Best Places to Visit in January

If you live in a place with lots of winter, you might be ready to head to somewhere a bit warmer.  January is a good month to visit many places world wide, some quite warm and some a bit cooler.

January is the perfect time to visit Costa Rica because it is in the middle of the dry season.  There are so many outdoor activities to engage in from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve and Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. I can tell you from personal experience that the food down there is quite good.

Another place to visit is Lima, Peru where it is the middle of summer.  There are lots of beaches, a shopping mall built into the side of a cliff, several museums, and if you choose the correct time of the month, you can participate in Foundation day, celebrating the Spanish settling in Peru.

Bogota, Columbia is suggested as a great place to visit in January.  Columbia has a reputation for drug cartels but the country has been changing and has become safer recently.  Bogota offers several museums, a chance to enjoy Columbian coffee, or pop over to Andres Carne de Res with good food, dancing, and great entertainment.

If you prefer to stay in the United States, head down to Park City, Utah to participate in the Sundance Film Festival from January 23 to February 2nd.  There are film showings, discussions, and multi-media presentations.  In addition, one can pop over to do some skiing at Deer Valley, and Park City Mountain.  There is the Utah Olympic Park from the 2002 Olympics that people can visit.

Or perhaps check out Chicago, Illinois with museums, sports teams, art, music, and comedy.  Chicago is also known for its wide variety of food from deep dish food to burgers.  The other great thing about Chicago is that the cost of hotel rooms drops significantly at this time of year.

Have you ever thought of visiting the Canary Islands?  January is the perfect time to visit since the temperatures are perfect and the architecture once you've left the flashy resorts is spectacular.  There is the Cactus amphitheater, or a home with rooms carved into lava bubbles.  This place also has a volcanic national park and an art museum where people can swim underwater.

If you live in a warm place and want to check out cold weather head up to Montreal to enjoy the Igloofest with all sorts of entrainment.  There is also wonderful French chateau architecture to enjoy and awesome food such as smoked meat sandwiches or hand rolled bagels.  If you want to snowshoe, head up to Mount Royal to enjoy the view.  When you need to warm up you can head down to the underground filled with shops, movies, and restaurants located under the downtown area.

If you could visit Panama instead of Costa Rica.  The country has two long coastlines filled with beaches.  There is a Jazz Festival hosted in Panama during January but if that isn't your thing, you could head off to visit the San Blas Islands  protected  by the Kuna tribe.  There are no hotels, only hammocks and huts. Furthermore, the capital's old quarter is being renovated.

It is usually recommended for people to visit Australia during January but with the bush fires, this is not a good place to go.  If you want to head off, look at one of these places.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.