25 best holiday destinations in February 2024 - Condé Nast Traveller
The best holiday destinations in February
February might mark the month of romance with Valentine's Day, but the UK winter season is still very much ongoing. If there's ever a time to escape the cold, dark days and lift new year spirits, this is it. From summer sun in South America and culture hopping in Asia, to chic city breaks in Paris or Copenhagen, here we round up the best places to visit in February 2024. Looking for winter sun specifically? See our edit of where is hot in February.
Getty ImagesTulum, Mexico
Temperature in February: 27°C high; 21°C low
Season: Dry season
Travel time from UK: 10 hours
Time difference: GMT -5Over the past decade, this corner of Mexico's Caribbean coastline has become a bucket list staple for influencers and wellness enthusiasts. As a result, finding your own white-sand beach for the afternoon is a little tricky, but with miles of pristine shore and crystal-clear waters, that's the epitome of a first-world problem. It's like Tulum was designed for social media feeds. Beauty spots are at every turn, while the clever minds behind the design of the sleek hotels, bars and restaurants here have tapped into the pockets of aesthetes and lovers of all things boho-chic. History buffs head to the mysterious archaeological sites and Mayan ruins slightly inland, while many others opt to simply soak up the dry season's rays poolside or in the glitzy beach clubs.
Where to stay: Embrace jungle living at Hotel Bardo. Contemporary luxury is rooted in wellness, and regular rituals include sound healing ceremonies and yoga classes. It's an adults-only oasis where sun-kissed travellers emerge from loft-style villas in search of fruit platters and punchy cocktails by the swimming pool.
Getty ImagesCairo, Egypt
Temperature in February: 21°C high; 11°C low
Season: Spring
Travel time from UK: 5 hours
Time difference: GMT +2The ancient city of Cairo is a unique, fascinating city everyone should experience once in their lifetime. However, sightseeing isn't much fun in the blistering summer heat when temperatures exceed 40C. Visiting in February means you're more likely to stick to the bucket list itinerary and explore elsewhere while you're at it. Stand before the Grand Pyramids of Giza, explore the sandy desert scape by camel, and wile away the hours in the many museums.
Where to stay: Rest tired toes at the Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis. The sprawling hotel opened its doors at the end of 2023, and there are 252 rooms and suites to choose from. Make time for afternoon tea in the opulent Peacock Lounge, and sip chilled rosé at Le Jardin Pool Bar before heading to supper in the sleek Mediterranean brasserie.
Getty Images Maldives
Temperature in February 29°C high; 25°C low
Season: Dry
Travel time from UK: 10 hours 30 minutes
Time difference: GMT +5Never turn down a trip to the Maldives, even in monsoon season (May to November). But if you can choose, February is one of the best months of all to go – when the skies are clear and blue, the days long, dry and not too humid, and the sunshine turns the water a luminous turquoise that's hard to tear your gaze from. The waters are clear for snorkelling and diving and this is the time of year to see manta rays, tiger sharks and whales sharks. Check the eco-credentials of a resort before you book: many Maldives resorts have their in-house marine biologists and conservationists leading underwater and wildlife conservation initiatives; gardens where they can grow vegetables to supply their restaurants; are plastic-free or, like Kudadoo, use only solar power.
Where to stay: There are dozens of out-of-this-world Maldives hotels; the thing is to find the castaway fantasy that's right for you, whether you want haute cuisine or high-octane activities, knock-out design or lo-fi Crusoe chic. For a bit of everything, we love Gili Lankanfushi, where all villas sit stilted above one of the most beautiful lagoons in the country. For a cool newcomer, Patina Maldives offers hi-tech therapies at its unique Flow Spa, while its collection of bars and restaurants are all exceptional.
Getty Images Courchevel, France
Temperature in February: 2°C high; -6°C low
Season: winter
Travel time from UK: 1 hour 30 minutes flight to Chambéry; 9 hours by train
Time difference: GMT +1Courchevel is the superstar ski resort of the French Alps. Of its four villages, Courchevel 1850 is the highest, biggest and glitziest, drawing a jet-set crowd with its Michelin-star restaurants, super-smart chalets and hotels, posh aprés ski – oh yes, and its abundance of snowy slopes for all levels, on-piste and off, with a long season and 230 snow cannons to guarantee good snow. It's brilliant for superstar and beginner skiers alike, so makes a great option for the February half term; families may prefer the slightly less high-glamour vibe of 1650.
