Where is hot in December on a budget?

Among the countries at 22 °C or more in December, the cheapest are Oman (£1,233), Qatar (£1,266) and India (£1,275), flight from London included. For 25 °C or more, the cheapest is Oman (£1,233).

Is the flight included?

Yes. The budget adds the return flight from London (middle value of three pairs of dates around Christmas) to seven nights in a 3-star hotel, meals and local transport.

How were the prices collected?

In October 2026, on lastminute.com: a return flight from London to each country for three pairs of dates around Christmas (one stop at most, middle value of the three), and up to 20 3-star hotels in the arrival city from 20 to 27 December (price of the cheapest quarter). Amounts are in pounds.

HelloSafe data2026 edition · 96 countries · flights from London · prices surveyed in October 2026

Cheap Christmas Holidays 2026: the Cheapest Countries from London

Cheap Christmas holidays: the budget for a week in 96 countries, flight from London included. Albania is the cheapest (£662), Oman the cheapest in the sun.

Top 3 cheapest · Christmas 2026per person, flight included

under £1,000£1,000–£1,500£1,500–£2,000£2,000+

A. Fruchard
Co-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Last updated: 22 October 2026100 % public, traceable data

Key facts

Cheap Christmas holidays in 30 seconds

96countries ranked by the budget for a week at Christmas, flying from London

£662Albania, the cheapest destination: £91 for the return flight and £571 on site

£1,233Oman, the cheapest of the 30 countries at 25 °C or more in December

426flight searches from London and hotel surveys in 137 cities, in October 2026

The essentials in 20 seconds

Albania (£662), Algeria (£705) and Tunisia (£729) are the cheapest destinations for a week at Christmas from London, flight included.
To be warm, budget more: Oman (£1,233), Malaysia (£1,436) and the United Arab Emirates (£1,472) are the cheapest of the countries at 25 °C or more.
Short-haul Europe leads: 7 of the 10 cheapest destinations are in Europe, where a return flight from London often costs under £300.
The stay weighs more than the flight: on average the flight is 44 % of the budget; the hotel, meals and transport make the difference.

01 · Ranking

Cheap Christmas holidays: the 2026 ranking from London

Where can you go for Christmas without breaking the bank when you fly from London? The 96 countries are ranked by the budget for one person for a week: the return flight from London and seven days on site, in pounds. Type a country's name to see its rank, its budget and the split between flight and stay.

Search a country…

#1 worldwide · #1 in Europe

Albania

£662a weekunder £1,000

Budget for a week at Christmas: £662 per person, including £91 for the return flight from London and £571 on site (3-star hotel at £37 a night, meals and transport). In December in Tirana: 7 °C during the day and 109 mm of rain. Safety: 55/100.

Budget breakdown

Return flight from London£91

Week on site£571

Safety55/100

December weather1/100

Flight and week on site for one person (3-star hotel, meals, transport). December safety and weather out of 100, as a guide: the ranking follows the price.

Insurance for Albania →

☀ Looking for the sun? See the ranking that takes the weather into account ↓

02 · World map

The budget for a week at Christmas around the world

Each country in the colour of its band: under £1,000 a week, £1,000 to £1,500, £1,500 to £2,000, over £2,000. Click a country to see the detail of its budget and its December weather.

Showing 96 of 96 published countries · click a country for its info

Why are some countries grey? We rank the countries that can be reached from London with one stop at most, whose HelloSafe safety score reaches 40 out of 100, that the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) does not advise against and where at least five 3-star hotels were offered.

03 · Regional rankings

The cheapest countries for Christmas by region

Each region ranked on its own, with each country's place in the overall ranking. The cheapest destination is Albania in Europe (£662), Algeria in Africa (£705), Georgia in Asia (£828), Panama in the Americas (£1,705) and Australia in Oceania (£2,778).

