Sunniest places to go from Birmingham in October
In October, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Birmingham is Aswan, Egypt, 11.0 h of sun a day and 29.1 °C, about 9h 12m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 9.0 h of sun a day, about 11h 42m each way by train, for about 24× less carbon (42.6 kg CO₂e return against 1,008 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Birmingham
Ranked on sunshine in October 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.
Aswan, Egypt11.0 h · 29.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt11.0 h · 28.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h · 970 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10.9 h · 29.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 28.3 °Cair ≈ 8h 54m · 946 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus10.8 h · 23.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.0 °Cair ≈ 8h · 852 kg CO₂e return
Paphos, Cyprus10.7 h · 22.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.1 °Cair ≈ 8h · 841 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain10.7 h · 24.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 748 kg CO₂e return- Konya, Turkey10.6 h · 14.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 36m · 781 kg CO₂e return
- Antalya, Turkey10.6 h · 21.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 36m · 771 kg CO₂e return
Alanya, Turkey10.6 h · 22.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.8 °Cair ≈ 7h 42m · 799 kg CO₂e return- Nicosia, Cyprus10.4 h · 21.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 8h · 847 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 9.0 h for 42.6 kg — about 24× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France9.0 h · 18.2 °C · 2.2 mm rain a day · sea 20.5 °Crail ≈ 11h 42m · 42.6 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France8.4 h · 18.6 °C · 4.4 mm rain a day · sea 20.9 °Crail ≈ 12h 30m · 43.7 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France8.1 h · 18.3 °C · 6.0 mm rain a day · sea 21.5 °Crail ≈ 14h 12m · 43.4 kg CO₂e return- Geneva, Switzerland7.9 h · 13.8 °C · 5.2 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 11h 42m · 35.1 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France7.9 h · 17.4 °C · 5.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 11h 12m · 40.2 kg CO₂e return- Lausanne, Switzerland7.8 h · 13.2 °C · 4.9 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 13h · 35.0 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 October within 15 hours is Silifke, 10.7 h, costing 833 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Preston at 12.2 kg — 68× less carbon, for 5.4 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in October 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 Granollers can only be reached by air — 314 kg CO₂e, in 5h 12m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 46.0 kg in 16h 18m — 7× less carbon for 11h 6m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston, United Kingdom | Rail | 12.2 kg | 11.5 °C | 5.3 h | 4.0 mm | 3h 42m |
| London, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.1 kg | 12.7 °C | 6.4 h | 2.8 mm | 2h 54m |
| Guildford, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.3 kg | 12.3 °C | 6.5 h | 2.9 mm | 3h 54m |
| Margate, United Kingdom | Rail | 20.6 kg | 13.6 °C | 7.0 h | 3.1 mm | 5h 12m |
| Vichy, France | Rail | 32.3 kg | 15.0 °C | 7.9 h | 2.8 mm | 12h 36m |
| Chambéry, France | Rail | 36.6 kg | 15.2 °C | 8.0 h | 7.2 mm | 12h 12m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 42.6 kg | 18.2 °C | 9.0 h | 2.2 mm | 11h 42m |
| Granollers, Spain | Air | 314 kg | 18.6 °C | 9.1 h | 2.4 mm | 5h 12m |
| Palma, Spain | Air | 372 kg | 21.1 °C | 9.9 h | 1.4 mm | 5h 30m |
| Essaouira, Morocco | Air | 608 kg | 21.4 °C | 10.2 h | 1.0 mm | 6h 42m |
| Silifke, Turkey | Air | 833 kg | 21.9 °C | 10.7 h | 0.3 mm | 7h 54m |
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 Marseille (42.6 kg, 9.0 h) to Granollers (314 kg, 9.1 h) buys 0.1 hours more sunshine for an extra 272 kg — 2717 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 returnmild but wetMarseilleFrance42.6 kg CO₂e returnwarm overall
SilifkeTurkey833 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
October 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 Silifke
Places to stay in Silifke, Turkey, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Silifke →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
October 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
- Preston: Karl1587, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Silifke: Cobija, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 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
- Limassol: Xaris333, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Paphos: unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Alanya: Ozgurmulazimoglu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Toulon: Rafi88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Nice: Moody Dreiza (Moody751 at English Wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, 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 Birmingham in October?
Silifke, Turkey, at 10.7 h. Reaching it emits 833 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 54m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Birmingham in October without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 9.0 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 11h 42m (modelled), emitting 42.6 kg CO₂e return — though Silifke is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Birmingham to Silifke produce?
833 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.