Where to stay: Ski-in ski-out Portetta in Courchevel Moriond (1650) is a lovely rustic-chic alpine retreat. There are lots of dark wood and log fires, a great spa (Bamford facials, double treatment rooms, gym, hammam), an Angela Hartnett Italian-influenced mountain restaurant, and 44 rooms including six loft duplexes and various family options with extra bunk rooms. If you're travelling in a group, the beautiful Chalet Montanum sleeps nine and offers a true ski-in, ski-out experience – there's slope access from the end of the drive.
Getty ImagesCotswolds, United Kingdom
Temperature in February: 7°C high; 1°C low
Season: winter
Travel time from London: 2 hours by train
Time difference: GMT +0If there's one thing that can make a British winter appealing, it's the thought of getting cosy in the Cotswolds. Amid a quintessentially English landscape, publicans pull artisan ales, sipped by roaring fires. Frosty walks ramble past country manors and up green hills topped with Iron Age forts. But while its home to some of the most beautiful villages in the UK, this isn't back-in-time England. Clued-in movers and shakers have helped sow an ultra-modern crop of Michelin-starred restaurants in the Cotswolds between the organic spacs, antiques stores and tea rooms. Naturally, rates and reservations are more manageable in winter. Two of the best hotels in the Cotswolds that particularly embody contemporary village living: Soho Farmhouse (copper bathtubs; bottled Negronis), and Lady Bamford's trailblazing Daylesford farm and estate, where the organic ethos extends to everything from the farm shop and pub to wellness treatments.
Where to stay: The Lygon Arms, located in a 16th-century coaching inn in the middle of Broadway Village. The interiors are of the traditional countryside kind and the four courtyard rooms are particularly spacious. For a private stay, takeover this quaint and cosy thatched cottage in Kingham, one of our favourite Airbnbs in the Cotwolds.
GettyParis, France
Temperature in February: 9°C high; 3°C low
Season: winter
Travel time from UK: 1 hour 15 minutes flight or 2 hours 15 minutes by train
Time difference: GMT +1The City of Love should be an obvious pick in February, but potential suitors are all-too-often put off by the weather. Très grosse erreur. Anyone who knows the French knows they scarper tout de suite in summer, shuttering restaurants, frustrating foreigners and not giving a tiny French fig. Come instead in winter, when everything's open, visitors are fewer, reservations easier and rates lower. All the best stuff is indoors anyway: cute, candle-lit bistros; echoey art museums; bo-bo (bourgeois-boho) bars. South Pigalle – or SoPo – still sizzles as one of Paris's hottest spots, where the best table is at Bouillon Pigalle. The queue around the block is worth it – three-course meals with drinks here can cost less than €25, practically unheard of within the list of the best restaurants in Paris.
Where to stay: Parisians in the know will recommend Château Voltaire, once the showroom for cult fashion label Zadig & Voltaire and now a super chic bolthole on the rue Saint-Roch. In terms of Paris hotels with a great location, it's hard to beat La Réserve which faces the Grand Palais and, at a slightly greater distance, the Eiffel Tower, overlooks the Champs-Elysées and is only a few doors down from the presidential palace. For Eiffel Tower views, take over The Margaux, a three-bedroom Airbnb apartment on the Left Bank.
Ana LuiBahamas
Temperature in February: 25°C high; 17°C low
Season: dry
Travel time from UK: 10 hours 15 minutes
Time difference: GMT -5Swap the white sludge on your doorstep for a bright white beach in the Bahamas. Those in the know head for the Caribbean islands in sleepy February, just as the December holiday crowds have dispersed and before the raucous spring breakers descend in March, for the pristine sands, laidback lifestyle and 18th-century streets tinged with the scent of frangipani. Take advantage of the relative quiet with a barefoot stroll across Pink Sands beach, consider a diving class after a long lunch on Harbour Island or while away the afternoon with a mojito and a novel – what's the rush?
Where to stay: Paradise Island is home to the most famous retreat in the Bahamas, One&Only Ocean Club, a 106-room resort with a neighbouring championship golf course, and a near-perfect, alabaster-white beach
Above: Poolside at The Other Side, on North Eleuthera.
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