The Best Places to Vacation for Thanksgiving 2026, From Grace Bay to Aspen’s Opening Day

The best places to vacation for Thanksgiving are warm, an easy flight from the United States, and still have a house free for the week: Turks and Caicos, Los Cabos, Punta Mita, the Riviera Maya and Barbados for the sun, and Aspen, where the lifts open on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, in the last week of the hurricane season, which ends on November 30. Below are six places, with the late-November weather for each, the houses our partners still had open when we last checked, and a villa in each from our luxury villa rentals.

Thanksgiving 2026 at a glance

Weather: average November figures from Current Results and Weather2Travel; see the sources at the end.

1. Turks and Caicos: three villas open for the week

Providenciales averages highs of 84°F (29°C) in November, with the sea at about 82°F (28°C); it is also one of the wetter months, with about twelve days of some rain. As of October 19, our partners on the island had three villas open for Thanksgiving week, November 21 to 28, with a five-night minimum: Villa Turquoise in Leeward, Villa Bajacu at Turtle Tail and Sea to Sky on the north coast. For the houses one by one, see Thanksgiving in Turks and Caicos, and our Turks and Caicos villa rentals.

Villa Bajacu

Turtle Tail · 6 bedrooms · sleeps 12

A house on a hill above its own beach at Turtle Tail, reached by golf cart, with two infinity-edge pools and a plunge pool, ten kilometers from the airport.

Included: fully staffed: a villa manager every day, a concierge, a butler, a private chef, housekeeping, a gym and a round-trip airport transfer.

2. Los Cabos: the driest coast

Cabo San Lucas averages highs of 86°F (30°C) in November, with one rainy day in the month and the sea at about 80°F (27°C). For the week itself, see Cabo in November, worked back from Thanksgiving Thursday, and our Los Cabos villa rentals.

Cielito del Mar

Chileno Bay · 8 bedrooms · sleeps 18

A two-acre estate set into the granite of Chileno Bay, designed by the mid-century architect Cliff May, with its own beach, a freeform pool and Jacuzzi among the rocks, and a palapa treehouse for the first coffee of the day.

Included: fully staffed, with a butler, a chef and housekeeping on site, and a car for guests.

3. Punta Mita: the Pacific side of Mexico

Puerto Vallarta, across the bay from Punta Mita, averages highs of 84°F (29°C) in November, with two rainy days and the sea at about 82°F (28°C). Punta Mita is about an hour by car from the center of Puerto Vallarta. See our Punta Mita villas, and Mexico in November, coast by coast.

Koko Retreat

Punta Mita · 9 bedrooms · sleeps 22

A house on the beach inside the gated Punta Mita Resort, with an infinity pool and a palapa above the sand, a heated hot tub, a fire pit on the sand terraces and a table outdoors for 18.

Included: fully staffed: housekeeping, a concierge, a chef, waiters, a bartender, a driver for eight hours a day, an airport transfer and pre-stocking of the house.

4. The Riviera Maya: a house for the whole family

Tulum averages highs of 87°F (31°C) in November, about eight days with rain, and the sea at 82°F (28°C). Puerto Aventuras, on the coast between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, is 75 minutes by car from Cancun airport. See our Tulum villas with a private chef, and our Mexico villa rentals.

Hacienda del Mar

Puerto Aventuras · 7 to 15 bedrooms · up to 33 guests

A beachfront estate on Fatima Bay at Puerto Aventuras, which can be taken with anything from seven to fifteen bedrooms, with a pool facing the sea; the Tulum ruins are 30 minutes by car. Our partner listed it as open for Thanksgiving on October 9.

Included: fully staffed: a chef for breakfast, lunch and dinner (groceries are extra), two maids, a butler, a villa manager and a 24-hour concierge.

5. Barbados: warm days and warm nights

Bridgetown averages highs of 85°F (29°C) and lows of 76°F (24°C) in November, with about 3.7 inches of rain in the month. See our Barbados villas.

The Great House

Gibbes, St Peter · 12 bedrooms · sleeps 30

Twelve suites across a beachfront main house, a carriage house, two garden cottages and Hillaby House, on two and a half acres with 100 meters of beach on the west coast, a heated pool and a floodlit tennis court.

Included: fully staffed, with a butler, a housekeeper, a laundress and a boat master.

6. Aspen: skiing from Thanksgiving Day

Aspen Mountain and Snowmass are scheduled to open for the 2026-27 season on Thanksgiving Day, November 26; Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk follow on December 12. See our Aspen chalets.

24 Little Cloud Trail

Aspen · 6 bedrooms · sleeps 16

A house built in 2010 in a gated ten-acre enclave at the base of Aspen Mountain, with views of Independence Pass, Red Mountain and the town, and a sky lounge with a hot tub.

Included: concierge and maid service.

The Thanksgiving week to check before you book

• The date. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, November 26, 2026, and on Thursday, November 25, 2027.
• Minimum stays. In Turks and Caicos, the houses our partners manage take five nights or more over November 21 to 28; elsewhere we confirm the minimum with the owner for your dates.
• The end of the hurricane season. The Atlantic and eastern Pacific seasons both close on November 30.
• Aspen’s opening day. Aspen Mountain and Snowmass open on November 26; Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk on December 12.
• Lead time. Nine to twelve months ahead for holiday weeks. For 2026, a few houses remain and we confirm with the owners the day you ask; for Thanksgiving 2027, the window is open now.

More for the holidays

• Thanksgiving in Turks and Caicos
  The villas open for November 21 to 28, with their staff.
• Cabo in November
  The week in Los Cabos, worked back from Thursday.
• Warm Thanksgiving destinations
  Where the sea is warmest in November.
• Caribbean villas for Thanksgiving
  Seven Caribbean villas for the holiday.
• Mexico in November
  Punta Mita, Tulum or Cabo, week by week.
• Christmas and New Year villa rentals
  The villas still open for Christmas and New Year.

Best places to vacation for Thanksgiving: your questions answered

Updated October 2026. Every villa in this guide was checked against its listing on October 24, 2026; availability is as our partners reported it on October 9 and 19, 2026, and is confirmed with the owners for your dates. Sources: November averages for Barbados from Current Results; Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Tulum from Mexico’s national climate normals via Current Results; Providenciales from Weather2Travel; hurricane seasons from the National Hurricane Center; Aspen’s opening dates from Aspen Snowmass.