Best Honeymoon Destinations in December Around the World

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

December is the start of the dry northeast monsoon here, which is why the Maldives is the most booked honeymoon of the Indian wedding season. Water villas sit over lagoons calm enough to swim off the deck, and the resort model means neither of you has to plan a day. Book early: the Christmas and New Year fortnight is the most expensive window of the year and the good islands go first. Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

Known For : Big Buddha Patong Beach Phuket Old Town

Thailand's Andaman coast turns dry in December, and Phuket is where a couple can have a proper beach honeymoon without spending a fortune. Pool villas at Kata and Kamala cost a fraction of the Maldives, and the day boats to Phi Phi and Phang Nga Bay run reliably in calm seas. The west-coast beaches fill up over Christmas week, so early December buys the same weather for less. Packages average around Rs 36,000 per person.

Best Time: November to April

128 Phuket Attractions

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

December is when Dubai is actually pleasant to be outdoors in, with warm days and evenings you can sit out in. It suits couples who want a short flight, a hotel that handles everything and no planning at all: a desert camp one night, a dhow dinner the next, the Al Fahidi lanes and the gold souk in the morning. Rates climb steeply over the New Year fireworks. Packages average around Rs 41,000 per person.

Best Time: November to April

127 Dubai Attractions

Known For : Galle Fort Sea Turtle Hatchery Centre, Mahamodara Galle Lighthouse

Sri Lanka's south-west coast dries out in December while much of the island is still wet, which makes Galle the cheapest good honeymoon on this list. Couples stay inside the Dutch fort or in a villa down the coast at Unawatuna or Bentota, with the whale-watching boats leaving from Mirissa. It is a three to four hour flight, so you can go two days after the wedding. Packages average around Rs 47,000 per person.

Best Time: December to April

36 Galle Attractions

Known For : Tiger's Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang) Rinpung Dzong Paro National Museum of Bhutan

Paro is the quietest honeymoon on this list, and December is the clearest month of its year. The skies dry out, the Himalayan wall behind the valley comes fully into view, and the climb to the Tiger's Nest is cold but easy underfoot. This is low season, so farmhouse stays with a hot stone bath and a wood fire cost less than at any other time. Bhutan packages average around Rs 36,000 per person. Indian nationals also pay a concessional Sustainable Development Fee for each night, charged on top of a package, so ask for it in the quote.

Best Time: October to April

37 Paro Attractions

Known For : Phewa Lake Devi's Falls Sarangkot

December gives Pokhara the clearest mountain views of its year. Annapurna and the fishtail summit of Machhapuchhre stand right above Phewa Lake, and a boat out at sunrise, or the walk up to Sarangkot for it, is what couples come here for. Nepal packages average around Rs 22,000 per person, the cheapest trip on this page. Days are mild and the nights are cold, so pack a jacket. Indian travellers need no visa and most arrive on a photo ID, so check what your airline will accept.

Best Time: October to April

45 Pokhara Attractions

There is one month when Lapland beats everywhere else on this list, and this is it. Rovaniemi in December means snow already on the ground, husky and reindeer sleds, and glass-roofed cabins built for watching the aurora from bed. Daylight lasts only a few hours in late December, so plan short days and long evenings. It is one of the costlier honeymoons here, and it earns that only if the snow and the aurora are the reason you are going.

Best Time: June - August, December - February

Known For : Fushimi Inari Taisha Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) Arashiyama

Kyoto in December is cold, dry and close to empty, which is the reason to come. The autumn colour has gone by mid-month, but the gardens at Nanzen-ji and the Arashiyama bamboo grove are better without the queues. A ryokan room with a private cypress bath is the honeymoon here, and it costs less now than in April or November. Japan packages average around Rs 1,41,000 per person.

Best Time: March to May, October to November

27 Kyoto Attractions

Vietnam splits in December and it catches couples out. Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta and the southern beaches are dry and warm, while Hanoi and Sapa turn cold and misty, often under fifteen degrees with grey skies for days on end. Plan the south if you want beach and sun, and the north only if you actively want winter hills. Packages average around Rs 60,000 per person.

