Coolest places to go from Dublin in December
In December, the coolest well-known place within 15 hours of Dublin is Rovaniemi, Finland, 16.0 °C cooler than Dublin and 0.1 h sun a day, about 6h 30m each way by air. Nowhere on the list is reachable by train within 15 hours in December.
The 10 coolest places within 15 hours of Dublin
Ranked on relief from the heat in December alone, among well-known places (a Wikivoyage travel guide and at least 40,000 Wikipedia readers a year), one per area and at most three per country. The carbon is shown, not used to choose: the list further down is the other question, how much relief from the heat each extra kilogram buys.
- Rovaniemi, Finland16.0 °C cooler · 0.1 h sun a day · 1.2 mm rain a dayair ≈ 6h 30m · 569 kg CO₂e return
Tromsø, Norway14.2 °C cooler · 0.0 h sun a day · 3.8 mm rain a dayair ≈ 6h 30m · 558 kg CO₂e return- Joensuu, Finland14.1 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 1.7 mm rain a dayair ≈ 6h 36m · 584 kg CO₂e return
Östersund, Sweden14.0 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 1.8 mm rain a dayair ≈ 5h 42m · 409 kg CO₂e return- Oulu, Finland13.9 °C cooler · 0.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 0.2 °Cair ≈ 6h 24m · 550 kg CO₂e return
Luleå, Sweden13.6 °C cooler · 0.3 h sun a day · 1.9 mm rain a day · sea 0.8 °Cair ≈ 6h 18m · 522 kg CO₂e return
Umeå, Sweden13.3 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 2.1 mm rain a day · sea 2.0 °Cair ≈ 6h · 479 kg CO₂e return
Bodø, Norway12.3 °C cooler · 0.0 h sun a day · 7.8 mm rain a day · sea 6.7 °Cair ≈ 6h · 479 kg CO₂e return
Oslo, Norway11.0 °C cooler · 1.8 h sun a day · 1.7 mm rain a dayair ≈ 5h 12m · 318 kg CO₂e return- Erzurum, Turkey11.0 °C cooler · 6.9 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 36m · 899 kg CO₂e return
≈ is the model's estimate (air times include getting to and through the airport); ✓ is a rail journey checked against a real timetable, with the date it was checked. Temperatures are historical daily means for 2023–2024, averaged across day and night, so afternoons run warmer.
The low-carbon trade-off
The coolest place you can reach from Dublin in December within 15 hours is Rovaniemi, 16.0 °C cooler, costing 569 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Ballymena at 42.8 kg — 13× less carbon, for 13.9 degrees less relief from the heat.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both cooler in December and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballymena, United Kingdom | Air | 42.8 kg | 6.1 °C | 2.2 h | 4.7 mm | 3h 42m |
| Buxton, United Kingdom | Air | 72.6 kg | 4.9 °C | 2.0 h | 4.6 mm | 3h 54m |
| Arlon, Belgium | Air | 233 kg | 3.6 °C | 1.8 h | 3.0 mm | 4h 42m |
| Kristiansand, Norway | Air | 261 kg | 2.3 °C | 1.8 h | 6.3 mm | 4h 54m |
| Bergen, Norway | Air | 264 kg | 1.1 °C | 1.3 h | 10.4 mm | 4h 54m |
| Porsgrunn, Norway | Air | 295 kg | -1.8 °C | 2.3 h | 3.2 mm | 5h 6m |
| Drammen, Norway | Air | 309 kg | -3.4 °C | 2.1 h | 2.8 mm | 5h 6m |
| Lillehammer, Norway | Air | 332 kg | -6.0 °C | 1.9 h | 1.9 mm | 5h 18m |
| Tornio, Finland | Air | 545 kg | -7.0 °C | 0.1 h | 1.4 mm | 6h 24m |
| Rovaniemi, Finland | Air | 569 kg | -7.8 °C | 0.1 h | 1.2 mm | 6h 30m |
Warm is not the same as pleasant, which is why sunshine and rainfall are shown alongside temperature. All three are ERA5 monthly means for 2023–2024.
Where the curve breaks
The frontier is gentle until it isn't. Going from Lillehammer (332 kg, 14.2 °C cooler) to Tornio (545 kg, 15.2 °C cooler) buys 1.0 °C more relief from the heat for an extra 213 kg — 213 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive relief from the heat on the whole curve.
The pick of them
The same month, asked differently
December answers differently depending on what you are after, and the lists genuinely diverge: the brightest places are not the hottest, and in summer the useful question stops being where is warm at all.
Where to stay in Rovaniemi
Places to stay in Rovaniemi, Finland, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Rovaniemi →Opens the booking search in a new tab. Same partners as the map below.
Affiliate disclosure. A booking made through this map may earn 0xCarbon a commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing above it: the emissions figures come from UK Government conversion factors and are computed before anyone is paid anything.See the method.
Other months from Dublin
December from elsewhere
- Amsterdam
- Barcelona
- Berlin
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Brussels
- Cardiff
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Frankfurt
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Lisbon
- Liverpool
- London
- Madrid
- Manchester
- Milan
- Munich
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Oslo
- Paris
- Prague
- Rome
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Stockholm
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Zurich
Photo credits
- Ballymena: Lisa Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Tromsø: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Östersund: Lars Falkdalen Lindahl (User:Njaelkies Lea), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luleå: Andreas Harnemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Umeå: Jonipoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Bodø: Røed 20:41, 24 July 2006 (UTC), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
- Oslo: Jonipoon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the coolest place to go from Dublin in December?
Rovaniemi, Finland, at 16.0 °C cooler. Reaching it emits 569 kg CO₂e return, travelling 6h 30m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere cool from Dublin in December without flying?
Not within 15 hours. Every destination on this frontier requires flying in December.
How much carbon does a return trip from Dublin to Rovaniemi produce?
569 kg CO₂e for one person, return, by air. That uses the UK Government's 2026 conversion factors, including radiative forcing for flights.
Carbon uses UK Government (DESNZ/DEFRA) 2026 conversion factors applied to great-circle distance, with radiative forcing included for flights. Rail journey times are modelled estimates, not timetabled services. Full method · download the data.