What's on around the world in December

In December, 2137 seasonal things are on across 1206 destinations: 211 natural spectacles, 1009 seasonal conditions, 103 festivals and cultural dates, 527 mass holidays and 287 hazard seasons. The seasons doing the most work this month: Christmas & New Year, Off-season shutdown and Dry season. Every entry links to that place's full December climate breakdown.

Things to travel for

Blossom, foliage, whales, the light itself — the short windows worth booking a month around.

  • 🇯🇵 Nara

    Autumn colour

    5 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Nature

    Nara Park turns later than Kyoto and takes a fraction of the crowd.

  • 🇨🇳 Chongqing

    Wushan red leaves

    10 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Nature

    The slopes above the Wu Gorge downriver turn red through late November and the county runs a festival around it, with extra boats from the city.

    Source: prnewswire.com

  • 🇯🇵 Kyoto

    Autumn colour

    10 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Nature

    The maples usually peak in the second half of November and the city is as full as it is in cherry season.

  • 🇯🇵 Osaka

    Autumn colour

    15 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Nature

    Later and shorter than Kyoto's, in the castle park and the Midosuji ginkgo avenue, and without anything like the crowds an hour up the line.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇳🇦 Swakopmund

    Seal pupping at Cape Cross

    15 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The colony ninety minutes up the Skeleton Coast pups in November and December and swells to a couple of hundred thousand animals.

  • 🇯🇵 Tokyo

    Autumn colour

    15 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Nature

    The gingkos and maples in the city gardens turn very late, usually peaking around the start of December, weeks after the mountains west of Tokyo.

  • 🇺🇸 Big Sur

    Keyhole Arch sunset

    8–28 Dec (usually)Nature

    For a fortnight around the solstice the setting sun lines up through the arch at Pfeiffer Beach and lights the water inside it.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

    Wild Himalayan cherry on the hills

    20 Dec – 31 Jan (usually)Nature

    The pink blossom on Doi Inthanon and the ridges towards Doi Ang Khang comes out in the coldest weeks of the year, which are also the only weeks the air up there is clean.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Huatulco

    Olive ridley nesting

    1 Jul – 15 Dec (usually)Nature

    Olive ridleys nest along the beaches west of the bays through the wet half of the year, and the camps run hatchling releases at dusk from about September.

  • 🇨🇷 Nosara

    Arribada at Ostional

    1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    Ostional, ten minutes up the coast, takes mass arrivals of olive ridleys most months from July, usually a few days after the last-quarter moon and heaviest from September to November.

    Source: wcanosara.org

  • 🇲🇽 Puerto Escondido

    Olive ridley arribadas

    1 Jul – 15 Dec (usually)Nature

    Thousands of olive ridleys come ashore together at Escobilla, an hour east, several times a season.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Zihuatanejo

    Olive ridley nesting

    1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually)Nature

    Olive ridleys nest on Playa Larga and Barra de Potosi through the autumn, and the camps hold hatchling releases at dusk most evenings in the season.

  • 🇨🇷 Jacó

    Olive ridley nesting

    15 Aug – 15 Dec (usually)Nature

    Olive ridleys nest on Playa Hermosa from August, heaviest through September and October, and the hatchery releases at dusk.

  • 🇿🇲 Livingstone

    Devil's Pool season

    15 Aug – 15 Jan (usually)Opening

    The rock pool on the lip of the falls only opens once the river has dropped, usually from the middle of August until the rains put it back under.

    Source: livingstoneisland.com

  • 🇿🇲 Livingstone

    The falls run dry

    1 Sep – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    Late in the dry season the Zambian side can thin to bare basalt and the water retreats into the Zimbabwe channels.

  • 🇲🇬 Nosy Be

    Whale sharks

    1 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Nature

    Whale sharks feed off the north of the island through the last quarter of the year, thickest in October and November.

  • 🇦🇺 Perth

    Humpbacks off the coast

    1 Sep – 5 Dec (usually)Nature

    Humpbacks pass Rottnest and the metropolitan coast on the way south, calves in tow, from September to early December.

  • 🇸🇦 AlUla

    Dark-sky season

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    AlUla keeps its skies dark deliberately, and the cool half of the year gives the steady, dust-free nights.

  • 🇦🇷 El Calafate

    Flamingos on Laguna Nimez

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    The reserve on the edge of town fills with Chilean flamingos, black-necked swans and upland geese through the southern spring and summer.

  • 🇬🇧 Isle of Wight

    Brent geese and winter waders

    1 Oct – 15 Mar (usually)Nature

    Dark-bellied brent geese arrive from the Siberian coast onto the harbours at Newtown, Bembridge and the Yar, with godwits and curlew on the same mud.

    Source: rspb.org.uk

  • 🇪🇬 Marsa Alam

    Oceanic whitetips at Elphinstone

    1 Oct – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    Late autumn is when the oceanic whitetips are most reliably out on the offshore reef, hanging under the boats between dives.

  • 🇸🇨 Praslin

    Hawksbill nesting

    1 Oct – 28 Feb (usually)Nature

    Hawksbills come up the beaches on Praslin and Curieuse through the southern summer, and unusually for turtles they do it in daylight.

  • 🇵🇹 Tavira

    Waders on the Ria Formosa

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    The lagoon fills with wintering waders from October: flamingos on the salt pans, spoonbills, avocets and the resident storks nesting on every chimney by February.

  • 🇨🇱 Torres del Paine

    Flamingos on the lagoons

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    Chilean flamingos work Laguna Amarga and the shallow lakes by the eastern gate through the southern summer, with condors on the thermals above the same road.

