Yes, we love making New Year’s resolutions, too—only to fail to follow through before the month is out. Why not make yourself a promise that you’ll find easy to keep?
Let’s travel more in 2025—it’s a life-affirming, horizon-expanding mantra. We’ve got some suggestions to ignite your wanderlust, whether you head west to rap with some unlikely bards of the spoken word or east toward a volcanic island off the coast of Africa with weather that’s near-guaranteed to be SAD-beatingly sunny.
Here are the nine best places to travel in January.
January is great for: a happy birthday
It’s a milestone year for the Dutch capital, which has a big birthday this month: The onetime fishing village will celebrate 750 years since the earliest settlements here. October 27 is the official day, but the city’s using it as the perfect excuse for a year’s worth of events.
Come this month, and you can visit the “Happy Birthday Amsterdam” exhibit at the H’ART museum and the Amsterdam Light Festival (this year’s theme is Rituals, with more than two dozen installations dotted around the canals). Another can’t-miss exhibit is “Legends of Amsterdam,” in which artist Harrison May uses AI to showcase scenes from the city’s history.
The 225-room hotel has been carved out of more than two dozen connecting 17th- and 18th-century canal houses. It sits in the ideal location overlooking two of the city’s most charming canals, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht.
Pick up a few pieces of classic Delft Blue pottery as a keepsake, says Caroline van Kessel, who runs the Pulitzer. The shelves of Tableware Amsterdam are piled high with stacks of vintage porcelain plates. “It’s a beautiful way to bring a bit of Amsterdam’s artistry and craftsmanship back home with you.”
Elko, Nevada, is most famous for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
Photo by TLF Images/Shutterstock
January is great for: campfire stories, cowboy-style
Call cowboys the laureates of the lariat. Cowboy poems are the stories told around the campfire in a performance-like sitting, like the love child of rap and country, chronicling the ups and downs of life in the Wild West. The most impressive performers come together once a year for this slam-style gathering, combining workshops, performances, and exhibitions in Elko, a town in northeast Nevada; this will be the 40th edition, a six-day event that kicks off on January 27.
Listen to dozens of poets, including bilingual Lara Manzanares, who composes in both English and Spanish, as well as musicians like the Hot Club of Cowtown trio, who perform a unique blend of hot jazz and Western swing.
There aren’t any luxury accommodations in Elko, but the 84-room Shutters Hotel, located on the outskirts of town, offers recently renovated rooms and scenic views of the Ruby Mountains.
Elko’s an unlikely expat hub for the Basque community, says Michelle Cromwell from the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority. Try some classic cuisine at the Star Hotel. “It’s known for its delicious, garlic-laden steaks,” she says, recommending the Boarder’s Lunch, of thin-sliced beef with green chile and onions. “You will only see it on the lunch menu but can order it for dinner as well.”
There’s nowhere better to try to see those otherworldly Northern Lights than the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Photo by Ken Phung/Shutterstock
January is great for: catching an elusive phenomenon at its most dazzling
Thanks to the sun’s ferocious flaring right now, experts suggest that this winter is likely to offer some of the finest sightings of the Northern Lights in 20 years.
Yellowknife’s perfectly located for aurora chasing since it sits just 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle and right below the auroral oval; its long distance from the ocean keeps weather more consistent, and the flat terrain is a plus too. Organize a Northern Lights–hunting trip with a local guide, like Joe Buffalo Child (who is Chipewyan) of North Star Adventures.
Follow in the footsteps of royalty here (the late Queen Elizabeth stayed here on one visit to the Northwest Territories) and sneak out to the firepit with a microbrew or two from the on-site Trapline Lounge. Just remember to save energy enough to stay up late, as the peak aurora time is usually after midnight.
Try your hand at a new skill while you’re in town, suggests Aileen De Ocampo, who works at the hotel’s front desk. “Old Town Glassworks is a must experience,” she says of the worker-owned cooperative in the heart of town, “You can either watch their staff turn a wine bottle into a piece of stunning glassware, or do it yourself.”
Keep an eye out for whales on Samaná Bay. The males lurk by the bay’s entrance, guarding the females as they nurse their young.
Photo by EMS-DOP/Shutterstock
January is great for: spotting pods of whales in the water
Samaná Bay on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic is the perfect perch this month for some whale-spotting. The humpbacks calve and mate here, starting around the middle of the month, en route to their summertime stomping grounds farther north.
The bay is carefully policed in season to allow only whale-watching boats to hit the waters, where you’ll likely encounter hundreds of the creatures. Book a tour with an operator like Whale Samana, run by veteran whale spotter Kim Beddall.
Keep a leisurely pace to your trip by staying at this luxe resort, which opened in Summer 2023. Its emphasis is on wellness, with an extensive center that offers everything from sound healing to breathwork sessions. Even better, it’s all-inclusive, so you can indulge in as many classes as you wish.
Want to pretend you’re living in Jurassic Park? Take a daylong adventure into Los Haitises National Park, which was one of the filming locations.
Combine your trip to Georgia’s capital with an excursion to towns like Sighnaghi.
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January is great for: dragging out the holiday season a tiny bit longer
Head to an Eastern Orthodox country like Georgia, and you can eke out some bonus holiday cheer, since Christmas and the New Year will be celebrated on January 7 and 14, respectively. The food and craft markets will continue in Tbilisi, with a nightly fireworks display the week between the two landmark days. Outside of the capital, regions like Kakheti are especially beautiful in the winter.
