Where it's cool in January

Top 10 destinations in January

1. 1.San Francisco, United States

   15°culture

   Averages 15° in January with swings barely 2° either side of 15° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

2. 2.Lisbon, Portugal

   15°culture

   Averages 15° in January with swings barely 2° either side of 15° and 9 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

3. 3.Lake Titicaca, Peru

   17°hiking

   Averages 17° in January with swings barely 2° either side of 17° and 18 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

4. 4.Colca Canyon, Peru

   13°hiking

   Averages 13° in January with swings barely 2° either side of 13° and 26 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

5. 5.Ibiza, Spain

   16°couples

   Averages 16° in January with a 6° day-to-day spread around 16° and 4 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

6. 6.Palermo, Italy

   15°culture

   Averages 15° in January with a 6° day-to-day spread around 15° and 7 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

7. 7.Paphos, Cyprus

   18°families

   Averages 18° in January with a 6° day-to-day spread around 18° and 10 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

8. 8.La Paz, Bolivia

   15°culture

   Averages 15° in January with a 6° day-to-day spread around 15° and 14 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

9. 9.Montserrat, Spain

   14°hiking

   Averages 14° in January with a 7° day-to-day spread around 14° and 3 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

10. 10.Babylon, Iraq

    18°culture

    Averages 18° in January with a 7° day-to-day spread around 18° and 3 rain days on the ten-year record. Cool without being wintry. Layers, not a coat.

Average temperatures by destination

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 January?

The driest 12-18°C cool-comfort picks in January, all with a wider day-to-day spread, are: Ghadames (18°C, about 0 rain days, a 9° spread); Ghardaïa and the M'zab Valley (17°C, about 1 rain day, a 9° spread); Las Vegas (14°C, about 2 rain days, an 8° spread); Montserrat (14°C, about 3 rain days, a 7° spread).

What counts as a coolcation in January?

On this site, a coolcation is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. In January that filters 64 of 295 curated destinations with a ten-year record. The warmest in-band pick is Ghadames at 18°; the steadiest day-to-day is San Francisco with a 5° spread.

Is January the right month for a coolcation?

It depends on where you go. In January 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.