  • 🇬🇧 Bournemouth

    Winter waders on Poole Harbour

    15 Oct – 10 Mar (usually)Nature

    Avocets, black-tailed godwits and brent geese pack the mudflats at Arne and Brownsea through the cold months, and the hides are busiest on a falling tide.

    Source: rspb.org.uk

  • 🇷🇺 Kaliningrad

    Amber after the storms

    15 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    Autumn and winter gales tear amber out of the seabed and throw it up with the weed at Yantarny and Pionersky.

  • 🇺🇸 Santa Cruz, California

    Monarch butterflies

    15 Oct – 15 Feb (usually)Nature

    Tens of thousands of monarchs cluster in the eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges from mid-October, hanging in a shape that looks like dead leaves until the sun hits them.

    Source: parks.ca.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Monterey

    Monarchs at Pacific Grove

    20 Oct – 28 Feb (usually)Nature

    Monarchs cluster in the eucalyptus at the Pacific Grove sanctuary from late October to about the start of March, peaking around the turn of the year.

  • 🇦🇺 Cairns

    Coral spawning

    25 Oct – 10 Dec (usually)Nature

    The corals release on a few nights after a full moon in late spring, inshore reefs usually ahead of the outer ones.

  • 🇦🇺 Melbourne

    Jacaranda

    25 Oct – 5 Dec (usually)Nature

    Later here than in Sydney and thinner on the ground, but the older streets of Carlton, Fitzroy and the university grounds go purple from the end of October.

  • 🇬🇧 Bournemouth

    Fossil hunting season

    1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    Winter storms cut into the Jurassic Coast cliffs west of here and turn out ammonites onto the beach at Charmouth and Lyme.

    Source: charmouth.org

  • 🇬🇧 Brighton

    Starling murmurations

    1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)Nature

    Tens of thousands of starlings turn over the Palace Pier at dusk through the winter before dropping into the ironwork to roost.

  • 🇱🇰 Colombo

    Blue whales off Mirissa

    1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually)Nature

    The boats run out of Mirissa, three hours south, from November to April, and December to March is when the sea is calm enough to see anything.

  • 🇦🇺 Exmouth

    Turtle nesting and hatching

    1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)Nature

    Green and loggerhead turtles nest on the Jurabi beaches through the summer and the hatchlings run from January.

  • 🇵🇹 Faro

    Winter birds on the Ria Formosa

    1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    The lagoon on the city's doorstep holds flamingos, spoonbills and thousands of waders through the winter, and the boardwalk at Ludo is walkable from the airport road.

  • 🇧🇷 Foz do Iguaçu

    Falls at their fullest

    1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Season

    Rain over the whole upper basin reaches the falls with a lag, and flow is usually heaviest from November to March, around February at its peak.

  • 🇬🇧 Isle of Wight

    Fossil hunting season

    1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    Winter storms strip the south-west beaches at Compton and Brook and expose dinosaur bone and footcasts in the ledges at low tide.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇨🇩 Kinshasa

    The Congo at full flow

    1 Nov – 15 Jan (usually)Nature

    The river peaks around December, drowning the sandbanks between Kinshasa and Brazzaville and pushing water into the riverside quarters.

  • 🇿🇦 Kruger National Park

    Summer migrants arrive

    1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)Nature

    Woodland kingfishers, carmine bee-eaters and the storks come back with the rain, and the kingfisher's call starting up in November is the local signal that the season has turned.

  • 🇮🇩 Labuan Bajo

    Manta season

    1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually)Nature

    Plankton in the channel brings reef mantas onto the cleaning stations at Karang Makassar and, further south, Manta Alley.

…and 171 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

The state of the place

Monsoon, dry season, lifts open, sea warm enough — what the weather is actually doing.

  • 🇰🇪 Amboseli

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Sharp afternoon storms rather than settled rain, and the dust goes out of the air.

  • 🇹🇿 Arusha

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Afternoon storms rather than all-day rain, and the dust settles out of the air.

  • 🇬🇪 Batumi

    Mandarin harvest

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Season

    Adjara is Georgia's citrus corner and the hills behind the city are picked through late autumn, with fruit sold by the crate at the roadside.

  • 🇩🇪 Berchtesgaden

    Between-seasons shutdown

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Closure

    The Kehlstein road is closed, the lifts are not turning yet and a good share of the guesthouses take their break.

    Source: berchtesgaden.de

  • 🇲🇦 Fes

    Olive harvest and new oil

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The presses in the hills around the city run from November, and the first oil of the year turns up in the medina at breakfast.

  • 🇨🇭 Gstaad

    Glacier 3000 autumn skiing

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Opening

    The glacier above the pass opens for skiing in early November, weeks before anything in the valley, and is the only snow within reach until December.

    Source: skiresort.com

  • 🇹🇷 Izmir

    Aegean olive harvest

    1 Nov – 20 Dec (usually)Season

    The groves around Urla and Seferihisar are picked and pressed through November, and the new oil turns up green and peppery in the markets.

  • 🇰🇪 Maasai Mara

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Season

    Short storms in the afternoon and new grass coming through after the herds have gone south.

  • 🇲🇦 Marrakesh

    Olive harvest

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The presses in the villages below the Atlas run the new olives from November, and the first oil of the year turns up on every breakfast table in the city.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇹🇿 Moshi

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Three or four weeks of afternoon rain over the lower forest.

  • 🇹🇿 Ngorongoro

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Afternoon storms and new grass on the rim.

