Christmas and New Year in India: where to go and when to book

The last two weeks of December are the busiest and most expensive fortnight of the year in almost all our lands. The weather explains why: Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala and Varanasi are dry, sunny and mild, and Indian school holidays coincide with international ones. For Christmas itself, Goa has the strongest tradition, with midnight mass in whitewashed village churches and family feasts of sorpotel and bebinca. For New Year, Rajasthan's palace hotels and the Kerala coast are the most popular. If you want fewer people, the North East and Nepal offer clear skies and space.

The most useful thing to know is timing. The best rooms for 20 December to 5 January are often committed six to nine months ahead, and many luxury hotels set minimum stays of three to five nights over Christmas and New Year, with compulsory gala dinners on 24 and 31 December. Booking in spring or early summer gives the widest choice. Booking in October is still possible, but expect to compromise on hotel or route.

Goa's Catholic villages make Christmas here feel lived rather than staged. Churches are lit and decorated, homes hang paper stars, and families exchange the consoada, trays of homemade sweets such as kulkuls, neureos, dodol and bebinca. Midnight mass at a village church in Salcete or at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa is open to visitors who dress modestly and arrive early. The Feast of St Francis Xavier on 3 December and the Serendipity Arts Festival in Panjim, usually in mid-December, make the whole month worth considering; check current status before you travel.

The beaches are at their busiest. North Goa between Baga and Vagator is crowded and loud around New Year, and traffic slows every road. For a calmer Christmas we suggest the south: Taj Exotica at Benaulim or The Leela at Mobor, with day trips to the Salcete mansions. Ahilya by the Sea at Nerul, a small hotel on a quiet creek, suits those who want to stay near Panjim. Rates over these weeks are the highest of Goa's year, and many villas ask for minimum stays of five to seven nights.

Late December in Rajasthan brings clear days of about 20 to 24 °C and cold nights, close to freezing at times in the desert. Palace hotels such as Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur are at their fullest, and most hold festive dinners on 24 and 31 December, often compulsory for guests in residence; we confirm the terms for each hotel when we hold rooms. Suryagarh, at the edge of the Thar near Jaisalmer, suits a New Year's Eve under clear desert skies.

Ranthambore is busy too, and safari permits for late December sell out as soon as they open, because Indian families travel in large numbers. Jawai, with leopards on granite hills and far fewer vehicles, is a calmer choice for wildlife over the holidays. A practical shape for the season is Jaipur for Christmas and Udaipur for New Year, with the drive broken at a smaller fort. Our eleven-night palace circuit starts from ₹6,50,000 per person outside the festive weeks; for Christmas departures, expect a supplement that we quote hotel by hotel.

Kerala in late December is warm, about 23 to 32 °C on the coast, with the north-east monsoon mostly over. Fort Kochi has a strong Christmas tradition among its Latin Catholic and Syrian Christian communities, and the Cochin Carnival ends with the burning of a giant Pappanji effigy near Fort Kochi beach on New Year's Eve; check current status before you travel. Brunton Boatyard and The Malabar House put you within walking distance of the old town's churches, lit streets and harbour.

Beyond Kochi, the backwaters and the coast fill quickly. One night on a private kettuvallam on Vembanad lake, then Coconut Lagoon or Kumarakom Lake Resort, makes a quieter Christmas than the beach towns. Marari, north of Alappuzha, is calmer than Kovalam or Varkala over New Year. Munnar's tea hills are cool, around 10 to 20 °C, and popular with Indian families during school holidays. Our six-night Kochi and backwaters journey starts from ₹1,85,000 per person outside the peak fortnight.

If crowds are the thing to avoid, look east. The Hornbill Festival in Kohima runs from 1 to 10 December, so a Nagaland and Kaziranga journey finishes before the holiday rush, with Kaziranga's dry season under way. Shillong and the Khasi Hills, largely Christian, mark Christmas with lit churches and carols, and the days are clear and cool. In Nepal, December brings some of the clearest mountain views of the year over the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with cold mornings and fewer visitors than in the autumn trekking season.

Ladakh in winter is for the committed: Leh drops to minus 10 °C or lower at night, many hotels close, and only a few heated properties stay open. Ladakhi Losar, the local new year, usually falls in December or early January. Varanasi and Agra are beautiful in winter light but prone to dense fog from mid-December into January, which delays flights and trains and can hide the Taj Mahal until late morning. Check current status before you travel.

The table summarises when we suggest booking for 20 December to 5 January, and how pricing usually behaves. It is a guide, not a promise: each hotel sets its own festive terms, and we quote them when we hold rooms.

Two habits help with price. First, travel from 6 January rather than 26 December: the weather in Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala is just as good, rates usually fall back, and the same hotels have rooms. Second, keep the festive nights to one or two places and spend the rest of the journey somewhere quieter. A Goa Christmas followed by Kerala's hills in early January costs noticeably less than ten nights at peak rates on one coast.

A few practical points from planning these weeks every year:

If you are reading this in spring or summer, you are in time for the best choice of rooms. Tell us where you would like to wake up on Christmas morning and on New Year's Day, and we will build the rest of the journey around those two dates.

• Fix flights first. International fares to India for late December rise early, and domestic flights to Goa, Udaipur and Kochi fill weeks ahead.
• Ask about compulsory dinners. Many luxury hotels add a gala dinner charge on 24 or 31 December that is not optional.
• Check minimum stays before choosing a route. A three-night minimum can upset a journey planned around two-night stops.
• Allow for fog in the north. Keep a buffer day before any international flight out of Delhi in late December.
• Book safaris and permits as soon as they open, including Ranthambore zones and Nagaland permits.