. All 20 destinations on this page are in their peak season in December.

How far ahead should I plan a December trip?

As early as you can for peak-season stays at the most sought-after hotels and villas. An advisor can tell you what is still possible for December, including at shorter notice.

Can I combine two destinations in December?

Often, when both are in season and the journey between them is easy. An advisor plans the route, the flights or private aviation and the timing, so the trip feels like one journey.

Does it cost more to plan a December trip with an advisor?

Usually not: most advisors are paid by the hotels and suppliers they book, so the rate is typically the one you would pay directly, and asking Ultra for an advisor is free.

Tell us about the December journey you have in mind.

Recommendations chosen for you, an itinerary crafted around them, and every booking managed by an independent Ultra Advisor.

Free to ask, no obligation.