Egypt is at its most comfortable in December, which matters when the days involve Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and a lot of open desert. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan is the easy honeymoon version of the trip: four nights, unpack once, and the temples come to you. Evenings turn cold, so pack for both.

Known For : Stone Town Nungwi Beach Jozani Forest

Zanzibar's short rains are finished by December and the island settles into hot, bright weather. Stone Town is worth two nights for the carved doors and the seafront grills, then couples move up to Nungwi or Kendwa, where the beach stays swimmable at any tide, unlike much of the east coast. Dhow sunset sails and the spice farms fill the days without effort.

Best Time: June - October, December - February

51 Attractions

Known For : The Colosseum Roman Forum Pantheon Rome

Italy's Christmas season runs from 8 December to Epiphany on 6 January, so unlike the German-style markets further north, Rome stays lit and busy right through New Year. Couples get the Vatican and the Forum without the summer queues, early dark evenings that suit long dinners in Trastevere, and around ten degrees at midday.

Best Time: April to early-November

56 Rome Attractions

Known For : Djemaa el-Fna Medina Souks Stay in a Traditional Riad

Marrakech in December is warm by day and cold after dark, and that shapes the whole trip: riad courtyards with a fire lit, hammams in the afternoon, and the Atlas foothills at Ourika rather than a Sahara camp, where December nights are hard work. The souks are calmer than in spring.

Best Time: March to April and October to November

33 Marrakech Attractions

December suits Jordan's walking, so the Siq at Petra and the climb to the Monastery are comfortable at midday instead of punishing. A Wadi Rum camp is the honeymoon night, though desert temperatures drop close to freezing after dark, so check the camp has real heating before you book. The Dead Sea end stays warmer.

Known For : Mutrah Corniche Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque Mutrah Souk

Oman in December is the quiet alternative to Dubai, and this is its most comfortable month. Muscat gives you the corniche and the Mutrah souk, and within a few hours' drive you can spend a night in the Wahiba dunes and swim in the pools at Wadi Shab. The reason it is not higher up is price: a Muscat trip costs well above a Dubai one of the same length, for a city with far less honeymoon inventory.

Best Time: October to March

20 Muscat Attractions

Known For : Sydney Opera House Sydney Harbour Bridge BridgeClimb Sydney

December is early summer in Sydney and the city lives outdoors: Bondi and Bronte, the Manly ferry, a harbour sail at dusk. Most couples pair it with a few nights on the Gold Coast or up at Cairns for the reef. It is expensive and far, and Christmas to New Year is their peak holiday too, so book early.

Best Time: March to May, September to November

53 Sydney Attractions

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

December is early summer in Queenstown, with light until well past nine and the lakes warm enough to be out on. Couples get the Milford Sound day, the Gibbston Valley wineries and a gondola dinner above the Remarkables. It sits this low only because of what it costs: New Zealand is one of the most expensive trips a couple can book from India, the flight runs past twenty hours, and December is the local summer holiday there, so rates and availability are at their worst of the year.

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

44 Queenstown Attractions

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

Cape Town is in high summer in December, which is the opposite of what most Indian couples expect from the month. Days are long and dry, Camps Bay and Clifton are swimmable, and Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are a short drive for two nights in the vineyards. It is also the South African summer holiday, so these are the most expensive and most crowded four weeks of their year, and Table Mountain slots and the good restaurants need booking well ahead.

Best Time: October to April

41 Cape Town Attractions

Known For : Piazza del Duomo Florence Duomo Florence Piazza della Signoria

Florence is the slower Italian option in December, and the right one if you want galleries more than sights, since the Uffizi and the Accademia take walk-ins this month. The German-style market in Piazza Santa Croce packs up before Christmas, but the city's own lights stay on through Epiphany. Cold, bright, and a fraction of the summer crowd.

Best Time: Throughout the year

44 Florence Attractions

Known For : Vienna City Hall Austrian Parliament Building Museums Quartier

Vienna is the classic December city break and the one couples most often mistime. The Christmas markets run through Advent, and most of them close on or just before Christmas Eve, so a trip built around them has to land before the 24th. Arrive after that and you get the palaces, the coffee houses and the New Year concerts instead, which is a different holiday and still a good one.