Keep an eye out for local traditions, like chichilaki, a mop-like miniature Christmas tree made from hazelnut branches and decorated with dried fruit and flowers, or some boat-shaped soft bread filled with gooey cheese, known as khachapuri.
The 311-room family-owned resort in the Kakheti region hugs the edge of Lopota Lake, with a jaw-dropping backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains. Book one of the 485-square-foot premium rooms in its latest extension.
The hotel’s Natalia Giorgelashvili regularly sends guests for supper at the nearby restaurant Doli. “We love the Buffalo Kofta skewers, served with sunflower tahini and buffalo yogurt,” she says, and recommends ordering its natural wine, made from Rkatsiteli grapes.
January is great for: real-life kaleidoscopes
This coastal county in Central California, anchored by the namesake college town, is often overlooked in favor of splashier rivals like Big Sur; most visitors come solely to see its world-famous Hearst Castle before barreling up Highway 1 toward Big Sur.
It’s a pity, as this area has its own easygoing charm, especially this month, when Monarch butterflies touch down during their migration from Mexico. Expect to see an astonishing carpet of 10,000 or more orange-and-black insects idling at Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, hiding from the northern winter.
The first motel in the world was in San Luis Obispo, so it’s fitting to stay at one when you visit; try the Pacific Motel, a spiffy remake of a classic 1950s crash pad that reopened in late 2022. It’s just a few minutes’ walk from the beach.
You won’t find any hats by Sabreena Urness sold outside the area, and that’s by design. “She is a second-generation hatmaker and hyper-local, and they’re all formed by hand and made with unique materials,” says David Katz, general manager of River Lodge, another made-over motel here. Stop by her shop in Atascadero, Stellar & Sun.
Explore Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote for incredible landscapes.
Photo by Robert Harding Video/Shutterstock
January is great for: a snatch of winter sun in an unexpected spot
The Canary Islands are winter sun staples for many northern Europeans but far less popular for American travelers. The rocky cluster, 80 miles or so off the north coast of Africa, has dramatic, volcanic landscapes and spectacular beaches, many with black sand. (One of the most beautiful on Lanzarote is undoubtedly Playa del Charco de los Clicos, where the pitch-black sand contrasts with a lurid green lake and russet red cliffs.)
Lanzarote is the easternmost of the islands, and compared to the other major destination, Tenerife, it’s hotter and more desertlike, with a wilder coastline; temperatures are pleasant year-round and will hover in the 60s and 70s this month.
Stay at this adults-only, 282-room hotel. It’s anchored by a spectacular 19,000-square-foot swimming pool. If you can tear yourself away from a sun lounger, the all-inclusive rates also bundle excursions around the island: for example, to El Grifo winery.
Insider tip
Make sure to head to the town of Famara, says Paradisus employee Manuel Hernandez. “It’s a fabulous white sandy beach and the water there is full of life and color. It’s a marine reserve and a national park, and somewhere you can go surfing and kite surfing.”
Ko Yao Yai’s name means “small long island” in Thai.
Photo by Stock High angle view/Shutterstock
January is great for: quiet getaways in dry season
Expect one day of rain, at most, if you come to this island on the edge of Phang Nga Bay in January. Dry season here all but guarantees superb weather, with light breezes, temperatures in the 90s, and minimal humidity. All the better, then, to allow you to explore. It’s easy to pedal ’round its 19 square miles by bike, which allows you to stop in little villages or at quiet lagoons and sail past acres of rice paddies and mangrove forests.
It’s part of a 40-plus cluster of islands first made famous when one was featured in the 1974 Bond movie The Man With the Golden Gun, but there’s none of the trafficky overdevelopment that risks ruining paradises like Phuket. A trip here is a canny reminder that much of the Thai coastline retains the rustic charm that first lured armies of backpackers in the 1970s.
Barely a year old, this is the first five-star property on the island, set on 27 acres—book a pool villa if you want your own private dipping area.
Anantara manager Songklot Maniya suggests a mangrove kayaking trip. “It offers a unique opportunity to closely observe abundant wildlife in their natural habitat: fish, shrimp, prawns, crabs, shellfish, snails, and mudskippers.”
Look for tigers sunning themselves, idly, on one of the rocky outcrops at Bandhavgarh National Park this January.
Photo by Som Moulick/Shutterstock
January is great for: short films and long safaris
This month is peak dry season in the northwestern state of Madhya Pradesh, which makes the landscape scrubbier and the foliage less lush—the ideal time to head into Bandhavgarh National Park to go tiger-spotting. The almost 600-square-mile reserve has a dense population of big cats, including Bengal tigers and leopards.
While you’re in this region of India, scoot north to Jaipur, the Pink City, which holds its International Film Festival this month (this year, from January 17–21). The 15-year-old competitive fest typically draws entries from more than 60 countries.
Raffles Jaipur opened in July 2024, offering guests royal-level opulence with its scalloped archways, plunge pools, and jasmine-scented spa.
Raffles General Manager Binny Sebastian suggests another way of exploring the landscape in January: a Cycle Safari at Van Vihar National Park. “Rent a bicycle and explore the scenic Van Vihar National Park, where you can enjoy stunning views of Upper Lake while spotting wildlife such as tigers and leopards in their natural habitat,” he says.
