11+ Best Places to Travel in November 2023 (Detailed List)

What are the top places to travel to for a November vacation? In many parts of the world, November is a mixed bag. The season of autumn is over in most of the Northern Hemisphere, but winter has not yet begun.

It’s cold, miserable, and dark in a large part of North America and Europe. You need not, however, permit such gloom to dampen your spirits. A trip to a warmer, sunnier locale is highly recommended in the month of November.

This article covers some of our favorite November getaways to get you started on your planning. In literal terms, these are the top places to travel in November.

Best Places to Travel in November

The following covers not only the top places to travel to in November but valid reasons behind these picks.

Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa is one of the best places to travel to in November. And at the center of great destinations in the country is Cape Town.

Cape Town has so many attractions that seeing them all would require at least a year. If you don’t have a full 12 months, though, and are instead looking for a great place to spend the month of November, you’re in luck.

In November, as Cape Town enters its summer season, the city sees an influx of tourists. Cape Town enjoys pleasant average temperatures of 18 degrees Celsius. When compared to other regions, it is also relatively dry.

Beginning in November, temperatures across South Africa rise; some may even say they rise to intolerable levels; however, Cape Town typically maintains a mild climate. It’s best to go there before the busy holiday and summer months. Cape Town, Stellenbosch, and the Winelands were high on our itinerary, and we finished off our trip with a safari at Gondwana Tented Camps.

Maafushivaru Maldives

In November, the Maldives are among the top international places to travel to for fun. Travel to the Maldives can be had at a discount if you go during the “shoulder season” of November. Price increases in December are offset by the increased likelihood of precipitation for trips taken between November and April.

In November, we spent two wonderful weeks in the Maldives. It was the kind of fantastical destination we’ve always fantasized about visiting. We only experienced one day of rain the entire trip, and it was minimal.

The Maldives’ hotels and resorts are also less crowded than they would be during the peak season. Consider going in November if you’ve always wanted to visit the Maldives but were put off by the high cost.

Petra, Jordan

The month of November is a wonderful time to visit Jordan. There are fewer visitors, but the weather isn’t too hot. There is a chance of snow in Jordan during the winter months.

During the summer, Jordan can become very hot. Extreme heat makes it unpleasant to explore historical sites like Petra and the Wadi Rum desert on foot. This is why a trip to Jordan in November is like stepping into a fairy tale. We never experienced anything other than bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures (though it was still quite warm during the day).

Keep in mind that, particularly in Wadi Rum, it can get quite chilly at night, so be sure to pack accordingly.

Turkish Coast

When it comes to European destinations in the month of November, Turkey is one of the best places to travel to. Some people prefer the weather in Turkey in the fall and winter because it is cooler than in the summer.

Even though it’s not peak season, there are still plenty of tourists hanging out in the area. During this time, lodging and transportation costs will decrease. Shoulder seasons in Turkey are typically wonderful.

Sunny days are the norm, and temperatures remain mild—just right for exploring Cappadocia or lounging in Pamukkale. Bodrum and the coast are great, but you can’t go wrong with Istanbul either.

Lisbon, Portugal

As the rest of Europe shivers, Portugal remains enviably mild: the average November temperature in Lisbon is 18°C. Of course, it’s not just the weather that draws visitors to this cobbled capital: it’s a hive of high-end but refreshingly affordable restaurants, raucous hole-in-the-wall bars, and covetable concept stores (not to mention those cute, canary-yellow vintage trams).

Lisbon has even been named Europe’s most affordable city break for 2023. Make time to visit the trendy Cais do Sodré neighborhood, which has a spruced-up riverfront promenade, cool warehouse conversions, and fab food stalls at the Time Out-curated Mercado da Ribeira.

Sayulita, Mexico City

Join the hippies in this Pacific Coast surf town, where brightly painted design boutiques and vintage surfboard shops coexist with al pastor stands and street food sold from wheelbarrows. It’s a laid-back scene, with more catching waves and afternoon Margaritas than yoga and cold-pressed juice. It’s less glam than Tulum, but much hipper than resort-y Puerto Vallarta further south. The lack of major hotels in favor of hippie-chic guesthouses (Casa Love and Petit Hotel Hafa are favorites) gives the impression that Sayulita is a well-kept secret – but come Christmas, Sayulita is packed.

