Best Places to Go in India in December: Weather, Regions and Festivals

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) divides the year into winter (January and February), the pre-monsoon season (March to May), the south-west monsoon (June to September) and the post-monsoon season (October to December). December ends the post-monsoon season, which is also the north-east monsoon season for the south of the peninsula, so the north is turning cold and dry while the Tamil Nadu coast is still being rained on. These are IMD's average December figures for named weather stations.

The Delhi, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Srinagar, Gulmarg and Chennai rows are IMD's 1991–2020 normals; Leh's come from IMD's table for 2011 to 2024, and the others from IMD's climate profile of each city.

Delhi, Agra and the northern plains

Days are mild and nights cold, with almost no rain. The risk is fog. Delhi's Safdarjung station records fog on 19.2 days in an average December, against 12.3 in November and 21.6 in January, and IMD's profiles note winter fog at Agra and Varanasi. IMD calls fog dense when visibility falls to between 50 and 200 metres and very dense at 50 metres or less. Its warnings say fog may affect some airports, highways and railway routes, and advise travellers to keep in touch with airlines, railways and state transport about their schedules.

Rajasthan and the Thar desert

December suits forts, palaces and long drives: neither Jaipur nor Jaisalmer gets 4 mm of rain, and nights of 9.9°C and 11.0°C mean early starts and desert evenings need a jacket. Fog is rare here compared with Delhi: IMD counts 1.2 days in Jaipur and 1.0 in Jaisalmer. Rajasthan Tourism says Ranthambore National Park is open from October to June.

Kashmir, Ladakh and the Himalaya

Gulmarg, in Baramulla district, is where the snow is: the district describes it in winter as fully covered in snow, a paradise for skiers, with "White Christmas" and New Year celebrations. Srinagar is below freezing at night, and Leh is far colder but receives little precipitation.

The Leh district gives the Srinagar–Leh highway's open season as May to November or December and the Manali–Leh road's as May or June to September or October, so reach Leh by air. It requires every arriving tourist to acclimatise for at least 48 hours before going higher, to places such as Khardung La and Pangong Lake. In Himachal Pradesh, Himachal Tourism says December and January temperatures at Manali can fall below −5°C and heavy snow closes the Rohtang Pass in late November.

Goa and the west coast

Goa is warm and dry. IMD describes the skies at Panaji outside the south-west monsoon as lightly to moderately clouded.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the south

Kerala is warm with little rain: Kochi averages 46 mm in December and Thiruvananthapuram 63 mm, and IMD says Thiruvananthapuram takes about 30% of its yearly rain from the north-east monsoon. Tamil Nadu is wetter. Chennai averages 182.4 mm on 5.5 rainy days in December, down from 373.6 mm in November but far above January's 16.2 mm. Carry rain gear on the Tamil Nadu coast and leave slack in the day.

Kolkata and the north-east

December is the driest month of the year in both Kolkata and Guwahati, and IMD records fog at Guwahati in the latter part of the post-monsoon season and in winter. Shillong is cooler, at 16.0°C by day and 7.2°C at night. The Assam Forest Department gives November to April as the best season for Kaziranga National Park.

The Andaman Islands

Port Blair is not yet dry. IMD describes it as wet through the year except from January to April, and December's 140 mm is down from 236 mm in November.

• Rajasthan. Mild days for forts, palaces and long drives: see the Rajasthan travel guide, the Jaisalmer guide for the desert and the Rajasthan tour packages. Ranthambore is in season too: see the Ranthambore tour packages.
• The Golden Triangle. Delhi, Agra and Jaipur have comfortable days and some foggy mornings to plan around; see our Delhi, Agra and Jaipur travel guides.
• Goa. Warm, with almost no rain; see our Goa travel guide and the Goa tour packages.
• Kerala. Warm, with little rain, for the backwaters and the coast: the Kerala travel guide and Kerala tour packages.
• Tamil Nadu. Temple towns and the coast, with rain gear: the Tamil Nadu travel guide and the Tamil Nadu tour packages.
• Assam, Odisha and Nagaland. Assam is dry, with Kaziranga in season, and Odisha and Nagaland each hold a festival in the first days of the month; see the Assam travel guide, the Odisha travel guide and the Odisha tour packages.
• Snow. Gulmarg: see the Gulmarg travel guide. In Himachal, see the Manali tour packages.
• Ladakh, by air. Cold and dry: see the Ladakh travel guide and Ladakh tour packages.

More ideas for the cold months are in our list of places to go in winter in India.

• Fog in the north. Leave a spare day between a long rail or road journey across the northern plains and an international flight home, and check domestic flights in India for connections.
• Temples closed for winter. The Shri Badarinath Kedarnath Temple Committee says the Kedarnath shrine generally closes on the first day of Kartik, in October or November, and reopens in Vaishakh, in April or May, with winter worship at Ukhimath; it gives Badrinath's open season as April or May to November. Char Dham is not a December trip; our Char Dham travel guide covers the season.
• Vaishno Devi in the Christmas holidays. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board names the second half of December, with weekends in May and June and other school, college and office holiday blocks, as periods of heavy rush, when pilgrims are asked to wait at Katra and no registrations are issued.
• Cold nights. Pack layers for the north; our packing guide has the list.
• Christmas to New Year's Day. These are fixed dates when many people travel at once. Book flights and rooms early for that week.

• Konark Festival. Odisha Tourism holds it every year from 1 to 5 December at the Sun Temple in Konark, with Odissi and other classical dance and music in the open air.
• Hornbill Festival. Nagaland Tourism describes it as a ten-day annual event showing the state's cultural heritage, with performances by different Naga tribes, and lists it from 1 to 10 December.
• Mount Abu Winter Festival. Rajasthan Tourism holds it in December, with a procession, kite flying and the Deepdaan ceremony of floating lamps on Nakki Lake; see our Mount Abu travel guide. It says the Ranakpur festival is usually held on 21 and 22 December.
• Losar. The Leh district places the Ladakhi new year at some point between 8 and 30 December, near the winter solstice.
• Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. 25 and 31 December. Our articles on where to celebrate Christmas in India and where to celebrate New Year list places for each.

In the month before, India in November, Chennai's rainfall peaks at 373.6 mm. The month after, India in January, brings the northern plains' foggiest days, 21.6 at Delhi's Safdarjung station.