The 20 Best Places to Visit in February Around the World

February may be the shortest month, but it often feels like the longest. The festive season is over, everyone is back in the daily grind and it seems like winter will never end. However, if you look hard enough, you’ll find that February is actually a month full of celebrations, from the raucous to the romantic. It’s also the month of love, so it’s the perfect time for a getaway, whether it’s with a partner or in search of your soulmate. Need inspiration? Here are the 20 best places to visit in February around the world.

Getty Images

1 / 19

Curacao

This teeny ABC island located just outside of the hurricane belt is a picture-perfect vacation and travel destination. It offers adorable colonial architecture, soft white sands and features the Queen Emma floating bridge. Though the Caribbean isn't exactly known to be the most LGBTQ+ friendly, Curacao has been working to change that — making an effort to promote their "live and let live" attitude and welcoming symbolic same-sex weddings.

RELATED: Top LGBTQ+ friendly travel destinations around the world.

Pingxi District, Taiwan lantern festival

Getty Images

2 / 19

Pingxi District, Taiwan

Launch the first February of the new decade with a visit to Taiwan for good eats and exciting festivals. The most spectacular of these is the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, held in the village of Shifen in the Pingxi District. You can join in the action by decorating a huge paper lantern of your own, adding your wishes for the new year and releasing it along with hundreds of others to light up the night sky. Events start Feb. 7.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: I took 52 flights last year and here’s what I learned

Getty Images

3 / 19

Agra, India

The Hindu festival of Holi will make Indian destinations some of the best places to visit in March. First, however, there’s Valentine’s Day and where better to celebrate than at the ultimate monument to love? Even if hundreds of other couples have the same idea, the grounds at the Taj Mahal are so expansive that you’ll easily find a quiet nook where you can admire this stunning building or gaze into each other’s eyes.

RELATED: The healthiest places to travel in 2020.

Getty Images

4 / 19

Bogotá, Colombia

You can spend a fortune on roses at your local florist for Valentine’s Day or you can go straight to the source and get a holiday to boot. Bogotá is still a little chilly in February, but there’s a lot going on in the city this time of year, including fashion events and bullfighting. It’s the area outside of the city you want to see, though. This is where you’ll find the flower farms where all those Valentine’s blooms are grown.

SEE ALSO: The world's most beautiful flower markets.

Getty Images

5 / 19

Guadeloupe

There are many great places to attend Carnival, but in Guadeloupe, the festivities last for more than just a few days. In fact, the party starts on January 1 and lasts throughout February to March 6. Expect parades and processions, singing and dancing contests and much more, all in an idyllic Caribbean setting.

Getty Images

6 / 19

Venice, Italy

There are two great reasons to come to Venice in February. The first is that it’s one of the most romantic cities to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The second is the excuse for dressing up, putting on a mask and joining the Venice Carnival festivities. This year, Carnival in Venice starts on February 8 and lasts until February 25. Let's be honest, it's very Instagram-worthy.

Getty Images

7 / 19

Maui, Hawaii

If the winter weather is giving you cabin fever, prepare your Hawaii packing list and head to Maui. The weather is warm even if there could be some rain and the beaches are gorgeous. While the crowds haven’t arrived yet, the whales have: February is peak season for humpback whales in the waters around Maui.

Getty Images

8 / 19

Porto, Portugal

If you love fantasy film, there’s only one place to be in February: from February 28 to March 7, the city of Porto hosts Fantasporto, an international film festival where fantasy is the name of the game. Sci-fi and horror movies get a screening too: after all, 2018’s winning entry was Canadian zombie movie Ravenous. February weather in Porto can be chilly, although not nearly as bad as in the Canadian cities with the worst winters. Then again, Porto is the birthplace of sweet, warming port wine.

Getty Images

9 / 19

San Antonio, Texas

Stampede makes Calgary one of the best places to visit in July, but if you can’t wait that long to get your cowgirl boots on, San Antonio is a great place to be in February. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes place from February 6 to 23 and is proof that everything is bigger in Texas. Some of the stars who will be performing at the event include Keith Urban, Bush, Sammy Hagar and more.