  • 🇹🇿 Serengeti

    Short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    A month or so of afternoon showers that green the plains and knock five months of dust out of the air.

  • 🇪🇬 Siwa

    Olive harvest

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The presses run from November and the year's oil turns up on every table.

  • 🇹🇿 Zanzibar

    Vuli, the short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Scattered heavy showers rather than settled rain, empty beaches and the lowest prices of the year outside the long rains.

  • 🇫🇷 Chamonix

    Aiguille du Midi maintenance

    2 Nov – 18 DecClosure

    The cable car to 3,842 metres shuts for its annual overhaul for about six weeks in November and early December, which removes the valley's main attraction.

    Source: chamonix.net

  • 🇺🇸 Honolulu

    Triple Crown of Surfing

    12 Nov – 20 Dec (usually)Festival

    A waiting period rather than a fixture: the contests run on the days the swell shows up, and Kamehameha Highway to the North Shore stops moving when they do.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Bengaluru

    Kadalekai Parishe

    15 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Festival

    The groundnut fair around the Bull Temple in Basavanagudi, where farmers bring the season's first crop to be blessed and sold.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇦🇹 St. Anton am Arlberg

    Stanton Ski Open

    1–8 Dec (usually)Opening

    The season opens with a free concert weekend in the first week of December, before the snow has usually settled on the lower runs.

    Source: stantonamarlberg.com

  • 🇫🇷 Chamonix

    Lifts open for winter

    5–22 Dec (usually)Opening

    The valley opens in stages through December: Grands Montets first at weekends, the whole resort and the Aiguille du Midi from around the 20th.

    Source: chamonix.net

  • 🇮🇳 Rishikesh

    Winter fog on the road up

    15 Dec – 31 Jan (usually)Hazard

    The plains between Delhi and Haridwar go under dense fog for days at a stretch in the cold weeks, and the overnight trains and buses run hours late.

    Source: mausam.imd.gov.in

  • 🇮🇳 Varanasi

    Winter fog

    15 Dec – 31 Jan (usually)Hazard

    Dense plains fog settles over the river for weeks and takes the flights and the trains with it, with delays measured in hours rather than minutes.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇰🇪 Maasai Mara

    Peak reserve fees

    1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually)Rule

    The reserve charges its peak conservation fee from July straight through December, at double the January-to-June rate, and it is billed per twenty-four hours rather than per entry.

    Source: masaimara.ke

  • 🇿🇼 Victoria Falls

    Low-water rafting season

    1 Aug – 31 DecOpening

    August to December is the full run through the gorge, starting at the first rapid below the falls.

    Source: shearwatervictoriafalls.com

  • 🇿🇼 Victoria Falls

    Devil's Pool opens

    15 Aug – 15 Jan (usually)Opening

    The rock lip on the Zambian side is only swimmable when the river is low, roughly mid-August until the water comes back up after New Year.

    Source: zambiatourism.com

  • 🇳🇿 Christchurch

    The nor'west arch

    1 Sep – 31 Dec (usually)Season

    A foehn wind off the Alps arrives with a bar of cloud over the ranges and a hot dry gale in the city, most often in spring.

  • 🇻🇳 Da Nang

    Central coast rain season

    1 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Da Nang's rain arrives late in the year rather than in the summer, and it comes as days of it rather than showers.

  • 🇧🇷 Maceió

    Dry months and calm reef pools

    1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually)Season

    The rain thins out from September and the wind drops, which is when the boats out to the natural pools at Pajucara and Gales are worth the trip.

  • 🇻🇳 Nha Trang

    Rain season on the coast

    1 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    The year's rain arrives in the last third of it, in long spells rather than showers, and the river can come up into the low streets.

  • 🇿🇦 Port Elizabeth

    The windy months

    1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

    The city earned its nickname honestly, and spring into summer is when it blows hardest.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇿🇼 Victoria Falls

    Low water at the falls

    1 Sep – 15 DecSeason

    By October the Zambian side can be bare rock and photographs of an empty cliff do the rounds every year.

  • 🇳🇿 Wellington

    Spring gales through the strait

    1 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    The wind funnels through Cook Strait all year and peaks in spring, when the airport's crosswind landings become a spectator sport and a southerly change takes the temperature with it.

  • 🇬🇧 Manchester

    Warehouse Project season

    15 Sep – 5 Jan (usually)Opening

    The club season runs from late September to New Year in a warehouse that changes address every few years.

    Source: thewarehouseproject.com

  • 🇵🇦 Boquete

    Coffee harvest

    1 Oct – 28 Feb (usually)Season

    Pickers come down from the comarca and the fincas run mill and cupping tours through the harvest.

  • 🇧🇬 Borovets

    Between the seasons

    1 Oct – 14 Dec (usually)Closure

    After the gondola stops for maintenance and before the snow arrives, most hotels and half the restaurants are shut.

    Source: borovets-bg.com

  • 🇲🇾 Cameron Highlands

    Wettest weeks and landslide risk

    1 Oct – 20 Dec (usually)Season

    Sustained afternoon rain saturates slopes that have been cleared for farming, and the access roads close for clearance more years than not.

  • 🇲🇦 Casablanca

    Winter Atlantic swell

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Season

    The winter groundswell lands on Dar Bouazza and Ain Diab: good news for anyone who surfs, poor news for anyone who wanted a swim, and the lifeguards finish in October.

  • 🇵🇹 Cascais

    Winter swell season

    1 Oct – 31 MarSeason

    The Atlantic lows that make winter here grey are the same ones that make it the serious surf half of the year, at Guincho and around the point at Carcavelos.

