March is like Christmas for party people. All over the country, college students decide to take a week off from reality, go somewhere warm, and do things they’ll deny for the rest of their lives. After that comes a holiday entirely devoted to drinking, and ends with one of the biggest, craziest music festivals in the world at Ultra. The problem for party people is figuring out where to go to party. The problem for everyone else is figuring out where to go to avoid them. So whether you’re looking to rage or relax this spring, here are the best places to travel in March.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Spring break in Mexico is a time-honored American tradition right up there with apple pie and caring about soccer for three weeks every four years. Tough to pick just ONE spot, but Cabo lacks the bro-tastic hordes of Cancun while still offering better beach party than anywhere in America. As luck would have it, March is also also peak whale migration season, so if whistle shots of tequila get stale you can get up close and personal with eight species of whales. Or just relax along two of the most spectacular beaches in Mexico at Playa Solmar and Playa del Amor.
Phoenix, Arizona
March is the weather sweet spot in the Valley of the Sun, where you don’t get the bone-dry cold of winter, but it’s not yet so hot the airport shuts down. That’s part of why half of Major League Baseball has their spring training homes in and around Phoenix. Unlike in the Grapefruit League, where seeing multiple teams means driving all over Florida, here you can hop from seeing the Dodgers in Glendale to the Mariners in Peoria to the Cubs in Mesa without spending half the day in your car.
If baseball isn’t your top vacation priority, nearby Scottsdale has the best nightlife in the Phoenix area. From there, take ATV tours through the Sonoran Desert, go whitewater rafting, and hike the surrounding mountains to make the most of the perfect weather. It’s also home to some insane hotel pools, and no trip here is complete without seeing the epic oval out back at the Phoenician.
Miami, Florida
There’s absolutely no better month to visit Miami than March. Hotels won’t be cheap and the bars will be packed, the month boasts perfect temperatures, zero hurricanes, and nonstop events. Start the month with Spring Break, where usually-snooty South Beach lets loose a little bit and welcomes a younger crowd. Move seamlessly from there into Miami Music Week, when every EDM artist you’ve heard of and probably 10,000 you haven’t play clubs, restaurants, art galleries, and the occasional Citgo station around the city. It all culminates with Ultra Music Festival, the biggest festival of its kind in the world.
Though partying is the big draw to March in Miami, it’s also time for the Miami Open, the sixth-biggest tournament of the season where you’ll see names like Federer, Nadal, and Williams in one of the coolest settings in the sport on the tropical island of Key Biscayne. Add in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park and proximity to spring training, and March here is almost perfect.
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Picking a spring break destination -- whether you’re a family, college student, or burned-out office worker -- can be tough with a group. Some want to relax, others want to be active, others want to make terrible decisions and wake up with hangovers. Montego Bay has a little bit for everyone, from the minimal-effort all-inclusives like Sandals, to hiking to the bioluminescent bay at Glistening Waters, to trekking through the Dolphin Head Mountains to Mayfield Falls. The Hip Strip is where you’ll find spring breakers doing things they wish they could delete like pictures, with Margaritaville acting as ground zero for bad behavior. If you’re feeling super-wild, catch a taxi to Negril and spend the day at the world’s premier swingers resort at Hedonism II. Just be careful what you wish for.
Platte River Valley, Nebraska
Like we said, March is for partying. And boy if 600,000 sandhill cranes descending on a river valley in Central Nebraska ain’t a party, we don’t know what is. The Platte River Valley is the place to be from March 15-19, when the largest gathering of sandhill cranes in the world happens once a year. If you’ve never seen half a million birds in flight at one time, it’s one of the most spectacular feats of nature you can witness. Don’t believe us? Ask Jane Goodall, who ranked it behind only the African Wildebeest stampeding through the Serengeti as the most impressive animal migrations on the planet. Or go for yourself. Driving to the middle of the country to witness awe-inspiring natural phenomenon is something we all got used to during the eclipse, and this bird migration is absolutely worth seeing at least once.
