Birmingham · February · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Birmingham in February

In February, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Birmingham is Maspalomas, Spain, 10.4 h of sun a day and 18.8 °C, about 7h 30m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 8.3 h of sun a day, about 11h 42m each way by train, for about 18× less carbon (42.6 kg CO₂e return against 748 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Birmingham

Ranked on sunshine in February 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.

Maspalomas, Spain10.4 h · 18.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 748 kg CO₂e return
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain10.3 h · 17.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 735 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt10.3 h · 17.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain10.1 h · 18.0 °C · 1.5 mm rain a day · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 738 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.1 h · 17.2 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h · 970 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10.0 h · 18.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 54m · 946 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 22.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 48m · 923 kg CO₂e return
Funchal, Portugal9.5 h · 14.6 °C · 2.2 mm rain a day · sea 19.6 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 632 kg CO₂e return
Fethiye, Turkey9.5 h · 10.7 °C · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 18.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 751 kg CO₂e return
Rhodes, Greece9.5 h · 13.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 741 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 8.3 h for 42.6 kg — about 18× less carbon than flying to Maspalomas.

Marseille, France8.3 h · 9.3 °C · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 13.7 °Crail ≈ 11h 42m · 42.6 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France8.1 h · 9.7 °C · 4.0 mm rain a day · sea 14.1 °Crail ≈ 14h 12m · 43.4 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France8.0 h · 10.2 °C · 2.7 mm rain a day · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 30m · 43.7 kg CO₂e return
Geneva, Switzerland7.7 h · 5.1 °C · 1.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 11h 42m · 35.1 kg CO₂e return
Narbonne, France7.5 h · 9.2 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 12.2 °Crail ≈ 13h 42m · 41.3 kg CO₂e return
Pamplona, Spain7.5 h · 5.9 °C · 3.2 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 48m · 41.8 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 Birmingham in February within 15 hours is Icod de los Vinos, 10.7 h, costing 741 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Preston at 12.2 kg — 61× less carbon, for 6.8 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in February 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 Birmingham. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against sunshine, February, departing Birmingham. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Puertollano can only be reached by air — 388 kg CO₂e, in 5h 36m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 56.1 kg in 22h — 7× less carbon for 16h 24m more travelling.

February from Birmingham — 12 destinations on the frontier, 8 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Preston, United Kingdom	Rail	12.2 kg	6.7 °C	3.9 h	3.4 mm	3h 42m
Kings Lynn, United Kingdom	Rail	12.7 kg	7.4 °C	5.0 h	2.1 mm	3h 48m
Lorient, France	Rail	27.2 kg	8.7 °C	5.5 h	2.8 mm	12h 30m
Mulhouse, France	Rail	33.1 kg	5.9 °C	6.0 h	1.6 mm	12h 24m
Neuchâtel, Switzerland	Rail	34.2 kg	4.8 °C	6.6 h	1.2 mm	13h 24m
Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland	Rail	34.3 kg	5.0 °C	7.0 h	1.5 mm	13h 18m
Geneva, Switzerland	Rail	35.1 kg	5.1 °C	7.7 h	1.5 mm	11h 42m
Orange, France	Rail	39.6 kg	8.1 °C	8.0 h	1.7 mm	12h 12m
Puertollano, Spain	Air	388 kg	8.3 °C	9.0 h	1.4 mm	5h 36m
Errachidia, Morocco	Air	577 kg	10.6 °C	9.7 h	0.6 mm	6h 36m
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain	Air	735 kg	17.6 °C	10.3 h	0.9 mm	7h 24m
Icod de los Vinos, Spain	Air	741 kg	17.3 °C	10.7 h	0.4 mm	7h 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 Orange (39.6 kg, 8.0 h) to Puertollano (388 kg, 9.0 h) buys 1.0 hours more sunshine for an extra 349 kg — 349 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

PrestonUnited Kingdom12.2 kg CO₂e return6.7 °C · 3.9 h sun · 3h 42m by railgrey and wet

OrangeFrance39.6 kg CO₂e return8.1 °C · 8.0 h sun · 12h 12m by railcold but bright Icod de los VinosSpain741 kg CO₂e return17.3 °C · 10.7 h sun · 7h 24m by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

February 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 Icod de los Vinos

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

Search places to stay in Icod de los Vinos →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 Birmingham

February from elsewhere

Photo credits

Preston: Karl1587, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Orange: Jeanlouiszimmermann, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Funchal: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fethiye: https://www.flickr.com/photos/astolath/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rhodes: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nice: Moody Dreiza (Moody751 at English Wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Toulon: Rafi88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Narbonne: Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pamplona: Nafarroako Gobernua, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the sunniest place to go from Birmingham in February?

Icod de los Vinos, Spain, at 10.7 h. Reaching it emits 741 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 24m each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere sunny from Birmingham in February without flying?

Yes. Orange reaches 8.0 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 12h 12m (modelled), emitting 39.6 kg CO₂e return — though Icod de los Vinos is sunnier still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Birmingham to Icod de los Vinos produce?

741 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.