Best Honeymoon Destinations in January

Known For : Minicoy Island Agatti Islands Kalpeni Island

January is the single best month for Lakshadweep. The lagoons are glassy, snorkelling visibility is at its peak and the humidity has not built up, so a couple can be in the water most of the day. Agatti and Bangaram are the two islands set up for couples, with a handful of rooms each and almost nobody else around. Permits are required and rooms are limited, so book early.

Best Time: September to May

18 Lakshadweep Attractions

Known For : Stay in an Overwater Bungalow Ithaa Undersea Restaurant Scuba Diving in Maldives

Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person, and January is when the Maldives earns it. This is the middle of the dry northeast monsoon, so days are sunny, the water is flat and reef visibility is as good as it gets all year. Overwater villas make sense here in a way they do not in the wet months, when rain closes in for hours. Male is a four to five hour flight from most Indian metros, and resort transfers run by seaplane or speedboat.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

Known For : Radhanagar Beach Cellular Jail Scuba Diving In Andaman

The Andamans are in their dry stretch in January, with calm seas on the Havelock and Neil crossings and good diving off Havelock. A couple can split the week between Radhanagar beach, a few quiet days on Neil and a night or two in Port Blair. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person, which makes this the cheapest way to get an Indian Ocean honeymoon in the best month for one. No passport needed.

Best Time: October to June

81 Andaman Attractions

Kerala in January is dry and easy to move around in, which matters when the plan involves a houseboat, a hill drive and a beach in the same week. The usual couple's route runs Munnar for the tea estates, then Thekkady, a night on the Alleppey backwaters and a few days at Kovalam or Varkala. Packages average around Rs 15,000 per person for roughly that circuit.

50 Attractions

Known For : Gulmarg Gondola Apharwat Peak Alpather Lake

If the two of you would rather have snow than sand, Gulmarg is the one place in India that reliably delivers it in January. It sits high in the Pir Panjal range and is India's established ski town, with a gondola running up towards Apharwat. Days are short and cold and the road up can close after heavy snow, so keep a spare day in hand. Kashmir packages average around Rs 13,000 per person.

Best Time: October to June

29 Gulmarg Attractions

Thailand's Andaman coast is at its driest and calmest in January, which is why Krabi, Phuket and the islands off them are the default January beach trip out of India. Railay and Koh Lanta are the quieter choices, Phuket the easiest to fly into. Packages average around Rs 35,000 per person. The Gulf side, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, sees more rain at this time of year, so pick the west coast.

January is the dry season on Sri Lanka's west and south coasts, so Bentota, Galle and Mirissa all work, and the whale watching boats off Mirissa are running. Inland, Ella and the hill country are cool and clear. The east coast around Trincomalee and Arugam Bay is on the wrong side of the island this month, so leave that for the middle of the year. Packages average around Rs 32,000 per person.

Known For : Burj Khalifa Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo At the Top Burj Khalifa

Dubai is at its most comfortable in January, with daytime temperatures pleasant enough to spend a whole day outdoors, which is not true for most of the year. That makes the desert camps, the dhow dinners and the beach clubs part of the day rather than something squeezed between air-conditioned stops. Dubai packages average around Rs 41,000 per person. Flights are short from every Indian metro.

Best Time: November to April

127 Dubai Attractions

Oman gives you the same winter weather as the UAE with far fewer people in it. Muscat is low rise and quiet, the wadis inland still hold water at this time of year, and the desert camps in the Wahiba Sands are comfortable in January rather than punishing. Add two nights up in the Jebel Akhdar mountains if you want cool evenings. It costs more than a comparable week in Dubai, which is the trade for the quiet.

Vietnam needs a decision in January, because the country splits in two. The south is dry and warm, so Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc all work well, and Phu Quoc's beach resorts are in their best stretch of the year. Hanoi is cold and grey this month and Sapa in the far north is colder still, so a north-heavy itinerary is the wrong call now. Packages average around Rs 60,000 per person.

Cool clear days and cold nights make January the easiest month for a Rajasthan trip. Udaipur is the one couples usually build the itinerary around, with the lake palaces and a boat out at dusk, then Jodhpur and Jaisalmer for the fort and a desert camp. Pack more warm clothes than you think you need for the desert nights.

31 Attractions

Known For : Calangute Beach Dudhsagar Falls Fort Aguada

Goa in January is the version everyone means when they talk about Goa: dry, breezy and warm without being sticky. The south around Palolem and Agonda is where couples usually end up, since the north is louder. Rates in the first week of January sit well above the rest of the month, so wait for the New Year crowd to clear out.

Best Time: October to March

195 Goa Attractions

Egypt is at its most comfortable in January, which matters a great deal when the day involves standing out in the open at Giza or Luxor. The Nile cruises between Luxor and Aswan run right through the winter and are the part couples remember. Evenings get cold in the desert and on deck, so bring layers.

Jordan works in January as long as you accept that it will be cold. Petra is walkable without the summer heat and much emptier, the Wadi Rum camps run through the winter with heaters, and the Dead Sea stays warm enough to float in. It can rain and Petra occasionally gets snow, so keep the itinerary loose.

Known For : Langkawi Sky Bridge Langkawi Cable Car Seven Wells Waterfalls

Langkawi sits on Malaysia's west coast, which is the dry side in January while the northeast monsoon soaks the east coast beaches. Datai Bay and the northwest of the island are where the quiet resorts are, backed by rainforest rather than a strip. Packages average around Rs 24,000 per person. The cable car and Sky Bridge are worth one morning.

