These five destinations are great for traveling in January

As the New Year begins, travel is firmly on the radar, and the options are endless. This is a great month for exploring warmer climes or taking note of the beauty that lies on your doorstep.

As much of the Northern Hemisphere retreat, January is one of the best months to head out to greener pastures. Prices drop deliciously after the exhausting holiday season, and the crowds dwindle. While the cultural calendar remains packed with festivals and events: New Year’s Day brings celebrations to cities around the world; The Sundance Film Festival winds its way through a mountainous Utah town, and the Dutch capital is decked out in technicolor for the Amsterdam Light Festival; towering ice palaces are erected for the chilling Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

This month, cooler climes aren’t just dark and dreary. The Northern Lights paint the northern sky, and skiers glide down cotton-white slopes in places like the Alps, Canada, and the United States. The big freeze also makes for a dreamy getaway in a European city with destinations like Prague, Vienna, and Budapest ideal for snow-capped cathedrals, lamp-lit walks down cobbled streets, hearty bites like smoked dumplings, and scorching cups of hot chocolate.

But if you want to beat the winter blues with more vitamin D, Patagonia is a hiker’s playground, while the Caribbean and Central America are warm and mostly dry with water activities like scuba diving and dolphin watching. Countries like South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia can get sweltering in the height of summer, but much of Southeast Asia (especially Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia) comfortably sunbathe under a dome of blue sky.

Ethiopia

The sweltering centigrade relaxes enough in winter to explore the most alien corner of Earth. The desolate Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia is one of the driest, hottest, and lowest places on earth made up of salt lakes, neon yellow acid springs, lava lakes, and a disproportionate proportion of active volcanoes in Africa. As the rains abate this month, the previously mud-covered roads south of the remote Omo Valley are becoming accessible again. Book a responsible tour with a local guide to visit these vast wetlands, home to many ethnic tribes.

Two of Ethiopia’s most important religious holidays feature on this month’s calendar: Ethiopian Christmas and Timkat, an Orthodox Christian celebration that takes place from January 19 to 20 each year. Celebrating the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, people across the country immerse themselves in sacred pools. There are also parties, street parties, and pilgrim processions. Sacred events can be seen in Gondar, home to a grand 17th-century palace, and spiritual Lalibela, where nearly a dozen medieval churches are carved into volcanic rock.

Lasting advice: About a third of Ethiopian households live below the poverty line. A great way to support locals is therefore to book community tours. SimienEcoTours small-group options include hiking in the Lasta Mountains and staying at community lodges along the way, while Yared Tour & Travel offers coffee-themed trips in the Southwest that include ceremonies coffee with the locals.

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Utah, USA

Watch a feature film at America’s largest independent film festival. Sundance was founded in 1978 to showcase independent filmmakers and has since grown into an 11-day celebration of cinematic storytelling. Each January, the festival spans the snow-capped peaks of Park City, high in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Many iconic filmmakers have early roots at Sundance, including Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson. The festival also screened cult classics and hits like Napoleon Dynamite, The Blair Witch Project, 500 Days of summer, and Get Out.

After watching the most anticipated films of the year, stretch your legs on the slopes. Utah is a winter sports wonderland with frequent cool clouds of dust on its rugged mountain ranges. Snowboard up Main Street from Park City Mountain Resort or head to ski-only Deer Valley Resort. Pow Mow (Powder Mountain), meanwhile, is the perfect place for nighttime horseback riding and remote snowcat skiing on 1,200 acres of off-trail powder.

Sustainable Tip: Park City has set ambitious climate goals, planning to be zero carbon and run on 100% renewable electricity for city operations by 2022 and for the entire community of here by 2030. In the meantime, go green by hopping on one of the city’s free zero-emission electric buses and supporting stores that stock locally made goods. Browse cosmetics and glass art at Made in Park City or bourbon-aged chocolate at Ritual, a small-batch maker. You can find more local pit stops on the Visit Park City website.

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Somerset, England

Take part in this winter’s migration to Somerset along with millions of starlings. Under crisp January skies, the plunging murmur of birds is best seen in the Somerset Levels, an expanse of ancient lowland that unfurls between Quantock and Mendip Hills. Watch the aerial dance in the atmospheric marshes of Avalon or the wetlands of Ham Wall to see starlings simultaneously spring from their perched reedbeds at dawn and merge into the clouds at dusk as birds of prey writhe around them. Call the RSPB starling hotline for advice on where to spot the show.

Once suitably frozen, hang up your stocking cap in Somerset’s biggest town. Bath has been drawing people to its healing hot springs since Roman times. Soak in the mineral-rich waters of the year-round rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa, where views span across the grand facades of the golden city and soaring hills as fingers of steam sensual rise from the surface of the water. If you prefer a more frigid swim, Britain’s oldest lido reopened in late 2022 and offers cold water swimming sessions throughout the winter.

Enduring tip: Exmoor National Park was Europe’s first international dark sky reserve. Animals’ circadian rhythms, migration patterns, and predator-prey relationships are all affected by light pollution. By protecting biodiversity and conserving natural habitats, this vast expanse of open moorland, woodland, and coastline in Somerset and Devon remains an important ecosystem. A list of dark sky-friendly accommodations and tour operators can be found on the Exmoor National Park website.

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Northeast China

Every winter, an ethereal world of ice appears on the banks of the Songhua River. Relax before everything melts at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, the largest of its kind, which takes place every year in northeast China from late December to February. This crystalline city is full of soaring snow sculptures, ice lanterns, and illuminated life-size buildings made from thick blocks of ice.

Other frozen features can be found just south of Harbin in the city of Jilin, where trees are coated in a delicate film of frost each winter. Considered one of the four natural wonders of China, these trees that line the misty Songhua River are enveloped in watermarks of frost, turning their branches into clouds of creamy ice. The town celebrates the phenomenon with the annual Rime Ice and Snow Festival in January featuring fireworks, ice skating, and illuminated lanterns that float dreamily down the river as night falls.

Sustainable tip: China’s rapidly expanding rail network added a new electric high-speed train from Beijing to Harbin in 2021. The 217mph high-speed train is designed to operate in temperatures as low as -40°C in the frozen north of China. The revolutionary train has a lightweight aluminum alloy body and a simplified low-resistance design to help reduce power consumption.

San Sebastián, Spain

This Basque coastal town may be a summer hotspot for surf and sand, but off-season San Sebastián is just as enticing: the weather is mild, hotels are the most affordable, its mega-concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants has often available, and one of the city’s biggest cultural events is on the calendar.

Take to the streets on January 20 for the eponymous San Sebastian fiesta, the city’s most anticipated party. The city-wide celebration includes traditional Basque meals, a jubilant rally in Plaza de la Constitución to raise the flag, and tamborradas. These drum parades involve thousands of drummers who energetically echo through the cobbled streets.

With a glass of something strong, you can keep the party going. January is the start of the region’s cider season. Head to a cider house, where tradition dictates that you fill a glass from a freshly squeezed barrel with the cloudy, dry drink. Pair it with local dishes like a salt cod omelet and Basque steak.

Sustainable tip: San Sebastián is crisscrossed with bidegorri (bike paths), making it ideal for exploring on two wheels. It’s also extremely walkable, with many of the city’s main attractions reachable via a 15–30 minute walk. Book a free daily small-group walking tour or e-bike tour with Go Local, who run sustainable tours that support the local economy.

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