Sunniest places to go from Copenhagen in May
In May, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Copenhagen is Sundsvall, Sweden, 15.1 h of sun a day and 11.7 °C, about 12h 18m each way by train. You can get there without flying, for 23.4 kg CO₂e return.
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Copenhagen
Ranked on sunshine in May 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.
Sundsvall, Sweden15.1 h · 11.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 5.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 18m · 23.4 kg CO₂e return
Umeå, Sweden15.0 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 3.8 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 29.6 kg CO₂e return
Luleå, Sweden14.8 h · 7.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 1.5 °Cair ≈ 5h 6m · 306 kg CO₂e return- Vaasa, Finland14.8 h · 9.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 5.2 °Cair ≈ 4h 48m · 244 kg CO₂e return
Tallinn, Estonia14.7 h · 12.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 6.8 °Cair ≈ 4h 36m · 211 kg CO₂e return- Turku, Finland14.4 h · 12.2 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 6m · 23.0 kg CO₂e return
Helsinki, Finland14.4 h · 11.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 6.4 °Cair ≈ 4h 42m · 222 kg CO₂e return
Pärnu, Estonia14.3 h · 13.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 11.8 °Cair ≈ 4h 30m · 196 kg CO₂e return
Riga, Latvia14.2 h · 13.6 °C · 1.2 mm rain a day · sea 10.4 °Cair ≈ 4h 30m · 182 kg CO₂e return- Tartu, Estonia14.1 h · 12.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 4h 42m · 228 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours.
- Sundsvall, Sweden15.1 h · 11.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 5.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 18m · 23.4 kg CO₂e return
- Umeå, Sweden15.0 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 3.8 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 29.6 kg CO₂e return
Gävle, Sweden14.7 h · 12.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 7.3 °Crail ≈ 9h 36m · 18.2 kg CO₂e return
Visby, Sweden14.4 h · 12.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 7.5 °Crail ≈ 8h · 12.2 kg CO₂e return- Turku, Finland14.4 h · 12.2 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 6m · 23.0 kg CO₂e return
Liepāja, Latvia14.0 h · 13.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 9.4 °Crail ≈ 14h 36m · 15.7 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 May within 15 hours is Gävle, 14.7 h, costing 18.2 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Varberg at 4.7 kg — 4× less carbon, for 0.7 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in May and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
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.
The pick of them
The same month, asked differently
May 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 Gävle
Places to stay in Gävle, Sweden, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Gävle →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
May 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
- Varberg: Wolfgangus Mozart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Gävle: I99pema, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sundsvall: User:Ö1thpe0807 (image 1), User:I99limpan (image2), User:Larskallin (image3), Hans Lindqvist (image 4-5), Calle Eklund (, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Umeå: Jonipoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luleå: Andreas Harnemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Tallinn: Hiiumaamudeliklubi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Helsinki: Old Pionear, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pärnu: Kristian Pikner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Riga: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Visby: Żeglarz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Liepāja: Edgars Šulcs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Copenhagen in May?
Gävle, Sweden, at 14.7 h. Reaching it emits 18.2 kg CO₂e return, travelling 9h 36m each way by rail (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Copenhagen in May without flying?
Yes. Gävle reaches 14.7 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 9h 36m (modelled), emitting 18.2 kg CO₂e return — which is also the best on this frontier.
How much carbon does a return trip from Copenhagen to Gävle produce?
18.2 kg CO₂e for one person, return, by rail. 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.