Coolest places to go from Lisbon in December
In December, the coolest well-known place within 15 hours of Lisbon is Rovaniemi, Finland, 19.9 °C cooler than Lisbon and 0.1 h sun a day, about 8h 30m each way by air. Without flying, it is Ávila, Spain, 8.5 °C cooler than Lisbon, about 8h 18m each way by train, for about 69× less carbon (12.9 kg CO₂e return against 885 kg).
The 10 coolest places within 15 hours of Lisbon
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, Finland19.9 °C cooler · 0.1 h sun a day · 1.2 mm rain a dayair ≈ 8h 30m · 885 kg CO₂e return
Tromsø, Norway18.1 °C cooler · 0.0 h sun a day · 3.8 mm rain a dayair ≈ 8h 36m · 893 kg CO₂e return- Joensuu, Finland18.0 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 1.7 mm rain a dayair ≈ 8h 30m · 870 kg CO₂e return
Östersund, Sweden17.9 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 1.8 mm rain a dayair ≈ 7h 42m · 792 kg CO₂e return- Oulu, Finland17.8 °C cooler · 0.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 0.2 °Cair ≈ 8h 24m · 924 kg CO₂e return
Luleå, Sweden17.5 °C cooler · 0.3 h sun a day · 1.9 mm rain a day · sea 0.8 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 904 kg CO₂e return
Umeå, Sweden17.2 °C cooler · 0.9 h sun a day · 2.1 mm rain a day · sea 2.0 °Cair ≈ 8h · 854 kg CO₂e return
Bodø, Norway16.2 °C cooler · 0.0 h sun a day · 7.8 mm rain a day · sea 6.7 °Cair ≈ 8h 12m · 879 kg CO₂e return
Oslo, Norway14.9 °C cooler · 1.8 h sun a day · 1.7 mm rain a dayair ≈ 7h 12m · 689 kg CO₂e return- Erzurum, Turkey14.9 °C cooler · 6.9 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,002 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The coolest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Ávila is 8.5 °C cooler for 12.9 kg — about 69× less carbon than flying to Rovaniemi.
Ávila, Spain8.5 °C cooler · 7.6 h sun a day · mostly dryrail ≈ 8h 18m · 12.9 kg CO₂e return- Teruel, Spain7.0 °C cooler · 7.5 h sun a day · mostly dryrail ≈ 12h 18m · 21.0 kg CO₂e return
Segovia, Spain7.0 °C cooler · 7.1 h sun a day · 1.9 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 9h 6m · 14.6 kg CO₂e return- Madrid, Spain6.1 °C cooler · 7.3 h sun a day · mostly dryrail ≈ 9h 12m · 14.9 kg CO₂e return
Pau, France4.5 °C cooler · 4.9 h sun a day · 4.2 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 26.4 kg CO₂e return
Viseu, Portugal4.2 °C cooler · 7.3 h sun a day · 1.6 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 5h · 7.1 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 Lisbon in December within 15 hours is Rovaniemi, 19.9 °C cooler, costing 885 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Portalegre at 4.8 kg — 184× less carbon, for 17.1 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
What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Oyonnax can only be reached by air — 370 kg CO₂e, in 5h 30m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 43.4 kg in 23h 12m — 9× less carbon for 17h 42m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portalegre, Portugal | Rail | 4.8 kg | 9.3 °C | 7.6 h | 1.0 mm | 3h 48m |
| Castelo Branco, Portugal | Rail | 5.5 kg | 8.1 °C | 7.4 h | 0.6 mm | 4h 12m |
| Guarda, Portugal | Rail | 7.6 kg | 3.8 °C | 7.0 h | 0.8 mm | 5h 12m |
| Oyonnax, France | Air | 370 kg | 2.9 °C | 4.6 h | 5.6 mm | 5h 30m |
| Bulle, Switzerland | Air | 399 kg | 1.6 °C | 5.2 h | 5.6 mm | 5h 36m |
| La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland | Air | 401 kg | 1.0 °C | 4.0 h | 5.1 mm | 5h 36m |
| Klagenfurt, Austria | Air | 528 kg | 0.1 °C | 5.3 h | 2.2 mm | 6h 18m |
| Porsgrunn, Norway | Air | 662 kg | -1.8 °C | 2.3 h | 3.2 mm | 7h |
| Drammen, Norway | Air | 680 kg | -3.4 °C | 2.1 h | 2.8 mm | 7h 6m |
| Lillehammer, Norway | Air | 713 kg | -6.0 °C | 1.9 h | 1.9 mm | 7h 18m |
| Rovaniemi, Finland | Air | 885 kg | -7.8 °C | 0.1 h | 1.2 mm | 8h 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 Guarda (7.6 kg, 8.3 °C cooler) to Oyonnax (370 kg, 9.2 °C cooler) buys 0.9 °C more relief from the heat for an extra 362 kg — 403 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive relief from the heat on the whole curve.
The pick of them
PortalegrePortugal4.8 kg CO₂e returncold but bright
GuardaPortugal7.6 kg CO₂e returncold but brightRovaniemiFinland885 kg CO₂e returncoolThe 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 Lisbon
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
- Portalegre: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Guarda: Alexa Pinto, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Ávila: Anual, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Segovia: Marostegui, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pau: Flo641, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Viseu: Manuelvbotelho, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
.jpg){kind=link}
Questions
Where is the coolest place to go from Lisbon in December?
Rovaniemi, Finland, at 19.9 °C cooler. Reaching it emits 885 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 30m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere cool from Lisbon in December without flying?
Yes. Guarda reaches 8.3 °C cooler and is reachable by rail or ferry in 5h 12m (modelled), emitting 7.6 kg CO₂e return — though Rovaniemi is cooler still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Lisbon to Rovaniemi produce?
885 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.