Azores · Portugal
December
Quiet winter restart — Christmas in the volcanic islands is a genuinely unusual December holiday with low prices and empty trails.
Worth considering
#12 of 12 months
There are better months for Azores — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
18°C
Low
13°C
Rain
110mm
Sun
4hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How December scores in Azores
Weather
Below average
Value
Excellent
Crowds
Excellent
Events
Above average
Atmosphere
Good
What you gain in December
- ↑Christmas and New Year in the Azores is a local celebration rather than a tourist event — the Angra do Heroísmo Christmas market in the UNESCO baroque city centre, the midnight Christmas Mass at the historic São Salvador cathedral, and the São Silvestre (New Year's Eve) run through the cobbled streets give a festive experience entirely different from mainland European Christmas tourism
- ↑Sperm whale encounters in December have an unusual quality: the winter sea state creates natural upwellings that concentrate squid (the sperm whale's primary food source) in the deeper channels; whale watching in rough December seas is not for the faint-hearted but delivers more dramatic and less photographed encounters
- ↑The Azores in December costs 40–50% less than July across all accommodation and activity categories — for a family or couple looking for an unusual European Christmas break in genuine volcanic landscape, December represents the best cost/experience ratio in the Azores calendar
What you sacrifice
- ↓December is the wettest month alongside January — 110mm of rain and only 4 hours of sunshine; extended periods of grey wet weather are the baseline expectation and the Azores should be chosen in December specifically because the moody Atlantic character appeals
- ↓International flight connections reduce to minimum winter schedules in December — TAP Portugal connections via Lisbon are reliable but direct routes from Northern European cities largely cease until spring
- ↓All the caveats of January apply: some seasonal businesses closed, inter-island travel disrupted by storms, crater lake views frequently obscured
How December compares to May (best month)
| Factor | December | May ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 3 | 7 |
| Value | 8 | 7 |
| Crowds | 8 | 7 |
December in other destinations
Lisbon (14.4°C)Barcelona (13.8°C)Tokyo (12°C)Bali (30.3°C)Santorini (14.5°C)Paris (6.9°C)New York (5.1°C)Marrakech (18.1°C)Amsterdam (6.4°C)Maldives (30°C)Rome (11.7°C)Bangkok (30.4°C)Istanbul (9.4°C)Vienna (3°C)Seoul (3.7°C)Dubrovnik (11.6°C)Rio de Janeiro (29.5°C)Kyoto (11.3°C)Phuket (31.8°C)Cape Town (25.6°C)Prague (3°C)Amalfi Coast (13°C)Mexico City (21°C)Medellín (28°C)Fiji (30°C)London (8°C)Sydney (26°C)Iceland (2°C)Tulum (28°C)Dubai (25°C)Singapore (30°C)Hoi An (24°C)Chiang Mai (27.5°C)Miami (25.6°C)Florence (9.8°C)Queenstown (21°C)Madrid (9.5°C)Porto (14°C)Edinburgh (7°C)Copenhagen (5°C)Budapest (5°C)Kraków (2°C)Tbilisi (7°C)Palawan (29°C)Hanoi (20°C)Osaka (11°C)Goa (32°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (29°C)Mykonos (14°C)Zanzibar (31°C)Sri Lanka (30°C)Costa Rica (25°C)Cancun (28°C)Krabi (32°C)Athens (14°C)Seville (15°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (28°C)Havana (26°C)Split (11°C)Taipei (20°C)Kuala Lumpur (32°C)Valletta (16°C)Ho Chi Minh City (31°C)Hawaii (27°C)Cappadocia (6°C)Dominican Republic (28°C)Jamaica (30°C)Tanzania (27°C)Seychelles (30°C)Nepal (17°C)Jordan (14°C)Bora Bora (30°C)Los Angeles (20.4°C)Cairo (20.8°C)Kenya (26°C)Jaipur (22.8°C)Las Vegas (14.7°C)San Francisco (13.8°C)Madeira (20°C)Vancouver (7.1°C)Muscat (27.8°C)Lima (24.2°C)Cinque Terre (12°C)Kotor (11°C)Tel Aviv (19°C)Santiago (29°C)Bogotá (18°C)Bruges (6.8°C)Penang (30.9°C)Lombok (30.9°C)Cape Verde (26.8°C)Fez (15.2°C)Kerala (31°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (19°C)Oslo (2°C)Auckland (22°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Azores, not across destinations. Methodology →