When to travel
62 destinations where January is the season worth going — with what each one costs a day, how safe it rates, and flights from your airport.
January is the driest, clearest month across mainland Southeast Asia and the one time of year the Northern Hemisphere's cold pushes prices down everywhere else. It is peak season in the tropics, so book early — and shoulder season in Europe, where a city break costs half what it does in July.
The ones we would book this month, and why this month.
The Mekong is low and the skies are clear. January is the coolest month of the year in Luang Prabang, which is exactly why it is the one to pick.
Dry season is properly under way and the typhoon risk has passed. Island-hopping weather, before the March heat builds.
The south and west coasts — Galle, Mirissa, Unawatuna — are at their sunniest while the rest of Asia shivers.
Every destination in season this month, cheapest first. Daily cost is bed, food and getting around — not flights.
Seasons here are the destination’s own, not the calendar’s: for Argentina or New Zealand, “summer” means December to February. Daily costs are typical mid-range budgets, last reviewed in August 2026.