Some travelers are itching to escape the season’s bitter weather. If you want to find the locale that best suits your winter vacation, use these ideas to start planning your getaway.

Honolulu - Oahu

As temperatures begin to drop in other parts of the world, Hawaii’s capital city remains comfortable thanks to average highs in the low to 80 degrees. Visit Chinatown for festive Chinese New Year celebrations, or marvel at the Honolulu City Lights, a month-long Christmas display at Honolulu’s city hall. Keep in mind that winter is the island’s high season, so make your reservations early and expect to share the sand with lots of other sun-seeking travelers.

Sydney

Sydney’s summer begins in December and lasts through February, making this a popular destination for tourists escaping the Northern Hemisphere’s chilly winter weather. Average daytime temperatures hover between the mid-70s and low 80s. This time of year also features a packed events calendar, with can’t-miss sporting events and celebrations like the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix and Sydney’s famed New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Remember to book your tickets early, as this can be a pricey and popular time to visit Australia.

Galápagos Islands

Winter in the Galápagos Islands is marked by warm weather and ample opportunities to view wildlife, snorkel and scuba dive. Although this is technically the wet season, the sun shines most days and rain showers are brief. Plan on visiting in December to see newly hatched giant tortoises and male marine lizards displaying vivid colors. For a bit more action, arrive in February to celebrate Carnival on Santa Cruz Island. To read more, click here.

Top attractions

Amsterdam is most famous for its artistic heritage. This tradition is proudly on display in the Rijksmuseum(translates as State Museum). Once you’ve taken in all that has to offer, artists, history fans, and families shouldn’t pass up the chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum—containing around 700 paintings and drawings by Vincent and his contemporaries, including Gauguin, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Amsterdam is also home to the Anne Frank Museum, where Anne hid with her family during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands. On a lighter note, taking a canal cruise through its extensive waterways is a rewarding way to see the Dutch capital.

Art lovers get their kicks at:

•The Van Gogh Museum

•Rijksmuseum

•Museum Het Rembrandthuis

Food and drink

Cheese lovers love Amsterdam. You can find an excuse to eat cheese at any time of the day here. Gouda is Holland’s favourite, developing a more intense flavour the longer it’s aged. Find a selection at the markets, try a cheeseboard at dinner time, or just order cubes with mustard for dipping to accompany a drink.

When you’re hungry for non-cheese food groups, you’ll find Michelin-starred restaurants, vegetarian, and organic restaurants that accompany an array of global cuisine. For old-fashioned and modern Dutch food, try these Amsterdam restaurants: Moeders, Haesje Claes, Loetje, Greetje, and De Silveren Spiegel.

Don’t leave without tasting:

•Patat(hot chips with toppings)

•Stroopwafel(waffle cookie)

•Chocomel(chocolate milk)

Amsterdam Fast Facts

Approximate flight times:

• NYC/New York 7 hours 20 minutes

• Philadelphia 8 hours

• Boston 7 hours

• Miami 9 hours 45 minutes

• Los Angeles 10 hours 15 minutes

Entry requirements

Passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure from the Schengen area and have 2 blank pages for entry stamp.

Around the globe, sometimes in the most unexpected places, a handful of towns and villages stand out from the crowd, drawing the world’s attention and attracting thousands of visitors every year.

Bo-Kaap, South Africa

The ancestors of the residents of Bo-Kaap are mostly from Africa, Java, Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of Asia. These diverse cultures contributed much to the interesting architecture of the town and the houses are repainted in rainbow colours each year, with neighbours conferring to avoid a clash.

Tobermory, Scotland

One of the most biodiverse areas in Europe, many nature lovers are attracted to the island but Tobermory is perhaps best known for the brightly painted houses and buildings that line the waterfront.

Wroclaw, Poland

The old town of Wroclaw, Poland, has a complicated history. For decades as Europe warred around it, the city became in turn the province of Germany, Prussia and Austria. Now the town’s new Municipal Stadium, built for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, is covered with glass fibre mesh coated in Teflon, which can have any colour projected on it to reflect the mood of the event.

Patidad, India

In 2009, a small village called Patidad in Gujarat, western India, underwent a radical colour overhaul when a prominent local family decided absolutely everything should be painted pink. Believed to be a divine colour in Hinduism, every house, every gate and every temple was trans-formed with this color.