Where to go in December

Collioure, France

Painterly, Catalan, sun-soaked, small

13°C in December · 12h from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain

White, windswept, artily bohemian

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

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Mulhacén, Spain

High, bare, sun-bleached

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

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Porquerolles, France

Car-free, pine-shaded, softly Provençal

13°C in December · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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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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Osaka, Japan

Neon, greedy, cheerfully brash

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

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Hakone, Japan

Steamy, forested, deliberately unhurried

12°C in December · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2 nights

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Madrid, Spain

Late-night, grand, unpretentious

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

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Memphis, Tennessee

Soulful, unpolished, music-steeped

13°C in December · 3h 40m from Los Angeles · a long weekend, 3-4 nights

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Nashville, Tennessee

Loud, friendly, relentlessly musical

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

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Thessaloniki, Greece

Late-night, food-obsessed, unpolished

12°C in December · 13h 30m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Tirana, Albania

Loud, colourful, cheerfully chaotic

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

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Xi'an, China

Ancient capital, appetite-driven, floodlit

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

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La Rioja, Spain

Unhurried, generous, faintly grand

10°C in December · 11h 35m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Bernina Express, Switzerland to Italy

Slow, engineered, absurdly scenic

9°C in December · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a full day, or 2–3 nights split along the route

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Lake Como, Italy

Elegant, watery, unapologetically romantic

9°C in December · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Lucca, Italy

Walled, flat, unhurried Tuscany

12°C in December · 12h 25m 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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Varenna, Lake Como, Italy

Steep, quiet, unhurriedly pretty

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

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

Grand, historic, romantically crowded

13°C in December · 13h from Los Angeles · 3-4 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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Piran, Slovenia

Venetian, compact, salt-washed

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

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Rovinj, Istria, Croatia

Venetian, salty, softly Mediterranean

11°C in December · 12h 30m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Tbilisi, Georgia

Ramshackle, generous, wide awake

8°C in December · 14h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Gardaland, Italy

Loud, green, cheerfully Italian

9°C in December · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · a day or two within a lake garda week

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Verona, Italy

Roman, well-dressed, pleasantly unhurried

9°C in December · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 2 nights

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Douro Valley, Portugal

Terraced, romantic, wine-soaked

12°C in December · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Saturnia hot springs, Tuscany, Italy

Steamy, rural, faintly pagan

12°C in December · 12h 30m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

Postcard-pretty, stony, sun-warmed

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

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Venice, Italy

Watery, theatrical, quietly melancholy

9°C in December · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Côte des Basques, Biarritz, France

Longboards, Belle Époque, Atlantic light

13°C in December · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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San Sebastián, Spain

Elegant, green, seriously food-obsessed

13°C in December · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Sestri Levante, Liguria, Italy

Pastel, unhurried, properly Italian

13°C in December · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Gardens, terraces, quiet and elevated

11°C in December · 12h 55m from Los Angeles · 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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Langhe, Piedmont, Italy

Foggy, patient, seriously delicious

7°C in December · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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