Sunniest places to go from Edinburgh in February
In February, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Edinburgh is Maspalomas, Spain, 10.4 h of sun a day and 18.8 °C, about 7h 54m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 8.3 h of sun a day, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 11× less carbon (72.5 kg CO₂e return against 827 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Edinburgh
Ranked on sunshine in February 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.
Maspalomas, Spain10.4 h · 18.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 827 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain10.3 h · 17.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 812 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt10.3 h · 17.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 36m · 1,075 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain10.1 h · 18.0 °C · 1.5 mm rain a day · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 817 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.1 h · 17.2 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 24m · 1,036 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10.0 h · 18.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 22.1 °Cair ≈ 9h 6m · 981 kg CO₂e return
Funchal, Portugal9.5 h · 14.6 °C · 2.2 mm rain a day · sea 19.6 °Cair ≈ 7h 12m · 704 kg CO₂e return
Fethiye, Turkey9.5 h · 10.7 °C · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 18.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 813 kg CO₂e return
Rhodes, Greece9.5 h · 13.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 805 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 8.3 h for 72.5 kg — about 11× less carbon than flying to Maspalomas.
Marseille, France8.3 h · 9.3 °C · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 13.7 °Crail ≈ 14h 42m · 72.5 kg CO₂e return
Montpellier, France7.9 h · 8.6 °C · 1.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 70.3 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France7.9 h · 8.5 °C · 1.7 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 12m · 70.0 kg CO₂e return- Geneva, Switzerland7.7 h · 5.1 °C · 1.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 64.9 kg CO₂e return
Grenoble, France7.3 h · 7.5 °C · 2.1 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 36m · 67.3 kg CO₂e return
Frankfurt am Main, Germany5.4 h · 5.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h · 61.7 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 Edinburgh in February within 15 hours is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 10.3 h, costing 812 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Whitehaven at 12.7 kg — 64× less carbon, for 6.0 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in February 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehaven, United Kingdom | Rail | 12.7 kg | 6.6 °C | 4.3 h | 3.9 mm | 3h 48m |
| Sunderland, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.1 kg | 6.8 °C | 4.8 h | 1.7 mm | 3h 48m |
| Skegness, United Kingdom | Rail | 31.1 kg | 7.4 °C | 5.3 h | 2.2 mm | 7h 6m |
| Lyon, France | Rail | 64.7 kg | 6.1 °C | 6.3 h | 1.3 mm | 13h 24m |
| Geneva, Switzerland | Rail | 64.9 kg | 5.1 °C | 7.7 h | 1.5 mm | 14h 42m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 72.5 kg | 9.3 °C | 8.3 h | 2.0 mm | 14h 42m |
| Teruel, Spain | Air | 438 kg | 5.5 °C | 8.8 h | 0.4 mm | 5h 48m |
| Melilla, Spain | Air | 578 kg | 14.9 °C | 9.3 h | 1.3 mm | 6h 36m |
| Recani, Morocco | Air | 690 kg | 12.8 °C | 9.8 h | 0.3 mm | 7h 12m |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain | Air | 812 kg | 17.6 °C | 10.3 h | 0.9 mm | 7h 48m |
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 Marseille (72.5 kg, 8.3 h) to Teruel (438 kg, 8.8 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 366 kg — 731 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
WhitehavenUnited Kingdom12.7 kg CO₂e returncoolMarseilleFrance72.5 kg CO₂e returncold but brightSanta Cruz de TenerifeSpain812 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
February 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 Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Places to stay in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Santa Cruz de Tenerife →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 Edinburgh
February 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
- Whitehaven: Stanley Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Funchal: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Fethiye: https://www.flickr.com/photos/astolath/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Rhodes: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Montpellier: Assembled by DePlusJean, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Avignon: Jean-Marc Rosier (de/from http://www.cjrosier.com + http://www.gordes-immobilier.com), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Grenoble: Brücke-Osteuropa, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Frankfurt am Main: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Edinburgh in February?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, at 10.3 h. Reaching it emits 812 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 48m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Edinburgh in February without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 8.3 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 72.5 kg CO₂e return — though Santa Cruz de Tenerife is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Edinburgh to Santa Cruz de Tenerife produce?
812 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.