Coolcation
Where it's cool in January
San Francisco, United States 15°C · Lisbon, Portugal 15°C · Lake Titicaca, Peru 17°C. Typical daytime highs in January, using the 2016 to 2025 record.
Explore the mapTop 10 destinations in January
1.San Francisco, United States
15°5° daily spread9 rain dayscultureWhy San Francisco, United States?
The historical record averages 15° in January, with a 5° daily-high spread and 9 average rain days.
2.Lisbon, Portugal
15°5° daily spread9 rain dayscultureWhy Lisbon, Portugal?
The historical record averages 15° in January, with a 5° daily-high spread and 9 average rain days.
3.Lake Titicaca, Peru
17°5° daily spread18 rain dayshikingWhy Lake Titicaca, Peru?
The historical record averages 17° in January, with a 5° daily-high spread and 18 average rain days.
4.Colca Canyon, Peru
13°5° daily spread26 rain dayshikingWhy Colca Canyon, Peru?
The historical record averages 13° in January, with a 5° daily-high spread and 26 average rain days.
5.Ibiza, Spain
16°4 rain dayscouplesWhy Ibiza, Spain?
The historical record averages 16° in January, with a 6° daily-high spread and 4 average rain days.
6.Palermo, Italy
15°7 rain dayscultureWhy Palermo, Italy?
The historical record averages 15° in January, with a 6° daily-high spread and 7 average rain days.
7.Paphos, Cyprus
18°10 rain daysfamiliesWhy Paphos, Cyprus?
The historical record averages 18° in January, with a 6° daily-high spread and 10 average rain days.
8.La Paz, Bolivia
15°14 rain dayscultureWhy La Paz, Bolivia?
The historical record averages 15° in January, with a 6° daily-high spread and 24 average rain days.
9.Montserrat, Spain
14°3 rain dayshikingWhy Montserrat, Spain?
The historical record averages 14° in January, with a 7° daily-high spread and 3 average rain days.
10.Babylon, Iraq
18°3 rain dayscultureWhy Babylon, Iraq?
The historical record averages 18° in January, with a 7° daily-high spread and 3 average rain days.
More about January
A coolcation, on this site, is anywhere with a mean daily high at or below 18°C. January 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.
January 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 January). The list below ranks them by day-to-day steadiness, not raw temperature.
The coldest reading in the dataset for January is Churchill at -19°. The warmest still inside the cool band is Ghadames 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 January.
View full interactive mapAverage temperatures by destination
Showing 80 of 80 destinations
| Destination | Country | Avg high | Swings | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill | Canada | -19° | 19° width | 2 |
| Iqaluit | Canada | -19° | 21° width | 6 |
| Fairbanks | United States | -17° | 26° width | 2 |
| Kanas Lake | China | -18° | 13° width | 9 |
| Lake Baikal | Russia | -14° | 14° width | 4 |
| Harbin | China | -12° | 12° width | 3 |
| Astana | Kazakhstan | -10° | 18° width | 7 |
| Mount Paektu | North Korea | -10° | 13° width | 2 |
| Ilulissat | Greenland | -9° | 16° width | 6 |
| Svalbard | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | -10° | 18° width | 13 |
| Kazan | Russia | -7° | 16° width | 11 |
| Abisko National Park | Sweden | -6° | 17° width | 10 |
| Bamiyan | Afghanistan | -6° | 17° width | 8 |
| Leh | India | -6° | 21° width | 11 |
| Longyearbyen | Norway | -6° | 15° width | 11 |
| Vladivostok | Russia | -6° | 12° width | 2 |
