It was an unlikely spot to spend the season.

But before Daniel Kerzner opened his first hotel, Santorini Sky, in summer 2020, he spent the colder months of the year discovering a different side of the Greek island paradise. 

“You think the sunsets are nice in the summer? It’s like the sky is on fire in the winter,” he raved. “So why is nobody here?” 

Unlike most of Santorini’s sleek but seasonal stays, Kerzner was so enamored with winter on the Med that he weatherproofed and insulated his resort to stay open year-round.

It was a prescient business plan. The Hilton-affiliated, 10-villa estate now buzzes all winter thanks to improved air links — there are now 10 flights daily from Athens to Santorini’s new airport. Government initiatives intended to encourage off-season visits, like only granting licenses to new restaurants on the condition they don’t shutter in winter, have also invigorated the winter scene.

 “It’s more casual and laid back,” Kerzner said, “and the hikes are better than in the heat of summer, and our rates are half.”

Santorini Sky isn’t an outlier, and the surge of interest in midwinter in the Med is unarguable.

Luxe travel operator Untamed Traveling says winter bookings are up 15% year over year, while Zicasso, a high-end travel marketplace, saw a 14% rise in winter bookings to France and a 9% increase to Spain for the same window. All-biz class airline La Compagnie has bolstered its New York-to-Nice connection to year-round, too.

Nice’s own tourism stats show a rise of 10% year over year for winter stays. Hotelier Valentina de Santis added an indoor pool to her award-hogging Lake Como property Passalacqua, in part to help extend her season, and the new Airelles in Venice also has an indoor pool for much the same reason. 

Note, too, the new itineraries the smarter cruise lines have started offering. Luxe upstart line Explora Journeys has stationed its second ship in the Med rather than the Caribbean this winter, pinballing around its southern reaches from November through March.

It’s easy to understand what’s driving the off-season interest, said Jack Ezon of travel specialist Embark Beyond: “overcrowding, overheating and overpricing.”

A five-star berth in Capri in July might run to $4,000 or more per night, and you won’t be able to explore — too many day-trippers clogging the streets — or go for a hike because the weather’s likely stuck in the 90s. Head to the Med in midwinter, though, and you could score balmy daytimes, empty streets and great bargains.

Winter bookings for urban trips in Europe have grown 85% over the past five years for his firm, per Ezon; compare that with how July and August bookings are down 2% and 4%, respectively.

Livia Angelini, who runs the Europe team for Scott Dunn, has seen a similar shift, with winter Med bookings nearly doubling year over year. The Rome native said it’s the ideal time to head to the Eternal City — you can experience artichoke or carciofi season from January, or Carnival in February. But it’s important to plan carefully in the off-season, she cautioned: Smaller destinations might be mothballed, so it’s better to schedule a hub-and-spoke holiday than changing hotels every few days. 

Stay in Naples, for example, as a base, then take day trips to the likes of the Amalfi Coast, lunching there before heading back to the livelier city for supper. Seville is another must-see, she said: Angelini strolled its streets last winter in a T-shirt during the day. “You want to hear people speaking Spanish and walk all day without feeling the heat?” she said. “Travel at the end of December.”

Ezon’s off-season go-to is Monaco, where he’s spent Thanksgiving for the last several years. 

“It’s one of my favorite places to go in winter: sunny, 60-degree perfect weather, great restaurants and shopping — it’s like being in a mini-Paris,” he said.

But the Côte d’Azur is arguably the best midwinter getaway — after all, it emerged in its current, luxe-loving form via British and American sun-seeking snowbirds a century ago.

“The light is beautiful. The weather is mild. It doesn’t rain a lot, and you won’t have to queue anywhere,” said Lucie Weill, who owns wellness resort Lily of the Valley just outside St. Tropez, which has been open year-round since it debuted seven years ago. “We have a tradition that every Jan. 1, we have Champagne on the beach. I am 34 years old, and the weather has always been amazing.” 

We’ll raise a glass to that.