  • 🇭🇰 Hong Kong

    Dry hiking season

    1 Oct – 31 DecSeason

    The northeast monsoon takes the humidity out and the ridges come back into view.

  • 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur

    Inter-monsoon thunderstorms

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    The wettest stretch of the Klang Valley year arrives as violent late-afternoon storms that put water across the low roads and stop the outdoor half of the city for an hour at a time.

  • 🇮🇳 Mysuru

    Dasara exhibition

    1 Oct – 15 Jan (usually)Opening

    The fairground at Doddakere Maidan opens with Dasara and stays up for months afterwards — stalls, rides and a stage, and the one part of the festival that outlasts the crowds.

    Source: mysoredasara.org

…and 969 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Festivals & culture

The festivals a place is known for, and the weeks the streets belong to them.

  • 🇩🇪 Hamburg

    Winterdom

    6 Nov – 6 DecFestival

    The winter run of the funfair fills the Heiligengeistfeld for a month from early November, which is the warmest thing to do outdoors here before the Christmas markets open.

    Source: hamburg.de

  • 🇮🇳 Kochi

    Thripunithura Vrischikolsavam

    10 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Festival

    The eight-day festival at Poornathrayeesa temple in Thripunithura, ten kilometres out, opens Kerala's temple season: fifteen elephants abreast and panchari melam in front of them.

    Source: keralatourism.org

  • 🇳🇱 Amsterdam

    Sinterklaas

    14 Nov – 5 DecFestival

    Sinterklaas arrives by boat in mid-November and the country spends three weeks on the run-up to the evening of 5 December, which is the real Dutch gift night.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇰🇷 Seoul

    Gimjang, kimchi-making

    15 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Festival

    The communal cabbage-salting season, on UNESCO's heritage list, fills courtyards and apartment car parks for a few weeks before the ground freezes.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇾 Penang

    Penang Bridge International Marathon

    13 DecFestival

    Tens of thousands run the first Penang Bridge overnight, starting before three in the morning.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇹 Turin

    Torino Film Festival

    20 Nov – 1 Dec (usually)Festival

    Ten days of first and second features in late November, run out of a city that keeps its national film museum inside the Mole.

    Source: torinofilmfest.org

  • 🇮🇳 Goa

    Feast of St Francis Xavier

    24 Nov – 3 DecFestival

    A nine-day novena at Old Goa ending on 3 December, when pilgrims walk to the Bom Jesus basilica in tens of thousands and the lane of church ruins turns into a fairground.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇫🇮 Ruka

    FIS Ruka Nordic

    24 Nov – 1 Dec (usually)Festival

    Cross-country, ski jumping and nordic combined open their World Cup seasons here over one weekend at the end of November, under floodlights.

    Source: ruka.fi

  • 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi

    Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

    3–6 DecFestival

    The season finale at Yas Marina, with concerts after each night's running and the island effectively closed to anyone without a ticket.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇱🇨 Castries

    ARC finish at Rodney Bay

    25 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    Two hundred-odd yachts finish the Atlantic crossing at Rodney Bay through the first three weeks of December, each met on the dock with rum at whatever hour it lands.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇸🇦 Jeddah

    Red Sea Film Festival

    3–12 DecFestival

    Ten days of screenings and red carpets based in the restored merchant houses of Al-Balad, which is the reason to time a visit to the old town for early December.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Kolkata

    Kolkata International Film Festival

    25 Nov – 20 Dec (usually)Festival

    A week of screenings around Nandan and the Rabindra Sadan complex, mostly free or nearly so, with queues that form before the box office opens.

    Source: kiff.in

  • 🇨🇳 Lhasa

    Ganden Ngamchoe butter lamps

    25 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    Tsongkhapa's memorial day, when rows of butter lamps are set along the roof parapets and window ledges of the old town after dark.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇦 Marrakesh

    Marrakech Film Festival

    25 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Festival

    A week of screenings at the end of November or the start of December, including free ones on a big screen in Jemaa el-Fna.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇯🇵 Okinawa

    Naha Marathon

    25 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Festival

    Thirty thousand runners through Naha and the southern towns on a Sunday in early December, on a course with more hills than anyone expects.

    Source: naha-marathon.jp

  • 🇨🇳 Shanghai

    Shanghai Marathon

    6 DecFestival

    Thirty-eight thousand runners from the Bund out to Xujiahui on a Sunday morning, which closes Zhongshan Road and a string of central junctions until early afternoon.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇰🇭 Siem Reap

    Angkor Wat Half Marathon

    6 DecFestival

    Thousands run a course through the temple complex on the first Sunday of December, which closes the Angkor roads to traffic for the morning.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇰🇪 Lamu

    Lamu Cultural Festival

    27 Nov – 4 Dec (usually)Festival

    Three days at the end of November given over to dhow races, donkey races, bao, henna and Swahili poetry along the seafront.

    Source: explorelamu.com

  • 🇮🇪 Dingle

    Other Voices

    28 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Festival

    Filmed sessions in the tiny St James' Church in early December, with the overflow shown in the pubs down the street.

    Source: othervoices.ie

  • 🇲🇴 Macau

    Macao International Marathon

    6 DecFestival

    The course runs the peninsula, both bridges and Taipa on a Sunday morning in early December, which closes the crossings to Cotai for several hours.

    Source: macaomarathon.com

  • 🇪🇨 Quito

    Fiestas de Quito

    1–6 DecFestival

    The city's founding week at the start of December: chivas with brass bands through the streets, bullfight-week nostalgia and a lot of canelazo.

