Some Like It Hot

When waves of below-zero winter temperatures chill northern portions of the United States and Canada, the impulse is to get warm...really warm. Even when weather forecasters predict it's going to stay frigid for a while, you can get instant relief from Arctic winds by traveling to a warm-weather getaway.

Where can you find hot, hot days and balmy nights? Head south. Winter is prime vacation time in the Caribbean and Mexico, and rates are traditionally at their peak. But with the travel market soft, chances are you can still find great deals from an online or offline travel agent. Also consider vacations in South America, Asia, Africa, and countries of the Pacific, where the seasons are reversed and you can literally fly into summer.

The following vacation destinations can help you unthaw; all of them currently boast daytime temperatures in the 80s. Cities with an asterisk* are the hottest, with temperatures into the 90s:

CARIBBEAN
Antigua
Barbados
Bonaire
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Jamaica
St. Kitts/Nevis
St. Lucia
Trinidad/Tobago

MEXICO
Acapulco*
Cabo San Lucas
Puerto Vallarta

CENTRAL AMERICA
Belize
Costa Rica

SOUTH AMERICA
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Caracas, Venezuela

PACIFIC
Fiji
Tahiti/Papeete
Canberra, Australia
Perth, Australia

ASIA
Mumbai, India
Singapore
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam*