Best holiday destinations for January

It’s peak holiday booking season but jetting off in dreary January also has its advantages - including low-season prices and lack of crowds.

For those who have vowed to be more active in 2025, Madeira has spectacular walking trails and lush gardens to explore. Tenerife’s otherworldly volcanic landscapes also beckon: the island still clocks up to six hours of sunshine a day in January. 

You won’t need sunshine to warm up in Hungary’s elegant capital, Budapest. Instead, take a relaxing soak in one of the city’s grand thermal spas. 

Or fly to the Dominican Republic for balmy temperatures and pristine palm-fringed beaches. 

Read on for more inspiring holiday destinations to kick off your next year in style.

Get the Which? Travel newsletter - it's free

Best destinations to visit in January

• Madeira 15°C
• Budapest 2°C
• Tenerife 18°C
• Dominican Republic 28°C
• Vietnam 20°C
• Namibia 30°C

Best short-haul destinations for January: Madeira

January high: 15°C

Thousands of years of volcanic eruptions carved Madeira’s rugged landscape, and you can enjoy it without the crowds in January. 

You’ll touch down in the capital, Funchal, which came joint fourth in our recent survey of the best Europe city breaks - clinching the maximum five stars for its cultural sights and food and drink.

Spend a morning exploring Funchal’s mosaic-paved streets, shaded by bright blue flowering jacaranda and art-stuffed museums. The Mercado dos Lavradores farmers' market is a great place to shop for local wine and try authentic dishes, such as tender black scabbard fish - often served with banana and passion fruit sauce.

Take a cable car ride to the hillside village of Monte and its tropical botanical garden or explore the island’s many hiking trails. The 10km climb to the island’s highest peak, Pico Ruvio, is one of the best. 

Find a Madeira holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider: Hays, Kuoni, Jet2Holidays, Saga and Trailfinders

Budapest

January high: 2°C

It’s a tale of two cities: Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube, were united back in 1873, and the city’s split personality is still evident to this day. Buda regally holds court to the daily swarm of visitors exploring the cobbled streets of her old town. But Pest comes into its own at night. 

Don’t miss the ruin bars: the lively drinking dens that have popped up inside the neglected pre-war buildings of the old Jewish Quarter. Kitsch and colourful Szimpla Kert is its most famous. Sip a homemade palinka (Hungarian fruit brandy) to keep the winter chill at bay.

Or head to grand Szechenyi thermal baths, complete with wedding cake columns and sun-terrace tiers. Alternate between its 16 picturesque pools - each heated to a different temperature. Bathing is a time-honoured ritual for locals, young and old: you’ll even find some playing chess while waist-deep in water.

Find a Budapest holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider:  Hays, Jet2Holidays and Trailfinders

Tenerife

January high: 18°C

Don’t let its reputation as a party island put you off; Tenerife has so much more to offer. Beyond the karaoke bars, you’ll find craggy cliff-backed black-sand beaches, volcanic landscapes and timeless villages. 

Costa Adeje came out top in Tenerife in our recent survey of the best Canary island resorts. 

This quietly upmarket town on the south coast has classy restaurants, designer boutiques, a golf course and average highs of 18°C in January - when its waters are home to pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins.

Tranquil Playa de Duque is the resort’s most celebrated beach, or there’s wilder Hernández  - if you don’t mind nudists. Readers rated Costa Adeje’s plush hotels - often painted in the pastel shades of Neapolitan ice cream - the full five stars.  

Find a Tenerife holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider: Hays, Kuoni, Jet2, Saga and Trailfinders

Best long-haul destinations for January: Dominican Republic

January high: 28°C

Not only is the Dominican Republic one of the Caribbean’s best-value destinations, it ticks all the boxes: blonde beaches, translucent sea, balmy winters. Venture beyond the compound of your all-inclusive hotel and you’ll find historic towns, pine and palm-carpeted peaks and secluded beaches. 

The Dominican Republic has the Caribbean’s oldest city, Santo Domingo, where you can explore the Spanish colonial quarter’s sleepy streets. Puerto Plata, the largest town on the north coast, has typical 19th-century gingerbread houses, a fortress and a seafront promenade where locals stroll in the late afternoon sunshine.

At this time of year, the sheltered waters of the Samana Peninsula are the breeding ground of humpback whales. If you’re lucky, you’ll see these graceful giants surge from the water. Boats can also take you to the dense forests of Los Haitises National Park.

Find a Dominican Republic holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider: Hays, Kuoni and Trailfinders

Vietnam

January high: 20°C

Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City, is a whirl of constant commotion; where history seeps from every temple and elegantly restored colonial villa. You’ll have to dodge a swarm of motorbikes every time you cross the road; red lights are routinely ignored.

January is typically the driest, least sticky month. If it’s still too hot in the city, the Mekong Delta and the beautiful beach-lined Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands are within easy reach.

The capital, Hanoi, is more laid back and much cooler, with January highs of 20°C. Shop for silk clothes and lacquerware in the old quarter, pausing for lunch at an authentic bun cha (grilled pork and noodles) shop.

The country’s showstopper is Halong Bay, where thousands of limestone islets tower from emerald waters. This tourist hotspot was designated a World Heritage Site in 1994.

Find a Vietnam holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider: Trailfinders, Kuoni and Saga 

Namibia

Average high: 30°C

January is mid-summer and during the rainy season in southern Africa’s desert state. The dusty savannah in Etosha National Park turns green, and you can spot springbok, zebra and wildebeest with their newborn – plus the odd predator.

Expect cooler temperatures on the Skeleton Coast, where cape fur seals and their plump pups loll at Cape Cross. This northern coastline is named for the animal bones and shipwrecks scattered across its wild shores. You can explore the southern shores in a catamaran or 4x4 or on a quadbike.

Another must is a trip to Sossusvlei – a white salt and clay pan surrounded by soaring rust-red dunes. 

Namibia’s capital, Windhoek, has German colonial architecture, great restaurants and the sobering Independence Memorial Museum. 

Find a Namibia holiday with a Which? Recommended Provider: Kuoni, Trailfinders and Saga 

Weather data from weather2travel.com