Getty Images

10 / 19

Geilo, Norway

When winter gives you snow and ice, why not turn it into music? That’s exactly what happens at the Ice Music Festival in the ski resort town of Geilo. Everything here is made of ice and snow, from the venue to the instruments: ice-harps, ice-trumpets, even ice-didgeridoos. This year’s festival is held from February 7 to 9. Plus you can get in a few runs!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: The 10 worst travellers you’ll meet.

Getty Images

11 / 19

Caye Caulker, Belize

One of the best times to visit Caye Caulker is in February, when the weather is warm and the skies are sunny. This laidback little island has no paved roads, but this doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do here. You can kayak in the mangroves, go sailing at sunset, snorkel with sharks or do your PADI course and dive the Blue Hole. Caye Caulker is also only a hop, skip and jump away from some other hidden gems of Mexico and Central America.

P199/Wikimedia Commons

12 / 19

Cochrane, Ontario

From February 8 to 18, Cochrane hosts the Cochrane Winter Carnival and this year’s theme is Hollywood. There’s plenty of family fun to be had here to blow some life into winter: hockey games, a torchlight parade, snow sculptures, eating contests and, for the bravest of the brave, a polar bear dip.

SEE ALSO: The cheapest places to travel to in Canada in 2020.

Getty Images

13 / 19

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec

One of the Canadian towns that fills up with charm during winter is Mont-Tremblant, one of the country’s top ski resorts. Ski season is in full swing, but there’s much more to keep you busy, including the Festival Rando Alpine Tremblant from February 7 to 9 and Washington Week from February 15 to 23.

Getty Images

14 / 19

Menton, France

When life gives you lemons, you might as well have a festival. This is what the people of Menton will be doing from February 15 to March 3 this year. The Menton Lemon Festival features lemon-themed parades, art exhibits, sculptures made of citrus fruits and of course plenty of lemony goodies to eat. It’s one of the largest food festivals in France.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: cheapest places to travel to from Canada in 2020.

Getty Images

15 / 19

Riviera Nayarit, Mexico

February is a good time to draw up your Mexico packing list and fly south to the Riviera Nayarit on the Pacific coast. The weather is warm and sunny and perfect for enjoying the beaches. If this isn’t enough to convince you, there’s the Festival Sayulita from January 29 to February 2 and the San Pancho Music Festival from February 28 to March 1, not to mention that it’s whale season in these parts in February.

Getty Images

16 / 19

Mendoza, Argentina

February is one of the warmest months to visit Mendoza, Argentina’s prime wine-producing region. It’s also filled with events and things to do. For music and dancing there’s the National Tune Festival and Moonfest during the first week of the month. During the last week of February, the town of San Rafael hosts the National Horse Festival. Then there are wine tastings, bike tours and much more to help you discover the best this part of the world has to offer.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Mutant photos of nature that will leave you in awe.

Getty Images

17 / 19

New Orleans, Louisiana

Comfortable weather, a charming city and Mardi Gras mania are what February is all about in New Orleans. If Jazz festivals aren't your thing and you're all about the supernatural — never forget that New Orleans also has haunted tours — where you can experience your own American Horror Story in real life.

RELATED: 13 haunted hotels you can still stay in.

Getty Images

18 / 19

Singapore

Interested in living the Crazy Rich Asians life for a holiday? Signapore is ideal in February. On offer, there are epic cocktails (some considered Asia's best), some of the world's best street food, incredible vertical gardens and so much more. We're just coming off the Lunar New Year high and good times abound.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: celeb-approved destinations off the beaten path.

Unsplash

19 / 19

Lapland, Finland

Home to the world's only sauna gondola, you can enjoy a lil heat in the cold month of February. Treat yourself to this wooden ride that carries you over the slopes of Ylläs Ski Resort. At night, enjoy the natural wonder of the Northern Lights and get yourself into one of those igloo-tents that make the experience truly memorable.