Best Time: May to October

49 Vienna Attractions

Known For : Eiffel Tower Jardin du Luxembourg Montmartre

Paris in December is cold, damp and dark by five, and it still works if you plan around that: long lunches, the Orsay and the Rodin garden, an evening Seine cruise with the bridges lit. The Christmas markets close around Christmas itself, so do not build the trip around them. Hotel rates dip in the first two weeks before New Year pushes them back up.

Best Time: April - early October

62 Paris Attractions

Known For : Northern Lights Reykjavik Rainbow Street Reykjavik Hallgrimskirkja

Reykjavik gets only four to five hours of daylight in December, and those short days are what make the aurora easy to catch from a hot pool early in the evening. The Blue Lagoon, the Golden Circle and a glacier lagoon day all fit if you book them tightly. Roads and tours do get cancelled in bad weather, so leave slack in the plan. It is an expensive trip for the number of usable daylight hours you get.

Best Time: June to September

50 Reykjavik Attractions

The Caribbean dry season opens in December, and Saint Lucia is the honeymoon island of the group: the two Pitons behind you, sulphur springs you can bathe in, and cliffside resorts above Soufriere. The catch is distance. It is a two-stop journey from India and Holidify lists no packages for it, so treat this one as a custom trip to be priced.

Best Time: December - April

Known For : Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Old Town Holyrood Palace

Edinburgh's December draw is Hogmanay, the New Year celebration with a torchlight procession and fireworks off the castle rock, and rooms for the 30th to the 1st need booking months ahead. Outside that window the city is cold, dark and cheap, and Dean Village, the Old Town closes and a whisky tasting fill a few easy days.

Best Time: May to August

22 Edinburgh Attractions

Gstaad opens its ski season in December, and the village stays small and quiet while the bigger resorts fill up. This is a European ski market rather than an Indian one, so it suits a couple who specifically want snow and would not swap it for anything else on this page. Chalet hotels, sleigh rides through the Saanenland and the Glacier 3000 day out all work without ever putting on skis. Snow at village level is not assured in early December, so the last two weeks are the safer booking, and the priciest of the year.

Best Time: June - September, December - March

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

Bali is a weaker December choice than most lists admit. The west monsoon sets in around October and the heaviest rain falls from December to March, so expect afternoon downpours and grey stretches, especially inland around Ubud. It is still a fine honeymoon if you book a villa with a covered pool and treat the rain as part of the deal, and rates sit below the July peak. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person.

Best Time: April to October

302 Bali Attractions

Known For : Anse Lazio Snorkeling in Seychelles Sunbathing in Seychelles

December begins the hot, humid half of the Seychelles year. The settled months run from May to November, and from December the rain arrives in short heavy bursts with stiller, warmer air in between. Anse Source d'Argent and the Praslin beaches are as good as ever between showers, but if your dates are flexible this one is worth moving to another month.

Best Time: April to May, September to October

96 Seychelles Attractions

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

Mauritius is in its warm wet summer in December, and the wider south-west Indian Ocean cyclone season runs from roughly mid-November to April. Most trips are unaffected and the resorts are very good, but it is fair to say the weather is a gamble this month rather than a certainty. May to November is the reliable window.

Best Time: April to December

147 Mauritius Attractions

Fiji's cyclone season runs from November to April, which puts a December honeymoon squarely inside it, and the islands are wet and humid through those months. The resorts are lovely and the diving is real, but this is a May to October destination, and Holidify lists almost no Fiji inventory, so pricing one takes a custom quote.

Best Time: July - September

Known For : Matira Beach Water Sports in Bora Bora Land activities

Bora Bora is the most expensive honeymoon most couples will ever price, and December falls in its wet, humid cyclone season, which runs from November to April. The overwater bungalows above that lagoon are the real thing, but for a December wedding the Maldives gives you the same idea in its best month, far closer and for a great deal less.

Best Time: May to October

3 Bora Bora Attractions