The winter Mediterranean: where to go between November and March

TRAVEL | THE MEDITERRANEAN | NOVEMBER TO MARCH

The summer Mediterranean belongs to everyone. The winter one still belongs to those prepared to wait. Between November and March the beaches empty, prices ease and the towns go back to living for themselves. The light drops lower, tables are easier to find, and the calendar fills with festivals, harvests and local feasts rather than queues. The market has noticed: La Compagnie, the all-business-class airline, has for the first time extended its Newark to Nice route into the winter season of 2026 to 2027.

In a sense this is a return to origins. Before the 1920s turned the Côte d’Azur into a summer place, the Riviera was where Europe’s aristocracy spent its winters. Hotels are following the shift: on Lake Como, Passalacqua now has an 18-metre indoor pool set in the villa’s former greenhouse. What follows are four addresses, and the month in which each shows its best side.

November: Monaco, and jazz at the Salle Garnier

November gives Monte-Carlo back to the people who live there. Without the Grand Prix or the August yachts, the principality arranges itself around the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival, which marks its twentieth edition in 2026 and fills the Salle Garnier, Charles Garnier’s opera house on the Place du Casino, from 18 to 29 November. The programme runs through Gregory Porter on the 20th, Melody Gardot on the 21st and The Brand New Heavies on the 26th, in a theatre of little more than 500 seats.

The most elegant arrival is still by air: from Nice airport a helicopter crosses the coast in minutes and spares you the corniche. For a place to stay, the Hôtel Hermitage suits those who prefer discretion to a stage, with its Belle Époque rooms, a winter garden under a glass dome attributed to Gustave Eiffel’s workshops, and its more photographed neighbour, the Hôtel de Paris, a few steps away.

December: Sicily, oranges, snow and starred tables

December is the month Sicily smells of citrus. The blood-orange harvest on the plain of Catania begins around now and changes menus across the island. Behind it, Etna often shows white: with enough snow, the slopes of Etna Nord at Piano Provenzana and Etna Sud become ski runs with a view of the sea.

The right base lies between Catania and Taormina. At Santa Venerina, Rocca delle Tre Contrade, a twelve-bedroom estate let through The Thinking Traveller, occupies a former winery of 1850 on a hill facing both Etna and the sea. To eat, I Pupi in Bagheria holds a Michelin star for chef Tony Lo Coco’s personal take on Sicilian cooking. Further south, Agrigento rewards the drive with the Valley of the Temples and none of the summer crowd.

Out of season, the Mediterranean stops being a backdrop and becomes a place again.

January: Mallorca, the cyclists’ island

In January the roads of the Serra de Tramuntana belong to the professional teams. Mild weather and long climbs have made Mallorca the winter training ground of European cycling, and at the end of the month the island hosts the Challenge Ciclista Mallorca, a series of one-day races known as trofeos. You can watch from the hairpins or ride the same routes afterwards, and an electric bike on the steepest climbs is no cause for embarrassment.

For a place to stay, Cap Rocat occupies a nineteenth-century military fortress at the mouth of the Bay of Palma, converted into a hotel with the sea as its only neighbour. In the city, Andana is the table of Mallorcan chef Maca de Castro, who cooks with what comes from her own garden in Sa Pobla.

February and March: Crete, Chania before Lent

Late winter is the mildest season on Crete, and Chania is a town that does not depend on visitors to exist. Without the cruise ships, the Venetian harbour and the streets of the old town return to the rhythm of the people who live there. A rented house in the historic centre settles the question of where to stay; on windy nights, the Fagotto Jazz Bar in the old town settles the rest.

The calendar peaks in the weeks of Orthodox carnival. On Tsiknopempti, the Thursday before Lent, the grills take over the streets. In 2027 it falls on 4 March.

Summer will stay full, hot and contested. The winter Mediterranean keeps waiting for those willing to trade the high sun for a lower light, jazz in a small theatre, an orange taken from the tree. It belongs to those who know how to wait, and it waits for very few.

Details and further reading: Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival · Hôtel Hermitage · The Thinking Traveller · Michelin Guide · Cap Rocat · La Compagnie

Instagram: @montecarlosbm · @thethinkingtraveller · @caprocat

GABRIEL SILVEIRADO, FOR WAYFARER.