\However, if you arrive just before peak season, not only will the summer rain and humidity have subsided, but it will also be the best time for whale watching. Consider staying in San Pancho, Sayulita’s quieter neighbor. The small hotels here are inextricably linked to the community. Tailwind Jungle Lodge, for example, hosts community events, donates to local sustainable development, and promotes local businesses to guests – all while being only a 30-minute drive from Sayulita for a day of surfing.

Athens, Greece

Athens is a fantastic and warm weekend city break destination, where a new youth culture is breathing new life into this historic city and hip young start-ups are thriving despite austerity. In once-dark neighborhoods, performance spaces, art galleries, and quirky bars have sprouted up, and high-end stores have been reborn as restaurants. Visit in November, when it’s cool enough to walk around the Acropolis and Parthenon while still having a crisp blue-sky backdrop for your Instagram photos. The fact that you’ll also avoid the crowds is the icing on the cake.

Antigua and Barbuda

Friday nights in Antigua usually consist of rum punch and barbecued spiny-tailed lobster, dancing barefoot on the beach in the moonlight, and walking home the next morning sandy and disheveled but happy. The island is as wild and wonderful as it is flashy, with empty white-sand beaches away from the five-star hotels and super yachts. Book an ecotour at Wallings Nature Reserve, the world’s first community-managed national park, to support conservation and biodiversity. Hike this non-profit sanctuary to learn about its history and wildlife. Barbuda, Antigua’s little sister, is more laid-back, with a few low-key hotels.

East Sussex, England

Summer is probably the best time for walkers. Autumn is a treat of a time for a South Downs weekender for blustery yomps along the beach or over the Downs, followed by local ales fireside in some toasty, well-restored boozer – which the area has in spades. The South Downs National Park encompasses 165 conservation areas, over a dozen European wildlife sites, and thousands of listed buildings and monuments, with the South Downs Way stretching for 100 miles. The walk is divided into short sections and is well marked for cyclists and walkers.

Throughout the year, The Sustainability Centre hosts workshops for both children and adults. On 5 November, it hosts the most spectacular Guy Fawkes’ Night celebration anywhere, when the market town of Lewes transforms into the world’s bonfire capital, with processions, fireworks displays, flaming tar barrels, and burning effigies lighting up its streets.

Iceland

The dark winter nights of Iceland arrive in November, bringing with them the best chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Yes, you’ll be told to manage your expectations, that aurora-hunting is a tricky business, but in a country where seeing the dance of the green veils as you exit the airport is not unheard of, you’d have to be rather unlucky to miss out. Staying somewhere as deliciously remote as Deplar Farm will help you stack the odds in your favor. The best hotel in Iceland is a luxury hideaway on the remote Troll Peninsula, with activities ranging from sensory-deprivation pods to heli-skiing excursions.

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Frank Lloyd Wright believed that Arizona deserved its own architecture and that the state encouraged a distinct desert aesthetic. So he set about dispersing that legacy across the desolate landscape from his winter home and studio, Taliesin West in Scottsdale, just outside the state capital, Phoenix, and perhaps the pinnacle of mid-century Arizona style. It was only a matter of time before Phoenix’s decades-long reputation as an arid, old-school spa town gave way to that of an edgy, visual arts mecca. Inevitably, the cool young things descended, bringing with them cool and culture.

Taliesin West has been converted into an art museum and architecture school, while Bentley Gallery at Bentley Projects showcases exciting mid-career artists beneath the exposed pipes of a restored warehouse and former laundry. Phoenix today is the kind of place where you can drink cocktails in an Art Deco landmark (Bitter & Twisted) before retiring to a fabulously retro hotel designed by a Wright protégé and once frequented by Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant (Hotel Valley Ho). The best view of the city, however, requires a hike up red-rock Camelback Mountain, which is an easier proposition in November’s mid-20s temperatures.

Essaouira, Morocco

Morocco is ideal for a quick dose of winter sun – even for a weekend getaway. Windswept beaches and surf towns like Taghazout and Tamraght line the coast, where it’s all about relaxing in the sun. Fresh-caught fish is grilled over smoking-hot coals in shacks right on the harbour, and shisha smoke rises from rooftop bars in Essaouira. It was a hangout for Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens, and it’s still a free-spirited place, with dozens of independent galleries and boutiques selling locally made pottery and crafts. Make time to do some ethical shopping. Mashi Mushki, which sells locally made art and crafts, donates a portion of its profits to Project 91, which assists Essaouira’s young people in finding work. Villa Maroc, a swanky (and environmentally friendly) boutique hotel, sells Argan oil produced by a local cooperative.

