Sunniest places to go from Edinburgh in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Edinburgh is Aswan, Egypt, 10.0 h of sun a day and 16.8 °C, about 9h 36m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 7.4 h of sun a day, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 15× less carbon (72.5 kg CO₂e return against 1,075 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Edinburgh
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 ≈ 9h 36m · 1,075 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,016 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 24m · 1,036 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 9h 6m · 981 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.7 h · 10.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 12m · 704 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.6 h · 19.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 827 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 7h 18m · 725 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 812 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 7h 12m · 696 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.4 h · 18.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 817 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 7.4 h for 72.5 kg — about 15× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France7.4 h · 8.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 14h 42m · 72.5 kg CO₂e return
Montpellier, France6.9 h · 7.4 °C · 2.0 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 70.3 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France6.9 h · 6.4 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 12m · 70.0 kg CO₂e return- Vannes, France5.3 h · 6.8 °C · 3.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 15h · 56.7 kg CO₂e return
- Geneva, Switzerland5.1 h · 3.1 °C · 3.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 64.9 kg CO₂e return
London, United Kingdom4.7 h · 5.0 °C · 2.0 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 5h 48m · 42.9 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 January within 15 hours is Icod de los Vinos, 9.9 h, costing 817 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 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 Tortosa can only be reached by air — 429 kg CO₂e, in 5h 48m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 78.0 kg in 21h — 5× less carbon for 15h 12m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehaven, United Kingdom | Rail | 12.7 kg | 5.0 °C | 3.9 h | 5.7 mm | 3h 48m |
| Hull, United Kingdom | Rail | 24.6 kg | 4.8 °C | 4.6 h | 1.7 mm | 5h 54m |
| Peterborough, United Kingdom | Rail | 33.9 kg | 5.0 °C | 4.9 h | 1.6 mm | 7h 36m |
| La Teste-de-Buch, France | Rail | 65.6 kg | 8.4 °C | 5.4 h | 3.7 mm | 15h |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 72.5 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 14h 42m |
| Tortosa, Spain | Air | 429 kg | 10.2 °C | 7.9 h | 0.6 mm | 5h 48m |
| Torrevieja, Spain | Air | 505 kg | 12.5 °C | 8.6 h | 0.4 mm | 6h 12m |
| Oujda, Morocco | Air | 595 kg | 11.1 °C | 8.9 h | 0.8 mm | 6h 42m |
| Errachidia, Morocco | Air | 672 kg | 10.2 °C | 9.5 h | 0.1 mm | 7h 6m |
| Icod de los Vinos, Spain | Air | 817 kg | 18.2 °C | 9.9 h | 0.2 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, 7.4 h) to Tortosa (429 kg, 7.9 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 356 kg — 713 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 returngrey and wetMarseilleFrance72.5 kg CO₂e returncold but brightIcod de los VinosSpain817 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 Icod de los Vinos
Places to stay in Icod de los Vinos, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Icod de los Vinos →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
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
- Whitehaven: Stanley Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
- 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
- London: Ilya Grigorik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Edinburgh in January?
Icod de los Vinos, Spain, at 9.9 h. Reaching it emits 817 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 48m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Edinburgh in January without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 7.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 72.5 kg CO₂e return — though Icod de los Vinos is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Edinburgh to Icod de los Vinos produce?
817 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.