Africa · average £1,649 · 25 countries scored, 17 published

Cheapest countries · Africa

1Algeria£705#2
2Tunisia£729#3
3Morocco£795#6
4Egypt£861#13
5Tanzania£1,516#54
6Cape Verde£1,533#55
7Rwanda£1,615#59
8Senegal£1,634#60
9South Africa£1,741#67
10Côte d’Ivoire£1,785#71
11Angola£1,834#72
12Ghana£1,837#73
13Madagascar£1,948#76
14Botswana£1,949#77
15Namibia£2,115#79
16Zambia£2,126#80
17Seychelles£2,382#89

Reader service: the budget does not include travel insurance or medical care on site. A doctor's visit or a hospital stay abroad can cost far more than the week itself. Our travel insurance comparison compares policies in 30 seconds. For a ranking that holds all year, without the flight, see the cheapest countries to visit.

04 · Sun on a budget

Where is hot in December? The cheapest warm countries

The ranking above mixes every climate. This one keeps only the 38 countries where it is 22 °C or more during the day in December, ranked from cheapest to most expensive. The amount shown is the budget for a week, flight from London included.

Search a country…

1Oman£1,23325 °CDry10 mm
2Qatar£1,26624 °CDry9 mm
3India£1,27523 °CDry8 mm
4Malaysia£1,43628 °CRainy season263 mm
5United Arab Emirates£1,47225 °CDry14 mm
6Sri Lanka£1,47428 °CRainy season175 mm
7Thailand£1,47931 °CDry10 mm
8Bahrain£1,51222 °CDry8 mm
9Tanzania£1,51630 °CSome showers127 mm
10Cape Verde£1,53324 °CDry33 mm
11Vietnam£1,53730 °CDry32 mm
12Indonesia£1,58728 °CRainy season272 mm
13Rwanda£1,61525 °CSome showers109 mm
14Senegal£1,63426 °CDry13 mm
15Panama£1,70529 °CSome showers108 mm
16Maldives£1,70928 °CRainy season184 mm
17South Africa£1,74128 °CSome showers127 mm
18Dominican Republic£1,75227 °CDry46 mm
19Peru£1,75222 °CDry3 mm
20Philippines£1,75727 °CRainy season393 mm
21Côte d’Ivoire£1,78530 °CDry50 mm
22Angola£1,83429 °CDry29 mm
23Ghana£1,83730 °CDry25 mm
24Costa Rica£1,93826 °CSome showers70 mm
25Madagascar£1,94824 °CRainy season388 mm
26Botswana£1,94933 °CSome showers90 mm
27Namibia£2,11532 °CDry53 mm
28Zambia£2,12628 °CRainy season205 mm
29Trinidad & Tobago£2,15028 °CRainy season178 mm
30Argentina£2,21626 °CSome showers94 mm
31Chile£2,22028 °CDry7 mm
32Paraguay£2,23533 °CRainy season179 mm
33Seychelles£2,38228 °CRainy season164 mm
34Uruguay£2,44325 °CSome showers86 mm
35Singapore£2,54428 °CRainy season300 mm
36Australia£2,77824 °CSome showers72 mm
37Guyana£2,83728 °CRainy season257 mm
38Fiji£3,20229 °CRainy season224 mm

Oman (£1,233, 25 °C), Qatar (£1,266, 24 °C) and India (£1,275, 23 °C) are the cheapest warm countries. For 25 °C or more, budget at least £1,233 (Oman).

Reading the results

Cheap or sunny: you have to choose

The cheapest: Albania, Algeria and TunisiaAlbania costs £91 for the flight and £571 on site; Algeria £290 and £415; Tunisia £316 and £413. In December it is 7 °C in Tirana, 16 °C in Algiers and 16 °C in Tunis.

Short-haul Europe leads the rankingWith short, cheap flights, Europe takes 7 of the top 10 places: Albania (£662), Moldova (£769), Kosovo (£769) and Latvia (£795). The first destination outside Europe and North Africa is Georgia (11th).

In the sun: Oman, Malaysia and the United Arab EmiratesFor 25 °C or more, Oman (£1,233), Malaysia (£1,436) and the United Arab Emirates (£1,472) are the cheapest of the 30 warm countries in the ranking, ahead of Sri Lanka (£1,474) and Thailand (£1,479).

The flight makes the priceThe cheapest week on site is in Nepal (£259), but the flight (£1,228) puts the country in 52nd place. The cheapest flight goes to Ireland (£70).

