Where to go in January

Ometepe, Nicaragua

Slow, rural, volcano-shadowed

27°C in January · sea at 27° · 5h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Wineglass Bay, Tasmania, Australia

Granite, gum trees, cold clear water

20°C in January · 15h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights at coles bay

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Playa de los Muertos, Almería, Spain

Arid, empty, glass-clear

16°C in January · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights in cabo de gata

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Ponta da Piedade, Algarve, Portugal

Golden, salt-sprayed, camera-ready

16°C in January · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · a half day from lagos

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Deià, Mallorca, Spain

Artistic, slow, quietly glamorous

15°C in January · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Praia da Ursa, Sintra, Portugal

Raw, windblown, gloriously empty

15°C in January · 11h 30m from Los Angeles · a half day from sintra

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Mount Toubkal, Morocco

Steep, dusty, quietly hospitable

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

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Folegandros, Greece

Whitewashed, windblown, deliberately quiet

14°C in January · 14h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 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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Mulhacén, Spain

High, bare, sun-bleached

11°C in January · 12h from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Lugano, Switzerland

Italian warmth, Swiss precision

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

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Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Coloured houses, terraced cliffs, salt air

11°C in January · 12h 25m 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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Kynance Cove, Cornwall, England

Serpentine rock, turquoise water, wind

9°C in January · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · a half-day from anywhere on the lizard

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Ring of Kerry, Ireland

Wild, wet, green and cinematic

9°C in January · 10h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Pastel, breezy, cheerfully traditional

9°C in January · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–4 nights

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The Cotswolds, England

Honey-stoned, hedged, gently prosperous

8°C in January · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · a long weekend

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Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Wild, unspoilt, quietly perfect

9°C in January · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · a day out from a 3–4 night pembrokeshire base

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Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Remote, dense, gloriously noisy

5h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–5 nights

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Lake Bled, Slovenia

Postcard-pretty, compact, easy

5°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Quiet, green, properly alpine

5°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Triglav, Slovenia

Alpine, earnest, quietly demanding

5°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Edinburgh, Scotland

Dramatic, literary, atmospherically Gothic

6°C in January · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Sark, Channel Islands

Quiet, lantern-lit, gloriously old-fashioned

9°C in January · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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St Brelade's Bay, Jersey

Gentle, sheltered, bucket-and-spade

9°C in January · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Bansko, Bulgaria

Cobbled, cheap, mountain-hearty

5°C in January · 13h 15m from Los Angeles · a week in winter, 3–4 nights in summer

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Annecy, France

Turquoise water, arcades, mountain air

6°C in January · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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Lavaux, Switzerland

Terraced, sunlit, quietly civilised

5°C in January · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a day, or two nights based in lausanne or vevey

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Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Alpine, painted, briskly outdoorsy

4°C in January · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–5 nights

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Ordesa y Monte Perdido, Spain

Vertical, green, properly wild

1°C in January · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Rose-lit peaks, well-dressed, alpine grandeur

-1°C in January · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · a week in winter, 3–4 nights in summer

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Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden, Germany

Quiet, green, alpine and unhurried

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

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Ben Nevis, Scotland

Big, serious, weather-beaten

6°C in January · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights in fort william

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Alpbach, Austria

Carved timber, cowbells, deep quiet

2°C in January · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Nida, Curonian Spit, Lithuania

Pine-scented, pale, deeply calm

3°C in January · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cares Gorge, Picos de Europa, Spain

Vertical, green, bracing, unshowy

1°C in January · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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