Cesar Manrique’s house in Lanzarote, ‘Jameos del Agua’,  the Spanish Canary Islands off Morocco’s coast. Photo by Norbert Nagel.

Europe in winter frequently features dull grey skies with chilly drizzle so tourism focuses on winter sports in France, Italy, Austria and Germany or cultural visits to the classic cities of London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Barcelona and Seville where the climate is not quite as traumatising as further north.

Favourite Europe photos

Many European cities tend to have colourful Christmas lights dispelling the gloom, firework shows on New Year’s Eve and sales for bargain hunters. London’s stunning museums are still free in spite of political demands otherwise.
Germany’s brilliant Xmas markets are extensive, frequently family-friendly and run for most of December, sometimes starting in November.

Beach holidays? Nope, not even in southerly regions of Greece, Portugal or Spain, although there is always the Spanish Canary Islands, located on a North African latitude in the Atlantic and enjoying pretty good weather all year round with warm winter temperatures around 18C (64F), lows about 15C (59F) and water temp of 18C (64F) so book a place with heated pool, preferably on an easterly island on the south-east coast (such as Lanzarote, Fuerteventura (especially if you like board sailing) or Gran Canaria (Las Palmas is the capital and has the best climate in the world according to some US climatologists) for best chance of a warm, dry holiday. The Canaries can be easily reached by via masses of cheap flights or packages from Europe but Christmas time is busy so get web searching now!

Europe Map

A view of the Luxor Temple (east bank) from the River Nile, usually a disturbingly crowded place. Photo by Olaf Tausch.

Egypt’s Luxor will offer the unusual experience of strolling incredible temples and tombs under blue skies with very few sheeple grazing around you as previous hordes are usefully discouraged by the troubles in distant Cairo and north Sinai, though there have been a couple incidents. Security levels are high so for a small risk the adventurous will see one of the world’s best group of ancient sites at low cost and low crowd levels.
Sharm el Sheikh on the other side of the Red Sea (extremely well guarded these days) will be incredible value and offer lovely weather as the local authorities try to tempt visitors back to enjoy south Sinai delights; lower down the financial totem Dahab is a fun place to hang out. The lovely Red Sea, however, will not be very warm.

Morocco will be pleasant though a bit chilly at this time and definitely not the place for swimming or serious beach use. In winter slightly more upmarket hotels/riads are a better bet for decent insulation and warmer rooms. Agadir is the most southerly tourist venue, culturally very limited (boo!) but offering massive beaches (hooray!) washed by freezing Atlantic seas (boo!).
As usual Marrakesh makes a terrific base for exploring the Sahara desert and the Atlas mountains but if you’re temperature-sensitive go a little upmarket to ensure your hotel has heating, many hostels don’t and it can get decidedly chilly!

Etosha National Park in Namibia offers self drive, secure rest camps beside waterholes and vast numbers of animals, making this one of the world’s top three wildlife experiences. Add in vast dunes at Sossusvlei, seals on the Skeleton Coast and Namib Desert activities and Namibia is another bucket-list def-do.

Otherwise you could head for Tanzania’s wildlife and its beach island of Zanzibar or South Africa’s varied attractions, from lively cities, particularly Cape Town, beaches to wildlife and wine districts.

Africa Map

Bagan in Burma/Myanmar –  2,500 ancient pagodas, temples and stupas over 40 sq kms, and not much else. Photo by Christopher Michel from a hot-air balloon.

40 sq km (16 sq miles) of Bagan in Burma/Myanmar, embrace 2,500 ancient pagodas and stupas. Few ancient sites have such incredible 360 degree views in one of the world’s most peaceful, Buddhist sites in the world. There’s much, much more and this is the time to visit this extraordinary country. For much of the year Myanmar is way too hot for comfort!

India is also awaiting your visit but it’s massive so focus, don’t try to see everything at once! Kerala, down south is perfect at this time though the country’s primary sights are in the Golden Triangle around Rajasthan.

Nepal is chilly in winter (so book rooms with heating!) but the key thing is the Himalayan skies (i.e. mountains) are clear, the ancient artefacts bizarre and the walks stunning. It appears to have recovered from the recent ‘quakes and be mostly intact.

Developing Laos is also perfect in winter, as is Cambodia,  Vietnam (with OK beaches) and Thailand (with many great beaches).

Asia Map

Sydney’s Bondi beach, Australia. Photo by Adam

Southern Australia is in great shape in summertime, with Sydney and Melbourne buzzing with energy and things to do. Further north on the Gold Coast early summer temperatures are heading into the 30Cs with occasional rain, albeit short and exciting tropical storms rather than north European drizzle. Note that Surfer’s Paradise becomes very loud, pricey and overcrowded during the Christmas holidays. Far north Australia is best avoided at this time due to extreme heat.

This is also positively prime time in New Zealand for incredible walks, beaches, wine tasting, and insane adrenalin activities, but try to avoid school holidays from December 20th to the end of January.

Australasia Map

We don’t want to discourage adventurous travelling but should clarify for novice travelers which parts of the world are problematical – troubled by disease, terrorist attacks, high levels of crime or aggressive disrespect for single women.

Egypt is looking better now for robust travelers who can find reliable flights (with proper safety checks) going to Luxor and the opportunity of seeing incredible sights a) at low cost b) more importantly without the massed crowds that are normally there stuffing up the ambience.

Turkey still seems a little volatile these days but almost certainly OK for beach or Cappadocia holidays. But in winter it’s a Must-Not-Do anyway, wet and miserable, so that’s a pass.

Here are some broad generalisations on where NOT to go on vacation if you have a nervous disposition.

Avoid

Africa except for Morocco, Egypt (at the moment seems OK!), Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius.

Middle-East except for Israel, Jordan (if you’re nervous about flights but really want to visit wonderful Petra, fly to Israel on the world’s safest airline – El Al – and drive into Jordan), Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi.

Venezuela, Honduras, Haiti. Some drug-cartel regions of north Mexico are also off the tourist trail.

Solo women travelers should think twice before going to Pakistan, Philippines, North Korea, Indonesia, India, east China and even Thailand.