Sunniest places to go from Copenhagen in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Copenhagen is Aswan, Egypt, 10.0 h of sun a day and 16.8 °C, about 8h 42m each way by air. Without flying, it is Bratislava, Slovakia, 4.6 h of sun a day, about 14h 54m each way by train, for about 35× less carbon (26.3 kg CO₂e return against 909 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Copenhagen
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 42m · 909 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 903 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 24m · 868 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h · 857 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.7 h · 10.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 42m · 792 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.6 h · 19.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 897 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 831 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 888 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 805 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.4 h · 18.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 887 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Bratislava is 4.6 h for 26.3 kg — about 35× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Bratislava, Slovakia4.6 h · 2.3 °C · 1.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 26.3 kg CO₂e return- Salzburg, Austria4.5 h · 1.4 °C · 3.1 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 25.9 kg CO₂e return
Vienna, Austria4.4 h · 2.3 °C · 1.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 36m · 25.7 kg CO₂e return
Nitra, Slovakia4.4 h · 2.0 °C · 2.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 15h · 26.6 kg CO₂e return- Munich, Germany4.3 h · 1.5 °C · 2.1 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 13h 24m · 24.8 kg CO₂e return
Dunkirk, France4.2 h · 5.5 °C · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 9.2 °Crail ≈ 14h 18m · 25.1 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 January within 15 hours is Safaga, 10.0 h, costing 917 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Horsens at 5.0 kg — 183× less carbon, for 6.7 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
What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Chur can only be reached by air — 252 kg CO₂e, in 4h 48m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 29.6 kg in 16h 30m — 9× less carbon for 11h 42m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horsens, Denmark | Rail | 5.0 kg | 2.3 °C | 3.3 h | 3.3 mm | 4h |
| Sønderborg, Denmark | Rail | 5.8 kg | 3.3 °C | 3.7 h | 3.0 mm | 4h 18m |
| Munich, Germany | Rail | 24.8 kg | 1.5 °C | 4.3 h | 2.1 mm | 13h 24m |
| Rosenheim, Germany | Rail | 25.7 kg | 1.2 °C | 4.8 h | 2.2 mm | 14h 36m |
| Chur, Switzerland | Air | 252 kg | 1.8 °C | 5.9 h | 3.0 mm | 4h 48m |
| Merano, Italy | Air | 253 kg | 5.0 °C | 6.9 h | 1.0 mm | 4h 48m |
| Marseille, France | Air | 370 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 5h 30m |
| Manlleu, Spain | Air | 426 kg | 5.7 °C | 7.9 h | 0.7 mm | 5h 48m |
| Syracuse, Italy | Air | 523 kg | 12.2 °C | 8.7 h | 1.1 mm | 6h 18m |
| Gafsa, Tunisia | Air | 599 kg | 9.9 °C | 9.0 h | 0.0 mm | 6h 42m |
| Errachidia, Morocco | Air | 743 kg | 10.2 °C | 9.5 h | 0.1 mm | 7h 24m |
| Safaga, Egypt | Air | 917 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 (743 kg, 9.5 h) to Safaga (917 kg, 10.0 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 174 kg — 349 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
HorsensDenmark5.0 kg CO₂e returngrey and wetRosenheimGermany25.7 kg CO₂e returncool
SafagaEgypt917 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 Copenhagen
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
- Horsens: Hubertus45, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- 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
- Bratislava: Rob Hurson from Kentstown, Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Vienna: Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Nitra: unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dunkirk: Pichasso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Copenhagen in January?
Safaga, Egypt, at 10.0 h. Reaching it emits 917 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 24m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Copenhagen in January without flying?
Yes. Rosenheim reaches 4.8 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 36m (modelled), emitting 25.7 kg CO₂e return — though Safaga is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Copenhagen to Safaga produce?
917 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.