Best Time: November to March

48 Langkawi Attractions

January sits in the middle of Cambodia's dry season and is the coolest part of it, which is the difference between enjoying Angkor and enduring it. Three days covers Angkor Wat at sunrise, Ta Prohm and Bayon at a slower pace. Pair it with a few nights at Kep or on Koh Rong for the beach half. Almost all the package inventory here is Vietnam combinations, so ask for a Cambodia only quote.

January and February are calving season on the southern Serengeti plains and around Ndutu, when the wildebeest herds drop their young and the predators follow them down. It is the most concentrated wildlife you will see anywhere in Tanzania, and it happens here rather than in Kenya's Masai Mara, which is a common mix-up. Add a few nights on Zanzibar afterwards. The Serengeti camp nights are where the cost sits, so this is one of the costlier trips here.

Known For : Skyline Gondola Kawarau Bridge Shotover River Jet Boat Ride

January is high summer in New Zealand, with long evenings and the warmest lake water of the year. Queenstown is where couples base themselves, for Lake Wakatipu, the drive over the Crown Range to Arrowtown, and a day trip through to Milford Sound. It is also the country's busiest month, so accommodation goes early. It is a long and expensive flight from India, and January is the country's peak-rate month.

Best Time: December to February (summers) or June to July (winters)

43 Queenstown Attractions

Known For : Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Table Mountain Two Oceans Aquarium

Cape Town in January is dry and warm with very long days, and the wind is the only real complaint. Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula drive and two nights in the Winelands at Franschhoek or Stellenbosch fill a week comfortably. Camps Bay is where you eat outside. South African trips here usually come with a safari leg attached, and that is where most of the cost goes.

Best Time: October to April

41 Cape Town Attractions

Known For : Gornergrat Hinterdorstrasse Zermatt Matterhorn Viewpoint

For couples who want snow instead of a beach, the Alps are at full depth in January and every lift is running. Zermatt is the easiest base for non-skiers too, since the cog railway up to Gornergrat and the cable cars get you to the Matterhorn views without putting skis on. Holidify's Swiss inventory is almost all multi-country Europe circuits, so this one needs a custom quote.

Best Time: June to September

23 Zermatt Attractions

Known For : Sydney Opera House Sydney Harbour Bridge BridgeClimb Sydney

January is peak summer in Australia and Sydney is the easy version of it: harbour swims, Bondi, the ferry across to Manly and the Blue Mountains a couple of hours out. Head south rather than north this month, because January is cyclone season across tropical northern Australia and the Queensland coast can be wet for days. The flight is the expensive part, so it is worth building a longer trip around it.

Best Time: March to May, September to November

53 Sydney Attractions

January is the height of the southern summer and the short window when Patagonia is fully open, with the Torres del Paine trails clear and enough daylight to walk the W circuit. Expect wind on every single day. This is a long and expensive trip that suits couples who would rather walk than lie on a beach, and Holidify does not currently list packages for it, so it needs a custom quote.

Buenos Aires in January is hot and half empty, because the city itself goes away on holiday. That cuts both ways: shorter queues and cheaper rooms, but some restaurants and milongas close for the month. San Telmo on a Sunday and a tango show in a smaller venue are what couples come back talking about. There are no packages listed for it, so this is a book-it-yourself trip.

Best Time: October to December

1 Buenos-Aires Attractions

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

Bali is worth being honest about in January. The west monsoon runs from roughly October to April and the heaviest rain falls between December and March, so expect afternoon downpours and cloudier days. It still works if you plan around it, with a villa in Ubud that has its own pool, indoor spa days and rates well below the July peak. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person.

Best Time: April to October

301 Bali Attractions

Known For : Seven Coloured Earth of Chamarel Le Morne Brabant Underwater Waterfall

Mauritius in January is warm and green, but this is the wet half of its year and tropical cyclones generally occur between January and March. Resorts stay open and a good week here is a very good week, but there is a real chance of two or three washed out days, so take the travel insurance seriously. The drier, cooler months run May to November.

Best Time: April to December

146 Mauritius Attractions

Known For : Anse Lazio Snorkeling in Seychelles Sunbathing in Seychelles

The Seychelles in January sits in its northwest monsoon: hot, humid and the wettest stretch of the year, with rain usually arriving in short heavy bursts rather than settling in all day. Unlike Mauritius, most of the islands lie outside the cyclone belt, so high winds are rare. Praslin and La Digue are the two to build a week around. It is one of the costlier island weeks on this list.

Best Time: April to May, September to October

96 Seychelles Attractions

Known For : Hagia Sophia Sultan Ahmed Mosque Topkapi Palace

Istanbul in January is cold, grey and occasionally snowy, and that is worth knowing before you book. What you get in exchange is Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern without a queue, hotel rates at their lowest of the year, and the sort of long lunch the weather encourages. Take a commuter ferry across the Bosphorus rather than a deck cruise.

Best Time: April to June, September to October

102 Istanbul Attractions

Known For : Praca do Comercio Ajuda National Palace Tram 28 Lisbon

Lisbon is the mildest big city in Europe in January, which is not the same as warm: expect jackets, short days and a real chance of rain. The trams, Belem, Sintra as a day trip and the food are all unaffected, and the city is quiet by its own standards. If you want beach weather in Europe, this is not the month for it.

Best Time: March to October

24 Lisbon Attractions