    Source: quitoinforma.gob.ec

  • 🇳🇿 Te Anau

    Kepler Challenge

    28 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Festival

    A sixty-kilometre mountain run around the Kepler Track on the first Saturday of December, entered by ballot.

    Source: keplerchallenge.co.nz

  • 🇲🇽 Isla Mujeres

    Fiestas de la Inmaculada

    30 Nov – 8 DecFestival

    Nine days for the island's patron saint, ending on 8 December with a procession of fishing boats around the bay, fireworks off the malecon and the centre closed to carts.

    Source: islamujeres.gob.mx

  • 🇯🇴 Aqaba

    Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon

    1–12 Dec (usually)Festival

    Run Jordan's road race along the shore in the first week of December, which is roughly the point the winter season starts here.

    Source: runjordan.com

  • 🇬🇧 Cambridge

    Mill Road Winter Fair

    1–8 Dec (usually)Festival

    One Saturday in early December the city's most mixed street closes to traffic and the shops and community groups take it over.

    Source: millroadwinterfair.org

  • 🇨🇭 Geneva

    Course de l'Escalade

    5–6 DecFestival

    Forty thousand runners through the old town over a weekend in early December, in fancy dress for the later waves.

    Source: geneve.com

  • 🇨🇺 Havana

    Havana Film Festival

    3–13 DecFestival

    Ten days of Latin American cinema in the old Vedado picture houses.

    Source: habanafilmfestival.com

  • 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City

    Ho Chi Minh City Marathon

    1–10 Dec (usually)Festival

    Around twenty thousand runners on a Sunday in early December, on closed streets through District 1 and along the riverfront.

    Source: marathonhcmc.com

  • 🇺🇸 Las Vegas

    National Finals Rodeo

    3–12 DecFestival

    Ten nights of rodeo at the Thomas and Mack in early December, which fills the city with a different crowd and books out the off-Strip hotels.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Miami

    Art Basel Miami Beach

    4–6 DecFestival

    The main fair is three public days at the convention centre, with a satellite fair in every warehouse in Wynwood and Allapattah.

    Source: artbasel.com

  • 🇯🇲 Negril

    Reggae Marathon

    6 DecFestival

    A marathon, half and 10K along Long Bay at first light on the first Sunday of December, sound systems at every mile and a beach party at the finish.

    Source: reggaemarathon.com

  • 🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta

    Guadalupe processions

    1–12 DecFestival

    Twelve nights of neighbourhood and workplace processions up Juarez to the crowned church, with fireworks and a band each time.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇫🇷 Lyon

    Fete des Lumieres

    5–8 DecFestival

    Four nights of light installations around 8 December, free, and the busiest thing that happens here all year: a couple of million people on the same few bridges.

    Source: fetedeslumieres.lyon.fr

  • 🇮🇹 Milan

    Sant'Ambrogio and Oh Bej! Oh Bej!

    5–10 DecFestival

    The patron saint's day on 7 December brings the old street market around the basilica and the opening night at La Scala, which the city treats as a civic occasion rather than a concert.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇹🇭 Phuket

    Phuket King's Cup Regatta

    5–12 DecFestival

    A week of racing out of Kata, the biggest sailing regatta in Asia, and the point at which the high season is properly full.

    Source: kingscup.com

  • 🇺🇸 Sacramento

    California International Marathon

    5–8 Dec (usually)Festival

    The first Sunday in December, downhill from Folsom to the Capitol steps, which is why it is the qualifying race half the field came for.

    Source: runsra.org

  • 🇬🇹 Antigua Guatemala

    Quema del Diablo

    7 DecFestival

    At six in the evening on 7 December households burn their rubbish and a paper devil in the street to clear the year out.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇦🇪 Dubai

    Dubai Shopping Festival

    8 Dec – 31 Jan (usually)Festival

    Six weeks of discounts, nightly fireworks and raffles across the malls and the older souks, running from December into late January.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇨🇭 Geneva

    Fete de l'Escalade

    11–13 DecFestival

    The city marks the failed Savoyard attack of 1602 with a torchlit procession in period dress, a marmite of chocolate smashed by the oldest and youngest present, and mulled wine.

    Source: geneve.com

  • 🇺🇸 Honolulu

    Honolulu Marathon

    13 DecFestival

    Tens of thousands run it, a large share of them flying in from Japan, and Waikiki hotels price the weekend accordingly.

    Source: honolulumarathon.org

…and 63 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Holidays that swamp a place

Mass holidays: full trains, closed shops, the year's dearest fortnight.

  • 🇬🇧 Birmingham

    Frankfurt Christmas Market

    5 Nov – 24 DecFestival

    The largest German market outside Germany and Austria runs down New Street and Victoria Square for seven weeks.

    Source: thebfcm.co.uk

  • 🇬🇧 Bristol

    Bristol Christmas Market

    6 Nov – 23 DecFestival

    Stalls down Broadmead from early November through to just before Christmas, with the older St Nicholas Market covered and open alongside it when it rains.

    Source: bristolchristmasmarket.com

  • 🇬🇧 Manchester

    Christmas markets

    7 Nov – 22 Dec (usually)Festival

    Stalls spread across Albert Square, Piccadilly Gardens and half a dozen smaller sites from early November.

    Source: visitmanchester.com

  • 🇬🇧 York

    St Nicholas Fair

    12 Nov – 21 DecFestival

    Alpine chalets down Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square from the middle of November, with the Shambles lit above them.

