Where to go in December

Mulhacén, Spain

High, bare, sun-bleached

13°C in December · 12h from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Calanque d'En-Vau, Cassis, France

White rock, blue water, effortful

13°C in December · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · a day trip from cassis

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Hydra, Greece

Car-free, stone-built, artfully quiet

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

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Lugano, Switzerland

Italian warmth, Swiss precision

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

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Kotor, Montenegro

Stone lanes, sheer mountains, cats

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

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Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Coloured houses, terraced cliffs, salt air

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

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Provence, France

Sun-bleached, herby, slow-paced

8°C in December · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · a week

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The Cotswolds, England

Honey-stoned, hedged, gently prosperous

9°C in December · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · a long weekend

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Triglav, Slovenia

Alpine, earnest, quietly demanding

6°C in December · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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A working farm stay, Devon, England

Muddy boots, salt air, early starts

9°C in December · 10h 55m from Los Angeles · a week

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Brittany, France

Breezy, green, bucket-and-spade

9°C in December · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · a week or more

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Bansko, Bulgaria

Cobbled, cheap, mountain-hearty

7°C in December · 13h 15m from Los Angeles · a week in winter, 3–4 nights in summer

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Isles of Scilly, England

Tidal, wind-scoured, softly subtropical

11°C in December · 10h 45m from Los Angeles · a week

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Kynance Cove, Cornwall, England

Serpentine rock, turquoise water, wind

10°C in December · 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

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

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Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Pastel, breezy, cheerfully traditional

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

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Torres del Paine, Chile

Wind-scoured, granite, exhilarating

12°C in December · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Wild, unspoilt, quietly perfect

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

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A Tyrolean farmhouse, Austria

Cowbells, hay and early mornings

7°C in December · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · a week

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Lake Bled, Slovenia

Postcard-pretty, compact, easy

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

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Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Quiet, green, properly alpine

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

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Porthcurno, Cornwall, England

Bright, granite-framed, bracingly Atlantic

11°C in December · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · a day trip from penzance

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St Brelade's Bay, Jersey

Gentle, sheltered, bucket-and-spade

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

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Cornwall, England

Salt-blown, sandy, seaside nostalgia

9°C in December · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · a week

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The Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

Vertical, orderly, meadow-scented

7°C in December · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a week

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Sark, Channel Islands

Quiet, lantern-lit, gloriously old-fashioned

10°C in December · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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County Kerry, Ireland

Green, wet, warm-hearted, wild-edged

8°C in December · 10h 20m from Los Angeles · a week

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Seceda ridgeline, Dolomites, Italy

Airy, pastoral, absurdly photogenic

3°C in December · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · a day trip from val gardena

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Annecy, France

Turquoise water, arcades, mountain air

7°C in December · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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Edinburgh, Scotland

Dramatic, literary, atmospherically Gothic

7°C in December · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Utrecht and the Veluwe, the Netherlands

Flat, green, effortlessly civilised

7°C in December · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland

Windswept, sociable, endlessly detouring

8°C in December · 10h 20m from Los Angeles · a week or more

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A farm cottage in Snowdonia, Wales

Wild, woolly, wood smoke and weather

9°C in December · 10h 40m from Los Angeles · a week

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Interlaken, Switzerland

Two lakes, three peaks, constant motion

6°C in December · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 4 nights

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Lavaux, Switzerland

Terraced, sunlit, quietly civilised

6°C in December · 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

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

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