Where to go in January

Bangkok, Thailand

Hot, layered, relentlessly awake

31°C in January, and dry · 16h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Lagos, Nigeria

Loud, ambitious, relentlessly creative

32°C in January · 15h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Kochi, Kerala, India

Spice-scented, salt-aired, layered

30°C in January · sea at 30° · 18h 15m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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The Thar Desert, Jaisalmer, India

Golden, dusty, storybook Rajasthan

21°C in January, and dry · 16h 15m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Layered, spiced, sea-worn

30°C in January · sea at 30° · 19h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Penang, Malaysia

Sticky, layered, endlessly edible

30°C in January · sea at 31° · 17h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Marrakech, Morocco

Sensory, labyrinthine, warmly chaotic

20°C in January · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · a long weekend, 3-4 nights

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Loud, low-slung, endlessly sociable

21°C in January · 15h 15m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Hoi An, Vietnam

Lantern-lit, low-rise, unashamedly pretty

24°C in January · sea at 24° · 15h 35m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Plaza de España and its canal in Seville

Seville, Spain

Warm, tiled, theatrical after dark

16°C in January · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Lisbon, Portugal

Steep, sunlit, gently melancholic

15°C in January · 11h 30m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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New Orleans, Louisiana

Humid, musical, gloriously unbothered

17°C in January · 3h 45m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Palermo, Sicily

Raw, baroque, deliciously disorderly

15°C in January · 13h 10m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain

White, windswept, artily bohemian

12°C in January · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Girona, Spain

Stone, water, quietly sophisticated

13°C in January · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Athens, Greece

Ancient, gritty, sociable, sun-bleached

13°C in January · 13h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cefalù, Sicily, Italy

Golden stone, warm sea, easy rhythm

14°C in January · 13h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Pamukkale, Turkey

Chalk-white, steaming, faintly surreal

12°C in January · 14h 10m from Los Angeles · 1–2 nights

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Taormina, Sicily, Italy

Cliff-perched, romantic, volcano-shadowed

13°C in January · 13h 20m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Hydra, Greece

Car-free, stone-built, artfully quiet

11°C in January · 13h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Madrid, Spain

Late-night, grand, unpretentious

10°C in January · 11h 45m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Thessaloniki, Greece

Late-night, food-obsessed, unpolished

11°C in January · 13h 30m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

Grand, historic, romantically crowded

12°C in January · 13h from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Osaka, Japan

Neon, greedy, cheerfully brash

9°C in January · 11h 35m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Varenna, Lake Como, Italy

Steep, quiet, unhurriedly pretty

9°C in January · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Xi'an, China

Ancient capital, appetite-driven, floodlit

7°C in January · 13h 40m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Lucca, Italy

Walled, flat, unhurried Tuscany

11°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Venice, Italy

Watery, theatrical, quietly melancholy

8°C in January · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Verona, Italy

Roman, well-dressed, pleasantly unhurried

8°C in January · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 2 nights

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Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

Stone, mountain, mirror-flat water

12°C in January · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Kotor, Montenegro

Stone lanes, sheer mountains, cats

12°C in January · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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Florence, Italy

Compact, golden, relentlessly beautiful

10°C in January · 12h 30m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Piran, Slovenia

Venetian, compact, salt-washed

9°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Memphis, Tennessee

Soulful, unpolished, music-steeped

10°C in January · 3h 40m from Los Angeles · a long weekend, 3-4 nights

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Tirana, Albania

Loud, colourful, cheerfully chaotic

11°C in January · 13h 15m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Hakone, Japan

Steamy, forested, deliberately unhurried

9°C in January · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2 nights

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