    Source: visityork.org

  • 🇫🇷 Aix-en-Provence

    Christmas market and santon fair

    13 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    About fifty chalets down the Cours Mirabeau from the middle of November, with the santon makers alongside selling nativity figures by the tray.

    Source: aix.fr

  • 🇬🇧 Belfast

    Christmas market at City Hall

    14 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    Chalets fill the City Hall lawns for five weeks from mid-November.

    Source: visitbelfast.com

  • 🇬🇧 Liverpool

    Christmas market and ice rink

    14 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    Chalets on the St George's Hall plateau from the middle of November, with the rink and the big wheel nearby.

    Source: visitliverpool.com

  • 🇳🇱 The Hague

    Sinterklaas

    14 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Holiday

    Sint arrives by boat in mid-November and the country counts down to the evening of 5 December, which is the real family night here rather than Christmas.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇨🇦 Toronto

    Distillery Winter Village

    14 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The Distillery District's Christmas market runs from mid-November to the end of the year and charges timed entry at weekends.

    Source: thedistillerywintervillage.com

  • 🇦🇹 Vienna

    Christmas markets

    14 Nov – 26 Dec (usually)Festival

    Rathausplatz, Spittelberg, Karlsplatz and Schonbrunn each run a different kind of market from the middle of November.

    Source: wien.info

  • 🇬🇧 Glasgow

    Christmas lights and market

    15 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The lights go on in mid-November and the markets run in George Square and St Enoch until the new year.

    Source: peoplemakeglasgow.com

  • 🇦🇺 Gold Coast

    Schoolies

    21 Nov – 12 DecHoliday

    Three weeks from mid-November when school leavers take over Surfers Paradise in tens of thousands.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇩🇪 Cologne

    Christmas markets

    16 Nov – 23 DecFestival

    Seven markets within walking distance of each other, the one under the cathedral the busiest in the country.

    Source: cologne-tourism.com

  • 🇦🇹 Kitzbühel

    Kitzbuehel Advent

    18 Nov – 27 DecFestival

    Markets in the Hinterstadt and the Stadtpark for six weeks, running past Christmas into the ski season.

    Source: kitzbuehel.com

  • 🇩🇪 Freiburg

    Christmas market

    19 Nov – 23 DecFestival

    A market of about a hundred stalls through the old town lanes rather than one big square, which keeps it walkable.

    Source: weihnachtsmarkt.freiburg.de

  • 🇵🇱 Gdańsk

    Christmas Fair

    20 Nov – 23 DecFestival

    Around a hundred huts on the Targ Weglowy for five weeks, with a ferris wheel and a lot of grilled oscypek.

    Source: bozonarodzeniowy.pl

  • 🇨🇭 Geneva

    Christmas markets

    18 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    The lakefront market on the Quai du Mont-Blanc, a village with a free rink in the Parc des Bastions, and a smaller artisan one over in Carouge, which is the better of them.

    Source: geneve.com

  • 🇩🇪 Hamburg

    Christmas markets

    18 Nov – 23 Dec (usually)Festival

    The historic market in front of the town hall is the postcard one; the maritime markets on the Fleetinsel and in HafenCity are better, and the St Pauli one is not for everyone.

    Source: hamburg.com

  • 🇨🇭 Montreux

    Montreux Noel

    20 Nov – 24 DecFestival

    A market strung two kilometres along the lakeside promenade for five weeks, with a Christmas set-up inside Chillon castle and a Santa on the mountain.

    Source: montreuxnoel.com

  • 🇩🇪 Munich

    Christkindlmarkt

    20 Nov – 24 DecFestival

    The Marienplatz market is the one on the postcards and the most crowded; the Tollwood winter market on the Theresienwiese and the medieval one at Wittelsbacherplatz are easier going.

    Source: muenchen.de

  • 🇺🇸 Pittsburgh

    Light Up Night and holiday market

    18 Nov – 23 Dec (usually)Festival

    One Saturday evening in late November switches the downtown lights on and opens a wooden-hut market on Market Square that runs to Christmas.

    Source: downtownpittsburgh.com

  • 🇦🇹 Salzburg

    Christkindlmarkt

    18 Nov – 26 Dec (usually)Festival

    One of the oldest Advent markets in Europe, on the cathedral and residence squares, with a second one up at the fortress.

    Source: salzburg.info

  • 🇨🇭 Zürich

    Christmas markets

    18 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    Several markets within a tram ride: the covered one in the main station, the old town lanes, and the Sechselautenplatz.

    Source: zuerich.com

  • 🇫🇷 Avignon

    Christmas market

    20 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    Chalets on the Place de l'Horloge and down the Rue de la Republique from late November, with the provencal santon stalls beside them.

    Source: avignon-tourisme.com

  • 🇳🇴 Bergen

    Bergen Christmas Market

    20 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    Wooden huts on Festplassen from late November, local food rather than novelties, and dark enough by three in the afternoon that the lights do the work.

    Source: en.visitbergen.com

  • 🇺🇸 Chicago

    Christkindlmarket

    20 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    The German market on Daley Plaza opens the week before Thanksgiving and runs to Christmas Eve, with sister markets in Wrigleyville and Aurora.

    Source: choosechicago.com

  • 🇩🇪 Frankfurt

    Christmas market

    23 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    One of the oldest markets in Germany, spread from the Roemerberg down to the Hauptwache, so it feels busier than its size.

    Source: visitfrankfurt.travel

  • 🇩🇪 Heidelberg

    Christmas market

    23 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    Six linked squares down the Hauptstrasse with a rink under the castle, which spreads the crowd better than most German markets of this size.