Dublin, Ireland
Turning a river green is cute and all, but you wanna do St. Paddy’s day like an OG? Hop the pond to Ireland, snake-free for 1,500 years and counting thanks to the dude you’re celebrating. The parade through the Temple Bar district winds along cobblestone streets past centuries-old Irish Pubs, the sort of once-in-a-lifetime imagery that’ll ruin you on the holiday back home. You can also make a trip out to the Guinness Storehouse and see if all your friends who don’t shut up about how “the Guinness is just BETTER in Ireland” are right. Or visit the Jameson Distillery, and actually try sipping the country’s most famous spirit instead of shooting it like you usually do. Just be forewarned the Irish don’t get as sloppy on the 17th as we do here. Pace yourself and avoid becoming an international embarrassment.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
March marks the end of summer and beginning of fall in Argentina, making a trip here in March a little like going to the Carolina coast in September. The warm days and pleasantly cool nights aren’t the only draw. March is also the beginning of opera season, so nightly you can see the ballets, operas, and live theater that make Buenos Aires the cultural capital of South America. Also this month: The Buenos Aires Moda festival -- where 10,000 people a day attend fashion shows, openings, and other high-profile events -- and the Mendoza Harvest Festival, one of the biggest wine parties in the world with two parades and a Saturday night blowout in the city center complete with fireworks. Since you’re in the neighborhood, you might as well check it out.
California wine country
Big state, we know, and there are more than a few wine regions to visit. But March brings some of the smallest crowds of the year to California’s wine country, and makes the tasting and touring experience far more relaxing. In Paso Robles, near San Luis Obispo, you can visit the wine caves at Eberle, then grab a bottle of their cabernet and sip it as you watch gray whale migrations from the Pismo Beach Pier. Further north in Napa, Yountville Live brings together big names from food, wine, and music for a three-day festival from March 15-18. This year’s rendition includes food from Stephanie Izard and the best chefs in Napa, as well as live performances from X Ambassadors, Foy Vance, and more.
Vrindavan, India
If you’ve never been to the Holi festival in India, be warned: People are going to throw brightly colored powder in your face, laugh at you, and expect you to like it. So pack your sense of humor. This annual festival to celebrate the winning of light over darkness is an event unlike anything on earth, and is best experienced in the holy city of Vrindavan, said to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity Krishna. Travel blogger Lola Mendez, who’s been to the festival a time or two, broke down the best way to do it for us:
“For the most unique experience, avoid the curated events for tourists and head into the city. It’s nearly impossible to find a detailed schedule of events in English but once you arrive, you'll realize it's unnecessary. Just follow the music and the stream of people tossing color into the air, and at each other. In our experience playing Holi on the street, most children and locals asked us before throwing Holi our way and were thrilled when we threw it right back. Holi can be a bit aggressive but mostly just within the temples.”
Sarasota, Florida
During National Spring Break Month, beaches in Florida can sometimes come with thousands of almost-naked college kids funneling beers and listening to music that makes you feel old. Which can be fun. But if you’d rather enjoy the turquoise waters and powdery sand without finding the occasional used condom, Sarasota is your spot. The resorts along the shores of Siesta Key like the Longboat Key Club are family-friendly, and sit on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Off the beach, Sarasota showcases its Circus Arts Conservatory with the annual Circus Sarasota through March 3, where some of the top circus performers in the world come to town to perform death-defying acrobatics. The city’s also smack in the middle of the Grapefruit League, where the spring training homes of the Yankees, Phillies, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Pirates are all a short drive away.
Sun Valley, Idaho
The place that invented the modern ski resort (it’s home to America’s first chairlift!) still feels more like a place to ski than be seen, with one of the country’s biggest Nordic skiing areas, fat bike trails, and snowshoe expeditions complimenting the famous alpine slopes. March also brings the annual Sun Valley Film Festival, a more-accessible (if less star-studded answer) to Robert Redford’s festival in Utah. Here, everyday attendees can sit in on panels with industry insiders and catch exclusive screenings of new movies, without spending a fortune of having to drop names. Sun Valley’s cool, without trying too hard, and is best visited before all the beautiful people show up.
Savannah, Georgia
If you’re looking to stay stateside for St. Paddy’s, and don’t want to risk losing a toe watching the parade in Chicago, Savannah is your go-to. The city has the second-largest parade in America, and third-largest in the world, the culmination of a three-day festival of shamrocks and Guinness that takes over River Street from March 16-18. On the off-chance you’d like to do something other than drink for St. Paddy’s, on March 11 the Tara Feis Irish Celebration descends on Emmet Park, a booze-free celebration of Irish music, dancing, and food.
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