Watch out for rainDecember is the rainy season in Kuala Lumpur (263 mm in the month), Colombo (175 mm) and Bali (272 mm). Muscat (10 mm), Doha (9 mm) and New Delhi (8 mm) are dry.

Our method

Methodology

Budget for a week = return flight from London + seven days on site, for one person, in pounds. Built by HelloSafe's travel insurance team from our own price survey, independently of our comparison: we did not reuse any existing ranking.

Our price surveyOn 21 October 2026, we queried lastminute.com's search tool for 137 countries from London: 426 return-flight searches (three pairs of dates per country, up to three offers compared each time). Hotels come from our survey of 13, 14 and 20 October 2026: one search per arrival city, up to 20 3-star hotels each. Every amount in the ranking comes from a price actually offered for booking that day, not an estimate or an index.

The flightReturn flight from London (all airports), one adult, economy, one stop at most and 20 hours at most per leg; for destinations with no such flight, the limit is 30 hours per leg, still with one stop at most. Three pairs of dates: 19 to 26, 20 to 27 and 21 to 28 December 2026. For each date we keep the cheapest offer that meets these conditions, then the middle value of the three dates, so that a one-day deal does not decide the rank.

The hotel3-star hotels in the arrival city, one person, 20 to 27 December 2026. We keep the price of the cheapest quarter of the hotels offered (up to 20): what a traveller who compares a little pays, without aiming for the most basic hotel. Cities with fewer than five 3-star hotels offered are not ranked.

Meals and transportPer day: two inexpensive meals, half a dinner for two in a mid-range restaurant and four local transport tickets. These prices come from Numbeo (mid-2026 edition), the largest database of prices reported by residents, for each country's capital; we use only these prices, not its cost-of-living index. All amounts are converted to pounds at the European Central Bank rate of 20 October 2026 (€1 = £0.84028).

Safety and weatherWe remove countries whose HelloSafe safety score is under 40 out of 100 (Global Peace Index, Corruption Perceptions Index and World Bank governance indicators), and those where the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) advises against all travel or all but essential travel to the whole country or to the arrival city: as of 21 October 2026, Saudi Arabia. The weather (mean daily high and December rainfall in the arrival city, NASA POWER normals) is not part of the main ranking.

The warm countries rankingIt keeps only the countries where the mean December high reaches 22 °C in the arrival city (NASA POWER normals), ranked on the same budget as the main ranking. The HelloSafe safety score and the weather score out of 100 are given for each country, as a guide.

What the study does not show

Flight and hotel prices change every day: those in the ranking are from late October 2026, two months before departure.
The budget is for a solo traveller. Two people share the room and the budget per person drops.
Meals and transport are at capital-city prices; tourist areas are often more expensive.
The budget does not include visas, travel insurance or activities.
Only departures from London are studied. From Manchester, Birmingham or Edinburgh, the ranking may change.

A question about the method? Contact us →

05 · For journalists

Ready-to-publish visuals

This is exactly what your readers will see: the live block, with its credit link. Free to reproduce with credit to HelloSafe; a PNG version is included for CMSs that do not accept embeds.

HelloSafe data 2026

The cheapest countries for Christmas from Londonunder £1,000£1,000–£1,500£1,500–£2,000£2,000+Source: HelloSafe, Cheap Christmas Holidays 2026: the Cheapest Countries from London

World map · live embed, PNG version includedDownload PNG

“Albania is the cheapest destination for a week at Christmas from London: £662 per person, flight included.”

“To get 25 °C at Christmas, the cheapest option is Oman, at £1,233 for the week, flight included.”

“From London, Europe is the cheap option at Christmas: 7 of the 10 cheapest destinations, flight included.”

Quotes from Antoine Fruchard, travel insurance expert and author of the study · Contact us

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Albania, with a budget of £662 per person for a week from London: £91 for the return flight and £571 on site. Next come Algeria (£705) and Tunisia (£729).

Data updatesThe 2027 edition is coming. Be the first to see it.New prices, the data and the press kit, in your inbox on publication day.

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