    Source: heidelberg-marketing.de

  • 🇬🇧 Inverness

    Inverness Christmas Market

    20 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    Huts and a small fair on Falcon Square from late November, and the ice rink beside them.

    Source: visitinvernesslochness.com

  • 🇮🇪 Killarney

    Christmas in Killarney

    20 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The town runs a six-week festival with a lit trail, a market and a parade, and it draws Kerry and Cork rather than tourists.

    Source: christmasinkillarney.com

  • 🇫🇷 Marseille

    Foire aux santons

    20 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The santon makers set up on the Cours d'Estienne d'Orves from late November, the oldest fair of its kind in Provence, and the navettes come out of the oven at Saint-Victor alongside it.

    Source: marseille-tourisme.com

  • 🇺🇸 Philadelphia

    Christmas Village and holiday markets

    20 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    The German market takes LOVE Park and City Hall from late November, with the light show at Macy's and the Dickens Village indoors.

    Source: visitphilly.com

  • 🇨🇦 Quebec City

    German Christmas market

    20 Nov – 23 Dec (usually)Festival

    Wooden huts through the lower town and around the Hotel de Ville from late November, in a walled city that already looks the part.

    Source: quebec-cite.com

  • 🇮🇹 Verona

    Christmas markets

    20 Nov – 26 DecFestival

    Nuremberg-run stalls fill Piazza Bra under the Arena from late November, and a steel comet hangs out of the amphitheatre.

    Source: comune.verona.it

  • 🇦🇹 Zell am See

    Advent market

    20 Nov – 26 Dec (usually)Festival

    A lakeside Advent market in the old town and a second one up at Kaprun castle, both small.

    Source: zellamsee-kaprun.com

  • 🇫🇷 Lyon

    Christmas market

    21 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    Chalets fill the Place Carnot from late November to Christmas Eve, with a smaller craft market up on the Croix-Rousse.

    Source: lyon.fr

  • 🇬🇧 Oxford

    Oxford Christmas Market

    21 Nov – 31 DecFestival

    Wooden huts down Broad Street from late November to the new year, with the Sheldonian behind them.

    Source: christmasinoxford.co.uk

  • 🇸🇪 Stockholm

    Christmas markets and Lucia

    22 Nov – 23 Dec (usually)Festival

    Small wooden markets in Gamla Stan and at Skansen from late November, and Lucia processions in the churches on 13 December, sung in the dark at seven in the morning.

    Source: visitstockholm.com

  • 🇫🇷 Colmar

    Christmas markets

    23 Nov – 29 DecFestival

    Six markets across the old town from the end of November, and the reason coaches queue on the ring road every December weekend.

    Source: noel-colmar.com

  • 🇬🇧 Bath

    Bath Christmas Market

    26 Nov – 13 DecFestival

    Chalets packed into the lanes around the Abbey from late November for about eighteen days.

    Source: bathchristmasmarket.co.uk

…and 487 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Hazard seasons to know about

Not forecasts — the seasons in which the risk exists. Most weeks pass quietly.

  • 🇮🇳 Delhi

    Dense winter fog

    15 Dec – 31 Jan (usually)Hazard

    Fog settles over the plain for days at a time and closes the airport in the small hours, with flights and trains running hours late into the afternoon.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Srinagar

    Chillai Kalan

    21 Dec – 31 JanHazard

    The forty days the valley counts as the real winter: pipes freeze, parts of the Dal ice over, and heavy snow shuts the Jawahar tunnel and grounds flights for a day at a time.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Pensacola

    Red tide risk

    1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Karenia brevis blooms drift along the Gulf coast in late summer and autumn in some years, killing fish and putting an irritant in the air along the shore.

    Source: myfwc.com

  • 🇺🇸 Naples, Florida

    Red tide risk

    1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

    Blooms of Karenia brevis drift onto this coast most often between autumn and late winter.

    Source: myfwc.com

  • 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City

    Peak tide flooding

    15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    The year's highest tides push the river back into District 7, Nha Be and Binh Chanh, usually around the new and full moons.

    Source: vietnamnet.vn

  • 🇺🇸 Los Angeles

    Santa Ana wind and fire season

    15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Offshore winds arrive over vegetation that has had no rain since spring, and the fire risk peaks before the first storms.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 San Diego

    Santa Ana wind and fire season

    15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Offshore winds off the desert bring the hottest days of the San Diego year in autumn and the county's worst fire risk with them.

    Source: weather.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Santa Barbara

    Sundowner wind and fire season

    15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Hot dry winds fall down the Santa Ynez range onto the town in the evenings of late autumn, which is when this coast's serious fires have started.

    Source: weather.gov

  • 🇻🇳 Hue

    Flood season

    25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Hue is the wettest city in the country and the Perfume River comes up into the low streets most years, sometimes for days.

  • 🇮🇳 Chennai

    Bay of Bengal cyclone season

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    A system or two a season comes close enough to shut the airport for a day and put the fishing fleet ashore.

    Source: rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in

  • 🇮🇹 Como

    Lake floods the lakefront

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Autumn rain lifts the lake over the walls into Piazza Cavour most years, which is why the city has spent two decades building barriers.

    Source: comune.como.it

  • 🇮🇳 Delhi

    Severe air season

    1 Oct – 31 Jan (usually)Hazard

    Emergency pollution restrictions run from 1 October: construction bans, diesel-vehicle limits and schools moved online when it escalates.

