Sunniest places to go from Copenhagen in December
In December, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Copenhagen is Aswan, Egypt, 10.1 h of sun a day and 18.7 °C, about 8h 42m each way by air. Without flying, it is Salzburg, Austria, 4.5 h of sun a day, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 35× less carbon (25.9 kg CO₂e return against 909 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Copenhagen
Ranked on sunshine 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 sunshine each extra kilogram buys.
Aswan, Egypt10.1 h · 18.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 42m · 909 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.0 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 24m · 868 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt9.8 h · 19.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 903 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.4 h · 19.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 897 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.3 h · 18.9 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 888 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.3 h · 19.1 °C · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 887 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.3 h · 10.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 42m · 792 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.2 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 8h · 857 kg CO₂e return- Ifrane, Morocco9.2 h · 6.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 18m · 708 kg CO₂e return
Oujda, Morocco9.1 h · 11.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 54m · 650 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Salzburg is 4.5 h for 25.9 kg — about 35× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
- Salzburg, Austria4.5 h · 2.0 °C · 4.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 25.9 kg CO₂e return
České Budějovice, Czechia4.4 h · 1.6 °C · 2.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 12h 54m · 22.3 kg CO₂e return- Memmingen, Germany4.2 h · 1.8 °C · 3.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 36m · 25.7 kg CO₂e return
Vienna, Austria4.1 h · 3.1 °C · 1.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 36m · 25.7 kg CO₂e return- Munich, Germany4.1 h · 2.3 °C · 3.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 13h 24m · 24.8 kg CO₂e return
Bratislava, Slovakia4.1 h · 2.5 °C · 1.7 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 26.3 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 Copenhagen in December within 15 hours is Aswan, 10.1 h, costing 909 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Karlshamn at 4.5 kg — 202× less carbon, for 8.3 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier 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 Graz can only be reached by air — 246 kg CO₂e, in 4h 48m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 28.8 kg in 16h 6m — 9× less carbon for 11h 18m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karlshamn, Sweden | Rail | 4.5 kg | 2.8 °C | 1.8 h | 1.9 mm | 4h 12m |
| Frankfurt (Oder), Germany | Rail | 11.6 kg | 3.5 °C | 2.5 h | 2.1 mm | 7h 42m |
| Żagań, Poland | Rail | 14.3 kg | 3.1 °C | 3.1 h | 1.9 mm | 9h |
| Dresden, Germany | Rail | 15.3 kg | 3.4 °C | 3.5 h | 2.4 mm | 9h 30m |
| České Budějovice, Czechia | Rail | 22.3 kg | 1.6 °C | 4.4 h | 2.3 mm | 12h 54m |
| Salzburg, Austria | Rail | 25.9 kg | 2.0 °C | 4.5 h | 4.5 mm | 14h 42m |
| Graz, Austria | Air | 246 kg | 0.9 °C | 5.0 h | 1.6 mm | 4h 48m |
| Wolfsberg, Austria | Air | 250 kg | 1.7 °C | 5.6 h | 2.0 mm | 4h 48m |
| Lugano, Switzerland | Air | 278 kg | 5.9 °C | 6.5 h | 1.1 mm | 5h |
| Ivrea, Italy | Air | 297 kg | 4.2 °C | 6.8 h | 0.7 mm | 5h 6m |
| Nice, France | Air | 348 kg | 9.2 °C | 7.5 h | 1.4 mm | 5h 18m |
| Cagliari, Italy | Air | 464 kg | 12.2 °C | 8.0 h | 0.6 mm | 6h |
| Alicante, Spain | Air | 543 kg | 13.3 °C | 8.5 h | 0.2 mm | 6h 24m |
| Melilla, Spain | Air | 643 kg | 15.2 °C | 8.9 h | 0.4 mm | 6h 54m |
| Bouarfa, Morocco | Air | 707 kg | 8.7 °C | 9.6 h | 0.0 mm | 7h 12m |
| Aswan, Egypt | Air | 909 kg | 18.7 °C | 10.1 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 42m |
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 Salzburg (25.9 kg, 4.5 h) to Graz (246 kg, 5.0 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 220 kg — 440 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
KarlshamnSweden4.5 kg CO₂e returncoolSalzburgAustria25.9 kg CO₂e returncoolAswanEgypt909 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe 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 Aswan
Places to stay in Aswan, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Aswan →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 Copenhagen
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
- Karlshamn: Entheta, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Oujda: Farajiibrahim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- České Budějovice: Pavel Rychtecký, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Vienna: Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Bratislava: Rob Hurson from Kentstown, Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Copenhagen in December?
Aswan, Egypt, at 10.1 h. Reaching it emits 909 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 42m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Copenhagen in December without flying?
Yes. Salzburg reaches 4.5 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 25.9 kg CO₂e return — though Aswan is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Copenhagen to Aswan produce?
909 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.