Sunniest places to go from Dublin in May
In May, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Dublin is Sundsvall, Sweden, 15.1 h of sun a day and 11.7 °C, about 5h 48m each way by air. Nowhere on the list is reachable by train within 15 hours in May.
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Dublin
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 °Cair ≈ 5h 48m · 428 kg CO₂e return
Umeå, Sweden15.0 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 3.8 °Cair ≈ 6h · 479 kg CO₂e return
Luleå, Sweden14.8 h · 7.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 1.5 °Cair ≈ 6h 18m · 522 kg CO₂e return- Vaasa, Finland14.8 h · 9.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 5.2 °Cair ≈ 6h 6m · 487 kg CO₂e return
Tallinn, Estonia14.7 h · 12.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 6.8 °Cair ≈ 6h 12m · 504 kg CO₂e return- Turku, Finland14.4 h · 12.2 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h · 474 kg CO₂e return
Helsinki, Finland14.4 h · 11.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 6.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 12m · 509 kg CO₂e return
Pärnu, Estonia14.3 h · 13.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 11.8 °Cair ≈ 6h 6m · 498 kg CO₂e return
Riga, Latvia14.2 h · 13.6 °C · 1.2 mm rain a day · sea 10.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 6m · 491 kg CO₂e return- Tartu, Estonia14.1 h · 12.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 18m · 531 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 Dublin in May within 15 hours is Gävle, 14.7 h, costing 408 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Omagh at 39.4 kg — 10× less carbon, for 6.3 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
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omagh, United Kingdom | Air | 39.4 kg | 12.2 °C | 8.4 h | 2.4 mm | 3h 42m |
| Colwyn Bay, United Kingdom | Air | 42.2 kg | 13.0 °C | 10.8 h | 2.2 mm | 3h 42m |
| Rhyl, United Kingdom | Air | 46.0 kg | 12.7 °C | 11.4 h | 1.9 mm | 3h 42m |
| Newquay, United Kingdom | Air | 84.1 kg | 12.9 °C | 12.1 h | 2.1 mm | 3h 54m |
| Kristiansand, Norway | Air | 261 kg | 12.6 °C | 13.0 h | 2.5 mm | 4h 54m |
| Tønsberg, Norway | Air | 306 kg | 13.0 °C | 13.9 h | 1.6 mm | 5h 6m |
| Karlstad, Sweden | Air | 348 kg | 13.6 °C | 14.3 h | 1.1 mm | 5h 18m |
| Gävle, Sweden | Air | 408 kg | 12.6 °C | 14.7 h | 0.7 mm | 5h 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 Newquay (84.1 kg, 12.1 h) to Kristiansand (261 kg, 13.0 h) buys 0.9 hours more sunshine for an extra 177 kg — 196 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
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 Dublin
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
- Omagh: Kenneth Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0, 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
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Dublin in May?
Gävle, Sweden, at 14.7 h. Reaching it emits 408 kg CO₂e return, travelling 5h 42m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Dublin in May without flying?
Not within 15 hours. Every destination on this frontier requires flying in May.
How much carbon does a return trip from Dublin to Gävle produce?
408 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.