Coolcation
Where it's cool in December
A coolcation, on this site, is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. December gives you 64 of the 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record this month (of 497 curated in total). The ranking below is by low day-to-day swing, not by which is coldest.
December coolcation options on the ten-year record: 64 of 295 curated destinations with ten-year daily records sit at or below 18°C mean daily high (of 497 curated in total; the remainder do not yet have a full ten-year series for December). The list below ranks them by day-to-day steadiness, not raw temperature.
The coldest reading in the dataset for December is Kanas Lake at -16°. The warmest still inside the cool band is Ghardaïa and the M'zab Valley at 18°. Pack layers, not a coat.
Coolcation is defined here as mean daily high at or below 18°C. That threshold is a firm number, chosen for room-temperature comfort with a light layer. Nothing on this page describes forecasts. The averages are climate.
Displaying historical averages for the month of December.
View full interactive mapTop 10 destinations in December
1.Ibiza, Spain
17°couplesAverages 17° in December with swings barely 2° either side of 17° and 5 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
2.Dali, China
17°cultureAverages 17° in December with swings barely 2° either side of 17° and 3 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
3.Palermo, Italy
16°cultureAverages 16° in December with swings barely 2° either side of 16° and 8 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
4.Lisbon, Portugal
16°cultureAverages 16° in December with swings barely 2° either side of 16° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
5.Montserrat, Spain
15°hikingAverages 15° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 15° and 4 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
6.Elba, Italy
13°couplesAverages 13° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 13° and 8 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
7.San Francisco, United States
14°cultureAverages 14° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 14° and 8 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
8.Poreč, Croatia
11°cultureAverages 11° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 11° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
9.Santorini, Greece
16°couplesAverages 16° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 16° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
10.Baku, Azerbaijan
10°cultureAverages 10° in December with a 6° day-to-day spread around 10° and 10 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.
Average temperatures by destination
Showing 80 of 80 destinations
| Destination | Country | Avg high | Swings | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill | Canada | -16° | - | - |
| Fairbanks | United States | -16° | - | - |
| Kanas Lake | China | -16° | - | - |
| Iqaluit | Canada | -12° | - | - |
| Harbin | China | -10° | - | - |
| Mount Paektu | North Korea | -10° | - | - |
| Lake Baikal | Russia | -9° | - | - |
| Astana | Kazakhstan | -8° | - | - |
| Svalbard | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | -7° | - | - |
| Anchorage | United States | -5° | - | - |
| Ilulissat | Greenland | -5° | - | - |
| Kazan | Russia | -5° | - | - |
| Longyearbyen | Norway | -5° | - | - |
| Vladivostok | Russia | -5° | - | - |
| Abisko National Park | Sweden | -4° | - | - |
| Jasper | Canada | -4° | - | - |
| Leh | India | -4° | - | - |
| Yellowstone National Park | United States | -4° | - | - |
| High Tatras | Slovakia | -3° | - | - |
| Quebec City | Canada | -3° | - | - |
| Kizhi Island | Russia | -2° | - | - |
| Moscow | Russia | -2° | - | - |
| Nuuk | Greenland | -2° | - | - |
| Tadoussac | Canada | -2° | - | - |
| Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka | Russia | -2° | - | - |
| Bamiyan | Afghanistan | -1° | - | - |
| Bran Castle | Romania | -1° | - | - |
| Charyn Canyon | Kazakhstan | 0° | - | - |
| Mogao Caves, Dunhuang | China | 0° | - | - |
| Qaqortoq | Greenland | 0° | - | - |
| Tromsø | Norway | 0° | - | - |
| Turpan | China | 0° | - | - |
| Whistler | Canada | 0° | - | - |
| Sapporo | Japan | 1° | - | - |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | 1° | - | - |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | 2° | - | - |
| Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | Ukraine | 2° | - | - |
| Kashgar | China | 2° | - | - |
| Pyongyang | North Korea | 2° | - | - |
| Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park | Belarus | 3° | - | - |
| Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon | Iceland | 3° | - | - |
| Lviv | Ukraine | 3° | - | - |
| Mount Elbrus | Russia | 3° | - | - |
| Niagara Falls | Canada | 3° | - | - |
| Stockholm | Sweden | 3° | - | - |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 4° | - | - |
| Curonian Spit | Russia | 4° | - | - |
| Great Wall of China, Mutianyu | China | 4° | - | - |
| Ketchikan | United States | 4° | - | - |
| Mount Everest North Base Camp | China | 4° | - | - |
| Neuschwanstein Castle | Germany | 4° | - | - |
| Turkistan | Kazakhstan | 4° | - | - |
| Aalborg | Denmark | 5° | - | - |
| Lake Issyk-Kul | Kyrgyzstan | 5° | - | - |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5° | - | - |
| Świnoujście | Poland | 5° | - | - |
| Bergen | Norway | 6° | - | - |
| Dresden | Germany | 6° | - | - |
| Jiuzhaigou Valley | China | 6° | - | - |
| Odesa | Ukraine | 6° | - | - |
| Rila Monastery | Bulgaria | 6° | - | - |
| Vienna | Austria | 6° | - | - |
| Danube Delta | Romania | 7° | - | - |
| Turin | Italy | 7° | - | - |
| Cappadocia | Turkey | 8° | - | - |
| Goes | Netherlands | 8° | - | - |
| Lake District | United Kingdom | 8° | - | - |
| Seattle | United States | 8° | - | - |
| Xi'an | China | 8° | - | - |
| Yosemite National Park | United States | 8° | - | - |
| Bukhara | Uzbekistan | 9° | - | - |
| Dublin | Ireland | 9° | - | - |
| Mount Fuji | Japan | 9° | - | - |
| Washington, D.C. | United States | 9° | - | - |
| Baku | Azerbaijan | 10° | - | - |
| Huangshan | China | 10° | - | - |
| L'Aquila | Italy | 10° | - | - |
| Lhasa | China | 10° | - | - |
| Mont Saint-Michel | France | 10° | - | - |
| Mount Nemrut | Turkey | 10° | - | - |
Readings come from the last ten years of daily weather data, so they reflect the climate as it is now, not as it was decades ago. Data: Visual Crossing global historical archive. How we compute this
Frequently asked
- Where is reliably cool in December?
- The driest 12-18°C cool-comfort picks in December, all with a wider day-to-day spread, are: Ghardaïa and the M'zab Valley (18°C, about 1 rain day, an 8° spread); Las Vegas (15°C, about 1 rain day, a 9° spread); Yazd (16°C, about 2 rain days, an 11° spread); Dali (17°C, about 3 rain days, a 5° spread).
- What counts as a coolcation in December?
- On this site, a coolcation is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. In December that filters 64 of 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record. The warmest in-band pick is Ghardaïa and the M'zab Valley at 18°; the steadiest day-to-day is Ibiza with a 4° spread.
- Is December the right month for a coolcation?
- It depends on where you go. In December the ten-year record puts 64 curated destinations at or below 18°C mean daily high. If that count is small, the northern hemisphere is warming and southern-hemisphere hill stations or high-latitude coasts do most of the work. If it is large, the reverse.