| Yellowstone National Park | United States | -6° | 11° width | 12 |
| Anchorage | United States | -5° | 18° width | 3 |
| High Tatras | Slovakia | -5° | 12° width | 19 |
| Kizhi Island | Russia | -5° | 18° width | 15 |
| Nuuk | Greenland | -5° | 13° width | 12 |
| Quebec City | Canada | -5° | 14° width | 11 |
| Tadoussac | Canada | -5° | 12° width | 2 |
| Moscow | Russia | -4° | 15° width | 12 |
| Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka | Russia | -4° | - | - |
| Bran Castle | Romania | -3° | 13° width | 14 |
| Charyn Canyon | Kazakhstan | -3° | 12° width | 5 |
| Jasper | Canada | -2° | 18° width | 4 |
| Qaqortoq | Greenland | -2° | 18° width | 12 |
| Sapporo | Japan | -1° | 7° width | 15 |
| Tromsø | Norway | -1° | 11° width | 17 |
| Turpan | China | -1° | 7° width | 0 |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | -1° | 11° width | 10 |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | -1° | 13° width | 9 |
| Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | Ukraine | 0° | 13° width | 10 |
| Kashgar | China | 0° | 9° width | 4 |
| Mogao Caves, Dunhuang | China | 0° | - | - |
| Whistler | Canada | 0° | 9° width | 17 |
| Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park | Belarus | 1° | 12° width | 10 |
| Niagara Falls | Canada | 1° | 12° width | 8 |
| Pyongyang | North Korea | 1° | 11° width | 2 |
| Stockholm | Sweden | 1° | 11° width | 9 |
| Curonian Spit | Russia | 2° | 10° width | 12 |
| Lviv | Ukraine | 2° | 13° width | 12 |
| Mount Elbrus | Russia | 2° | 10° width | 12 |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 2° | 15° width | 6 |
| Great Wall of China, Mutianyu | China | 3° | - | - |
| Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon | Iceland | 3° | 8° width | 14 |
| Lake Issyk-Kul | Kyrgyzstan | 3° | 5° width | 12 |
| Neuschwanstein Castle | Germany | 3° | 12° width | 13 |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3° | 13° width | 18 |
| Aalborg | Denmark | 4° | 8° width | 12 |
| Bergen | Norway | 4° | 9° width | 19 |
| Dresden | Germany | 4° | 11° width | 11 |
| Mount Everest North Base Camp | China | 4° | 11° width | 2 |
| Odesa | Ukraine | 4° | 12° width | 7 |
| Rila Monastery | Bulgaria | 4° | 13° width | 10 |
| Turkistan | Kazakhstan | 4° | 10° width | 8 |
| Świnoujście | Poland | 4° | 9° width | 10 |
| Cappadocia | Turkey | 5° | 14° width | 8 |
| Danube Delta | Romania | 5° | 13° width | 4 |
| Ketchikan | United States | 5° | 8° width | 20 |
| Vienna | Austria | 5° | 12° width | 6 |
| Jiuzhaigou Valley | China | 6° | 9° width | 6 |
| Turin | Italy | 6° | 9° width | 2 |
| Xi'an | China | 6° | 10° width | 3 |
| Yosemite National Park | United States | 6° | 14° width | 8 |
| Goes | Netherlands | 7° | 7° width | 12 |
| Lake District | United Kingdom | 6° | 7° width | 16 |
| Mount Fuji | Japan | 7° | 16° width | 4 |
| Washington, D.C. | United States | 7° | - | - |
| Baku | Azerbaijan | 8° | 7° width | 7 |
| Bukhara | Uzbekistan | 8° | 15° width | 4 |
| Dublin | Ireland | 8° | 8° width | 8 |
| Huangshan | China | 8° | 12° width | 12 |
| L'Aquila | Italy | 8° | 10° width | 11 |
| Lhasa | China | 8° | 11° width | 1 |
| Mount Nemrut | Turkey | 8° | 8° width | 10 |
| Iskanderkul | Tajikistan | 9° | 13° width | 4 |
| Mont Saint-Michel | France | 9° | 8° width | 12 |
Readings summarise observed daily weather from 2016 to 2025. They are a historical reference, not a forecast. 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.