Where’s Hot in December from the UK: Best Holiday Destinations

December is a difficult month to find genuine warmth near the UK. Europe’s beach destinations have long closed or turned cold, and the options that remain are further afield. But these four are all worth the trip. Two of them, Cape Verde and Egypt, are at their very best in December. Tenerife is reliable. And Madeira offers something completely different: a mild, green island with one of the most celebrated Christmas and New Year celebrations in Europe.

For a full overview of where works each month, see our guide to where’s hot from the UK.

Tenerife

Tenerife is the most popular UK winter sun destination by a considerable margin, and December is one of its busiest months. Families escaping the school holidays, couples looking for Christmas in the sun and groups spending New Year by the pool all converge on the south of the island. Average temperatures in the south, around Playa de las Américas, Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos, sit around 21 degrees in December with very low rainfall. The sea is around 20 degrees, which is not quite warm enough for extended swimming but entirely comfortable on a sunny day.

The range of accommodation in Tenerife is enormous, from large all-inclusive resorts in Adeje to small independent hotels in the old fishing village of Los Abrigos. The north of the island has a different character entirely: greener, cooler and more Canarian in feel, with Puerto de la Cruz and the Orotava Valley offering a version of Tenerife that most visitors on a week’s all-inclusive never see. Teide National Park, with the highest peak in Spain at 3,718 metres, is a day trip from anywhere on the island and unlike almost anything else in Europe.

Flights from the UK to Tenerife run year-round with Jet2, TUI, easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling and British Airways from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Bristol and several other airports. Tenerife South airport serves the resort areas; Tenerife North is closer to Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz. In December, book well in advance as demand is high.

Madeira

Madeira in December is not a beach holiday in the conventional sense. Average temperatures are 18 to 19 degrees, the sea is around 19 degrees, and the island gets some rain in winter. What it offers instead is more interesting: extraordinary scenery, exceptional food, serious walking routes through laurel forest and dramatic coastal cliffs, and the best Christmas atmosphere of any destination on this list. Funchal’s Christmas market runs from late November through to early January, with illuminations, music and food stalls throughout the old town.

The New Year fireworks in Funchal are consistently rated among the largest in the world by Guinness World Records. The harbour fills with cruise ships specifically for the event, viewpoints on the hills above the city are staked out from early afternoon and the display lasts around eight minutes. If you are travelling in the last week of December or first few days of January, booking well in advance is essential as accommodation prices peak significantly.

The walking in Madeira is exceptional. The levada network, a system of irrigation channels built over centuries, has been converted into an extensive trail network that crosses the island at various altitudes. The PR1 Levada do Caldeirão Verde and the PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes are two of the most celebrated routes. TAP Air Portugal and easyJet both fly direct from London Gatwick to Funchal. Flight time is around three and a half hours.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde in December is hard to argue with on the basics: 26 degrees, virtually no rain, consistent sunshine and a sea temperature of around 25 degrees. The archipelago sits 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, which gives it a tropical climate in December while remaining reachable from the UK in under seven hours. December is peak season on the main tourist islands of Sal and Boa Vista, which means prices are higher than in October or November, but the weather justifies it entirely.

Sal and Boa Vista are the resort islands, with long flat beaches and matching infrastructure. Sal’s Santa Maria beach is a long curve of fine sand with a village at one end and open ocean at the other; the kitesurfing conditions at Kite Beach, where the Atlantic trade wind is consistent and strong, are excellent. Boa Vista has more untouched beaches, fewer facilities and a quieter pace. The other islands, Santiago and São Vicente, are less developed and require domestic connections from Sal or Boa Vista.

TUI and Jet2 both fly direct from UK airports to Sal and Boa Vista. Flight times are around six hours. Cape Verde uses the escudo, pegged to the euro. UK passport holders can enter visa-free for stays up to 30 days.

Egypt: Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh

Egypt’s Red Sea resorts are excellent value in December. Air temperatures average around 26 degrees, the Red Sea sits at around 24 degrees, warm enough for comfortable diving and snorkelling, and prices are lower than they will be in January and February when European winter demand drives costs up. Both Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh have well-developed resort strips with a wide range of hotels from budget to five-star, and the diving and snorkelling infrastructure in both is among the best in the world.

Hurghada is the larger resort and has better access to the Egyptian interior. Luxor, with the Valley of the Kings and the Karnak Temple complex, is around 70 kilometres from Hurghada Airport and very much worth the day trip. The Giza pyramids are further, at about four hours by road or a short domestic flight, but doable on a long day. Sharm el-Sheikh is more self-contained and the diving is arguably superior: Ras Mohammed National Park has some of the most pristine reef systems in the Red Sea, and the SS Thistlegorm, a Second World War wreck sunk in 1941, is one of the most renowned dive sites in the world.

Charter flights from the UK to both resorts run throughout December with TUI, Jet2 and Thomas Cook. Check the current FCDO travel advice for the Sinai region and Sharm el-Sheikh before booking. Egypt requires a visa on arrival, currently around $25 per person.

For more warm-weather ideas, see our where’s hot in November guide or browse all our where’s hot destination guides.

Further afield: long-haul options for December

If you are prepared to fly further, December is one of the best months for the Caribbean, South Africa and the Indian Ocean. These destinations are at their warmest when the UK is at its coldest.

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