Sunniest places to go from Brussels in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Brussels is Aswan, Egypt, 10.0 h of sun a day and 16.8 °C, about 8h 36m each way by air. Without flying, it is Reus, Spain, 7.8 h of sun a day, about 12h 54m each way by train, for about 28× less carbon (32.6 kg CO₂e return against 901 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Brussels
Ranked on sunshine in January 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, Egypt10.0 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 36m · 901 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 908 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 24m · 927 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 6m · 875 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.7 h · 10.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 42m · 604 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.6 h · 19.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 36m · 771 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 6h 54m · 641 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 762 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 615 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.4 h · 18.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 761 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Reus is 7.8 h for 32.6 kg — about 28× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
- Reus, Spain7.8 h · 9.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.5 °Crail ≈ 12h 54m · 32.6 kg CO₂e return
- Barcelona, Spain7.7 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.2 °Crail ≈ 11h · 31.4 kg CO₂e return
Girona, Spain7.5 h · 8.1 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 11h · 29.3 kg CO₂e return
Marseille, France7.4 h · 8.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 7h 24m · 24.9 kg CO₂e return
Andorra la Vella, Andorra7.3 h · 4.1 °C · 1.2 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 11h 24m · 28.1 kg CO₂e return- Huesca, Spain7.3 h · 5.6 °C · 1.6 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 11h 48m · 30.5 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 Brussels in January within 15 hours is Safaga, 10.0 h, costing 921 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Nijmegen at 4.5 kg — 205× less carbon, for 6.4 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in January 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nijmegen, The Netherlands | Rail | 4.5 kg | 4.2 °C | 3.6 h | 2.9 mm | 4h 12m |
| Boulogne-sur-Mer, France | Rail | 5.7 kg | 5.9 °C | 4.4 h | 4.3 mm | 4h 12m |
| London, United Kingdom | Rail | 9.5 kg | 5.0 °C | 4.7 h | 2.0 mm | 4h 6m |
| Chur, Switzerland | Rail | 17.2 kg | 1.8 °C | 5.9 h | 3.0 mm | 10h 24m |
| Bellinzona, Switzerland | Rail | 18.3 kg | 5.7 °C | 6.6 h | 1.3 mm | 10h 42m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 24.9 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 7h 24m |
| Manlleu, Spain | Rail | 29.4 kg | 5.7 °C | 7.9 h | 0.7 mm | 11h 42m |
| Torrevieja, Spain | Air | 374 kg | 12.5 °C | 8.6 h | 0.4 mm | 5h 30m |
| Ar Rudayyif, Tunisia | Air | 467 kg | 10.0 °C | 9.1 h | 0.1 mm | 6h |
| Errachidia, Morocco | Air | 559 kg | 10.2 °C | 9.5 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 30m |
| Safaga, Egypt | Air | 921 kg | 18.9 °C | 10.0 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 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 Errachidia (559 kg, 9.5 h) to Safaga (921 kg, 10.0 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 362 kg — 724 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
SafagaEgypt921 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
January 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 Safaga
Places to stay in Safaga, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Safaga →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 Brussels
January 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
- Safaga: User:MatthiasKabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Girona: Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Pirineu de Girona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Andorra la Vella: Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Brussels in January?
Safaga, Egypt, at 10.0 h. Reaching it emits 921 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 24m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Brussels in January without flying?
Yes. Manlleu reaches 7.9 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 11h 42m (modelled), emitting 29.4 kg CO₂e return — though Safaga is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Brussels to Safaga produce?
921 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.