Tenerife, Spain

Tenerife is well-known for its year-round sunshine. That’s great, but beyond the beaches and package-holiday crowds, there’s another side to this Canary Island that will delight the more curious traveller: architecture in the colonial towns of La Laguna and La Orotava, low-key restaurants in fishing villages like Garachico, lunar landscapes to walk through in its blackened interior, and contemporary art and architecture in Santa Cruz. Whales and whale-watchers abound in the waters around Tenerife. Not all whale-watching excursions are run responsibly; check their eco-certification first. To reduce noise and carbon footprint, Whale Wise Eco Tours uses solar-powered electric boats. Furthermore, the island is one of the best places in the world for stargazing, located 200 miles out in the Atlantic.

Oman

If you’re looking for some winter sun, somewhere remote with wide open spaces, and only a short flight away from the UK, Oman might be the place for you. Muscat is home to centuries-old traditions, ornate mosques, and fragrant souks. The Musandam Peninsula, hidden by the imposing Hajar mountains on the west coast, has empty coves and always-warm green-blue water. Travel along the southern coast for even more dramatic scenery, camping among the dunes in goat’s-hair Bedouin tents. Choose an overland camping adventure with Responsible Travel that takes you from the capital, Muscat, to the unexpectedly green Salalah in the south. You’ll visit Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve and the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in addition to traditional fishing villages and learning about Bedouin life from local guides.

Namibia

Namibia’s vast, remote landscapes are among the most spectacular on the planet. Mountainous dunes, endless empty desert, untouched savannah where elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hippos, rhinos, and giraffes roam. A slew of spectacular new camps has opened in recent years, allowing wildlife enthusiasts to explore the country’s most remote corners. While November marks the beginning of the rainy season in Namibia, this is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of wildlife variety and sheer drama.

Verbier, Switzerland

The emphasis in Verbier, Switzerland, is on having fun. The best backcountry skiing in the Alps is available to the smugly accomplished. The hopeless can simply park their planks and go tobogganing instead. The after-hours scene is unrivaled: Farm Club has been a snooty institution for nearly 50 years, with a haughty door policy and past guests including Diana Ross. And the hotels aren’t your typical chalet setup, with names like Design Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels Group. Thanks to good snow cover at higher altitudes, several lifts open in early November (weekends only) – your best chance to ski in and then ski the hell out before the high-season crush.

New Zealand

You can ski in the morning and sunbathe in the afternoon on New Zealand’s South Island. Wild swimming, white-water rafting, glacier hiking, bungee jumping, skydiving, horseback riding… On the North Island, you’ll find hot springs that are pure bliss, as well as some of the most amazing beaches you’ll ever see off the coast of Auckland. Take a few weeks off to go on a classic campervan trip when the islands are at their most Middle Earth-like. New Zealand has its own breed of super lodges in superlative settings, from remote bays to rugged mountaintops and beside lakes so vast and awe-inspiring that words fail to describe them. Visit Kaikoura, a small seaside town near Christchurch that is widely regarded as New Zealand’s most sustainable destination.

The town has established a community trust, Whale Watch, which is owned by the local Maori people and is known for its resident sperm whale population and regular blue whale sightings. Not only is this a multi-award-winning, environmentally conscious whale-watching company, but it also reinvests profits in community education and employment, as well as the local environment. Also worth a look are the fantastic Hapuku Tree Houses and Lodge, which feature locally sourced food, composting and recycling programs, salvaged interiors, and a native tree-planting scheme.

Kerala, India

The beginning of the dry season in Kerala and the end of the monsoons, which bring God’s Own Country bursting forth in verdant green, from its palm-lined lakes to the richly biodiverse slopes of the Western Ghats, occur in November. This is India at its most relaxed, with quieter beaches than Goa and the scent of Ayurvedic oils in the air. Exploring is a hassle-free delight here, whether by boating around the backwaters for a glimpse into local life, renting a motorbike to seek out new beaches, or staying in homestays with families.

11+ Best Places to Travel in November 2023 (Detailed List)