Amsterdam · August · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Amsterdam in August

In August, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Amsterdam is Ankara, Turkey, 13.2 h of sun a day and 26.5 °C, about 6h 54m each way by air. Without flying, it is Lleida, Spain, 12.8 h of sun a day, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 17× less carbon (36.6 kg CO₂e return against 638 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Amsterdam

Ranked on sunshine in August 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 sunshine each extra kilogram buys.

Ankara, Turkey13.2 h · 26.5 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 54m · 638 kg CO₂e return
Cosenza, Italy13.0 h · 25.4 °C · 1.2 mm rain a day · sea 28.3 °Cair ≈ 5h 48m · 426 kg CO₂e return
Catanzaro, Italy13.0 h · 26.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 27.7 °Cair ≈ 5h 48m · 440 kg CO₂e return
Mytilene, Greece13.0 h · 28.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 25.0 °Cair ≈ 6h 30m · 559 kg CO₂e return
Konya, Turkey13.0 h · 26.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 6m · 672 kg CO₂e return
Izmir, Turkey13.0 h · 29.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 25.8 °Cair ≈ 6h 36m · 582 kg CO₂e return
Potenza, Italy13.0 h · 23.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 36m · 389 kg CO₂e return
Athens, Greece12.9 h · 28.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 27.7 °Cair ≈ 6h 24m · 544 kg CO₂e return
Korçë, Albania12.9 h · 22.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 54m · 447 kg CO₂e return
Pristina, Kosovo12.9 h · 23.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 42m · 408 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Lleida is 12.8 h for 36.6 kg — about 17× less carbon than flying to Ankara.

Lleida, Spain12.8 h · 27.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 42m · 36.6 kg CO₂e return
Marseille, France12.7 h · 24.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 22.8 °Crail ≈ 9h 18m · 29.8 kg CO₂e return
Zaragoza, Spain12.7 h · 27.2 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 24m · 37.4 kg CO₂e return
Huesca, Spain12.7 h · 25.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 13h 42m · 35.6 kg CO₂e return
Montpellier, France12.6 h · 25.5 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 9h 36m · 28.8 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France12.6 h · 25.6 °C · 1.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 8h 54m · 27.6 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 sunniest place you can reach from Amsterdam in August within 15 hours is Segovia, 12.9 h, costing 363 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Roermond at 4.5 kg — 81× less carbon, for 2.2 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in August and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.

Where they are. Solid lines are rail or ferry, dashed are flights, from Amsterdam. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against sunshine, August, departing Amsterdam. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Segovia can only be reached by air — 363 kg CO₂e, in 5h 24m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 42.6 kg in 16h 30m — 9× less carbon for 11h 6m more travelling.

August from Amsterdam — 5 destinations on the frontier, 4 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Roermond, The Netherlands	Rail	4.5 kg	19.2 °C	10.7 h	3.0 mm	3h 42m
Bruges, Belgium	Rail	5.1 kg	18.5 °C	10.9 h	2.6 mm	4h 30m
Norden, Germany	Rail	6.1 kg	17.9 °C	11.6 h	2.7 mm	5h
Romans-sur-Isère, France	Rail	24.0 kg	24.2 °C	12.4 h	0.8 mm	10h
Segovia, Spain	Air	363 kg	23.5 °C	12.9 h	0.2 mm	5h 24m

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 Romans-sur-Isère (24.0 kg, 12.4 h) to Segovia (363 kg, 12.9 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 339 kg — 677 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

RoermondThe Netherlands4.5 kg CO₂e return19.2 °C · 10.7 h sun · 3h 42m by railwarm but wet Romans-sur-IsèreFrance24.0 kg CO₂e return24.2 °C · 12.4 h sun · 10h by railwarm, bright and dry

SegoviaSpain363 kg CO₂e return23.5 °C · 12.9 h sun · 5h 24m by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

August 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 Segovia

Places to stay in Segovia, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.

Search places to stay in Segovia →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 Amsterdam

August from elsewhere

Photo credits

Roermond: This media file was made by Michiel1972 You may use it using a redistributable license (cc-by-sa), see below Please cred, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Segovia: Marostegui, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ankara: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mytilene: SilentResident (compilation, sources to attribute see above; if any of the sources used in the Montage are removed from , CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Izmir: Rafaela Ely, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Athens: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons
Korçë: Joergsam, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pristina: Arben Llapashtica, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lleida: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Zaragoza: Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Montpellier: Assembled by DePlusJean, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Avignon: Jean-Marc Rosier (de/from http://www.cjrosier.com + http://www.gordes-immobilier.com), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the sunniest place to go from Amsterdam in August?

Segovia, Spain, at 12.9 h. Reaching it emits 363 kg CO₂e return, travelling 5h 24m each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere sunny from Amsterdam in August without flying?

Yes. Romans-sur-Isère reaches 12.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 10h (modelled), emitting 24.0 kg CO₂e return — though Segovia is sunnier still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Amsterdam to Segovia produce?

363 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.