    Source: cpcb.nic.in

  • 🇳🇦 Etosha National Park

    The heat before the rains

    1 Oct – 10 Dec (usually)Hazard

    October and November are the hard end of the dry season, when the heat builds until the rains break it.

    Source: safaribookings.com

  • 🇻🇳 Hội An

    Old town flood season

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    The Thu Bon comes up into the lanes nearest the water most years, usually for one to three days at a time.

    Source: travelfish.org

  • 🇦🇺 Kakadu

    The build-up

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Locals call October to December the build-up: still, heavy air and thunderheads that stack up for weeks before they deliver.

  • 🇦🇺 Katoomba

    Bushfire season

    1 Oct – 1 Mar (usually)Hazard

    The whole town sits inside the national park, so a bad fire week means smoke, closed tracks and, on the worst days, a closed highway.

    Source: rfs.nsw.gov.au

  • 🇻🇳 Nha Trang

    Typhoon season

    1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    Storms this far south are rarer than on the central coast but arrive late in the year, and the ones that have hit here did real damage.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇳🇦 Sossusvlei

    Heat before the rains

    1 Oct – 31 Dec (usually)Hazard

    From October the dunes are unclimbable much after nine in the morning and the walk into Deadvlei is a first-light job or nothing.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • Tórshavn

    Atlantic gale season

    1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Autumn and winter lows cancel the inter-island ferries, the helicopter and the flights into Vagar, sometimes for two days together.

    Source: visittorshavn.fo

  • 🇮🇹 Turin

    Po valley smog season

    1 Oct – 31 MarHazard

    The city sits in a bowl with the Alps on three sides, and winter inversions trap particulates for days.

    Source: regione.piemonte.it

  • 🇮🇹 Venice

    Acqua alta season

    1 Oct – 15 Jan (usually)Hazard

    High water comes with the autumn tides.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇳🇴 Ålesund

    Atlantic gale season

    15 Oct – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

    The exposed coast takes named Atlantic lows from mid-autumn, and the first thing they cancel is the ferry and the fjord sailings rather than the flights.

    Source: met.no

  • 🇯🇴 Aqaba

    Wadi flash-flood season

    15 Oct – 31 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Rain over the mountains behind town runs off bare rock and crosses the roads out to Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea.

    Source: en.wikivoyage.org

  • 🇪🇬 Dahab

    Sinai flash floods

    15 Oct – 15 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Rare and violent: a storm over the mountains sends water down the wadis and across the coast road, cutting the runs to Nuweiba and St Catherine for a day.

    Source: ema.gov.eg

  • 🇮🇪 Dingle

    Atlantic storm season

    15 Oct – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

    Named lows come in off the ocean from mid-autumn and the peninsula takes them first.

    Source: met.ie

  • 🇿🇦 Johannesburg

    Highveld afternoon storms

    15 Oct – 15 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Storms build over the reef most summer afternoons: hail, lightning and intersections under water for an hour.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Pondicherry

    Bay of Bengal cyclone season

    15 Oct – 15 Dec (usually)Hazard

    The Coromandel coast is on the receiving end of the post-monsoon cyclone season, and a landfall anywhere near closes the beach road and the buses for a couple of days.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇿🇦 Pretoria

    Afternoon thunderstorms

    15 Oct – 15 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Storms come off the Magaliesberg most summer afternoons: hail, lightning and half an hour of water the stormwater drains cannot take.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇳🇴 Svolvær

    Winter gales

    15 Oct – 15 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Atlantic lows shut the mountain passes on the E10 and cancel the small-plane flights into Svolvaer for a day at a time.

    Source: met.no

  • 🇮🇳 Varanasi

    Post-Diwali smog

    25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually)Hazard

    Stubble burning upwind, firecrackers and a cold air trap put the plains under a brown haze from Diwali onward.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Agra

    Winter smog season

    1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually)Hazard

    Cold still air over the Doab holds in field smoke, brick kilns and traffic, and the monument can vanish from the far end of its own garden before ten.

    Source: urbanemissions.info

  • 🇦🇺 Airlie Beach

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    The Australian season runs November to April and the Whitsundays sit in the middle of it.

    Source: bom.gov.au

  • Aitutaki

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    The South Pacific season runs November to April, with the risk highest between December and February.

    Source: safetravel.govt.nz

  • Avarua

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    November to April is the South Pacific storm season, with the peak between December and February.

    Source: safetravel.govt.nz

  • 🇷🇸 Belgrade

    Winter smog

    1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)Hazard

    Household coal and wood, old cars and a windless inversion over the confluence put Belgrade near the top of the world air-quality tables on the worst January mornings.

    Source: iqair.com

  • 🇵🇫 Bora Bora

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    The South Pacific storm season.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇦🇺 Brisbane

    Storm season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    Queensland's storm season runs November to April.

    Source: getready.qld.gov.au

  • 🇦🇺 Cairns

    Cyclone season

    1 Nov – 30 AprHazard

    November to April is the cyclone half of the year.

    Source: bom.gov.au

  • 🇯🇴 Dead Sea

    Wadi flash-flood season

    1 Nov – 31 MarHazard

    Rain falling on the highlands drains into the canyons that come down to the shore, and the valley road and every side wadi close at short notice.

    Source: wadimujibtickets.com

  • 🇿🇦 Drakensberg

    Afternoon thunderstorms

    1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

    Storms build over the escarpment most summer afternoons, with lightning on the tops, hail and water coming down the gullies within minutes.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

…and 247 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Windows are the usual ones and move a little each year — lunar feasts and blossom most of all. Hazard seasons are the months in which the risk exists, not a forecast. Check a live source before booking.