March, at the world’s best hotels.

Winter sun season proper: 18 degree afternoons, empty golf courses, heated pools and the Golden Mile's lowest room rates of the year.

Spring on the lake: gardens in bloom before the summer set arrives.

Spring on the lake: gardens in bloom before the summer set arrives.

The quiet months in spa country: thermal baths and three-star cooking without the summer cure crowd.

Early spring: almond blossom and the year's gentlest rates.

Deep-winter country house season: long walks, longer dinners, fires everywhere.

The Alentejo's quiet half-year: olive harvest, starlit skies, fireplaces lit.

Deep-winter country house season: long walks, longer dinners, fires everywhere.

The Alentejo's quiet half-year: olive harvest, starlit skies, fireplaces lit.

Fireside season — frost on the meadows, the village to yourself.

Spring snow and long lunches on sun-warmed terraces.

The palace without the crowds — winter light in the Hall of Mirrors.

Early spring: almond blossom and the year's gentlest rates.

Ireland's great houses in winter: drawing-room fires and the demesne to yourself.

Deep-winter country house season: long walks, longer dinners, fires everywhere.

Early spring: almond blossom and the year's gentlest rates.

Late wet season: the island at its lushest before the dry-season rush.

The rains bring the jungle alive and the valley falls quiet.

The rains bring the jungle alive and the valley falls quiet.

Winter kaiseki and hot springs with the temple town to yourself.

Snow-country bathing and crab season on the quiet Japan Sea coast.

Deep-winter onsen bathing after the New Year rush clears out.

Green season: newborn game, dramatic skies, and the bush at its lushest.

Winter on the strait: gardens in bloom early, the city at its most local.

Kalahari summer: meerkat pups, desert blooms, and the reserve's quietest months.

Green season on the pans: zebra migration, desert flowers, dramatic storm light.

The American Riviera's soft winter — green hills and empty beaches.

The American Riviera's soft winter — green hills and empty beaches.

Storm-watching season — whales offshore, fires lit, the coast dramatic.

Vermont's secret season: sugaring, spring rivers, and the woods waking up.

The American Riviera's soft winter — green hills and empty beaches.

Storm-watching season — whales offshore, fires lit, the coast dramatic.

Deep winter is the Adirondacks at their most atmospheric, with frozen-lake skating, snowshoeing and toboggan runs at a fraction of summer pricing.

Clear winter light, green hills, and the town back at work.

Clear winter light, green hills, and the town back at work.

Autumn in Torres del Paine: red lenga forests and the year's stillest light.

The green season on the atoll: brief warm rains, dramatic skies, meaningful savings.

After the rains: clear water, warm days, the archipelago to yourself.

Late heli-season corn snow and lengthening arctic days.

The tail of the dry season, with calm seas, sunny mornings and the crowds thinning out after Chinese New Year.