Where to Go in January With Kids From Dubai (2027 Guide)

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January is the month Dubai families finally get to choose: snow a three-hour flight away, proper beach weather a little further south, or a cold, clear weekend in the mountains without leaving the UAE. We rewrote this guide from scratch for January 2027, because the calendar this year is a little different from what most parents are used to.

Here is the short version: the school winter break ends on Sunday 3 January, New Year’s Day falls on a Friday (so a three-day weekend), and Ramadan is expected to start around 8 February. That makes January a very good month for short trips and long weekends — and the last easy travel window before Ramadan for many families. Where we have been ourselves, we link to our own guides; the rest are trips we would genuinely book with young kids.

Planning further ahead? See every break in our UAE school holidays 2026–27 calendar, with trip ideas for each one.

January 2027 at a Glance for UAE Families

Date	What it means for travel
14 Dec 2026 – 3 Jan 2027	UAE school winter break (MoE calendar, three weeks this year)
Fri 1 Jan 2027	New Year’s Day public holiday — a three-day weekend (Fri–Sun)
Mon 4 Jan 2027	Schools reopen
Approx. 10–22 Jan	Usually the coldest stretch of the UAE winter
Approx. 8 Feb 2027	Ramadan expected to begin (subject to moon sighting)
Approx. 9–12 Mar 2027	Eid Al Fitr expected — the next long break

If you want a longer January trip, the trick is to start it in the last week of the winter break and come home on 3 January, or to take a few days of leave after New Year’s weekend while flights and hotels calm down.

Pick Your January

1. Georgia: Snow, Tbilisi and an Easy Flight

Georgia is the simplest snow trip from Dubai. flydubai runs around 28 direct flights a week to Tbilisi, with a flight time of about 3 hours 20 minutes, and the ski resort of Gudauri is roughly a two-hour drive from the city. For 2026–27 Gudauri’s projected opening sits between late December and 2 January 2027, while Bakuriani is projected to open on 26 December — so if snow is the whole point, plan for the second week of January rather than New Year itself, and check the resort before you pay for lift passes.

One lesson from our own trip: don’t stack long drives. Kazbegi one day and Gareji the next was ten hours in a car twice, and by the second afternoon nobody was looking out of the window. Our Georgia with a toddler guide has the day trips we would actually repeat, and our Tbilisi family hotels under $75 list keeps the budget sensible. For the full route, see our 5-day Georgia itinerary from Dubai.

2. Almaty and Shymbulak: Big Mountains, Short Transfers

Shymbulak is Central Asia’s biggest ski resort, about 25 km from Almaty, and you can be on the slopes from the city in under 30 minutes. flydubai flies direct daily, at around 4 to 4¾ hours, but the flights are mostly late-night departures that land in the small hours, so plan a slow first day.

A few numbers to know: children under six ski free (you still need a zero-balance pass), and Shymbulak charges high-season prices from 25 December to 11 January. In 2025–26 a regular-season adult day pass was 15,500 KZT (about $31); the 2026–27 tariff is usually published in the autumn, so check the resort app before you go. Our 5-day Shymbulak itinerary covers where to stay in Almaty and how to split city and mountain days.

3. Zanzibar: Short Dry Season, Long Beach Days

If your kids would rather swim than ski, Zanzibar is our January pick. January marks the start of the island’s short dry season — hot and humid, with daytime highs around 32°C and rain usually limited to short showers. flydubai flies direct in about 5½ hours. It is also mango season, which our kids would consider a selling point on its own.

Our Zanzibar family guide covers which beaches suit small children and how to split time between Stone Town and the coast.

4. Sri Lanka: The South and West Coast

January is peak dry season on Sri Lanka’s west and south coasts (Colombo, Galle, Bentota, Mirissa), with temperatures around 30°C, while the east coast is still under the northeast monsoon — so this is not the month for Trincomalee. Emirates, flydubai and SriLankan all fly Dubai–Colombo non-stop in roughly 4½ hours. Because it is peak season, fares and beach hotels are at their highest, so this one rewards booking early.

5. Musandam, Oman: Dolphins Without a Flight

For the New Year long weekend, Musandam is hard to beat. You drive up from Dubai (or go with a tour that handles the border), board a traditional dhow in Khasab and cruise the fjords, with swimming stops and a very good chance of seeing dolphins. October to April is the best season because the sea is calmer and the temperatures are mild. Border and visa requirements depend on your nationality, so check before you set off.

6. Stay in the UAE: Jebel Jais, Hatta and a Farm Night

Mid-January is usually the coldest stretch of the UAE winter, and up on Jebel Jais it genuinely gets cold — the National Center of Meteorology recorded 0.2°C there on 22 January 2026. Pack real layers for a sunrise drive, then head back down to the coast for lunch.

If you would rather keep it gentle, a night on a farm is our favourite low-effort January plan: see our updated UAE farm stays guide for Hatta farmhouses, Emirates Park Zoo chalets and strawberry picking, or our Ras Al Khaimah hidden gems for the rest of the weekend.

What We Would Skip in January

• Ski trips booked for 1–3 January without checking snow. Some resorts only open around New Year. Book flexible rates or go a week later.
• Sri Lanka’s east coast. It is still monsoon season there. Stick to the south and west.
• Long-haul for just the three-day weekend. With young kids, anything over five hours each way eats most of a long weekend. Save Zanzibar and Sri Lanka for the end of the winter break or a week of leave.

What We Pack for January Trips

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can we go in January from Dubai with kids? For snow, Georgia (Gudauri) and Kazakhstan (Shymbulak) are both a direct flight of roughly 3½ to 5 hours. For beaches, Zanzibar and Sri Lanka’s south and west coasts are in dry season. Without flying, Musandam in Oman and Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah are easy long-weekend trips.

When does the UAE school winter break end in 2027? Under the Ministry of Education calendar, the 2026–27 winter break runs from 14 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, and schools reopen on Monday 4 January 2027.

Is New Year’s Day 2027 a long weekend in the UAE? Yes. 1 January 2027 is a Friday, so with the Saturday–Sunday weekend residents get three days off.

Is there snow in Georgia in January? Usually, yes, but opening dates depend on snowfall. For 2026–27 Gudauri’s projected opening is between late December and 2 January, so mid-January is the safer bet for a snow-focused trip.

Is Zanzibar good in January? Yes. January is the start of Zanzibar’s short dry season: hot and humid, around 32°C, with mostly brief showers.

Plan Your Own January Trip

Visa rules for every destination here depend on your passport and UAE residency, so check before you book. If you travel on a Pakistani passport like we do, our Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro guide and our Kyrgyzstan itinerary show exactly how we handled entry.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you book or buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps us keep these guides free and honest.

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Loved These Ideas? Here’s Where Else We’ve Taken the Kids

• Kyrgyzstan with kids — our honest 9-day family itinerary, visa on arrival included.
• Georgia with a toddler — the six adventures that were genuinely worth it.
• Western Serbia from Dubai — budget Europe done properly.
• Copenhagen with kids — six days in Scandinavia from Dubai.
• UAE farm stays — for the weekends you stay home.
• UAE National Day long weekend — five-day break ideas for 2–6 December.