Sunniest places to go from Edinburgh in October
In October, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Edinburgh is Aswan, Egypt, 11.0 h of sun a day and 29.1 °C, about 9h 36m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 9.0 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 October 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, Egypt11.0 h · 29.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 36m · 1,075 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt11.0 h · 28.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 24m · 1,036 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10.9 h · 29.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 28.3 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus10.8 h · 23.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 911 kg CO₂e return
Paphos, Cyprus10.7 h · 22.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 900 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain10.7 h · 24.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 827 kg CO₂e return- Konya, Turkey10.6 h · 14.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 54m · 834 kg CO₂e return
- Antalya, Turkey10.6 h · 21.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 829 kg CO₂e return
Alanya, Turkey10.6 h · 22.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.8 °Cair ≈ 8h · 855 kg CO₂e return- Nicosia, Cyprus10.4 h · 21.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 904 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 9.0 h for 72.5 kg — about 15× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France9.0 h · 18.2 °C · 2.2 mm rain a day · sea 20.5 °Crail ≈ 14h 42m · 72.5 kg CO₂e return- Geneva, Switzerland7.9 h · 13.8 °C · 5.2 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 64.9 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France7.9 h · 17.4 °C · 5.3 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 12m · 70.0 kg CO₂e return
Lyon, France7.8 h · 15.2 °C · 4.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 13h 24m · 64.7 kg CO₂e return- Saint-Etienne, France7.7 h · 14.6 °C · 3.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 65.1 kg CO₂e return
Canterbury, United Kingdom6.9 h · 12.9 °C · 3.0 mm rain a day · sea 15.8 °Crail ≈ 8h · 47.5 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 October within 15 hours is Luxor, 11.0 h, costing 1,036 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Whitehaven at 12.7 kg — 82× less carbon, for 5.9 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in October 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 | 11.3 °C | 5.1 h | 4.0 mm | 3h 48m |
| Sunderland, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.1 kg | 11.1 °C | 5.7 h | 3.3 mm | 3h 48m |
| London, United Kingdom | Rail | 42.9 kg | 12.7 °C | 6.4 h | 2.8 mm | 5h 48m |
| Canterbury, United Kingdom | Rail | 47.5 kg | 12.9 °C | 6.9 h | 3.0 mm | 8h |
| Moulins, France | Rail | 60.7 kg | 14.6 °C | 7.4 h | 3.9 mm | 14h 54m |
| Mâcon, France | Rail | 63.0 kg | 15.0 °C | 7.5 h | 5.4 mm | 14h 54m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 72.5 kg | 18.2 °C | 9.0 h | 2.2 mm | 14h 42m |
| Palma, Spain | Air | 471 kg | 21.1 °C | 9.9 h | 1.4 mm | 6h |
| Aigio, Greece | Air | 683 kg | 20.5 °C | 10.4 h | 0.2 mm | 7h 6m |
| Isparta, Turkey | Air | 808 kg | 14.8 °C | 10.5 h | 0.2 mm | 7h 48m |
| Luxor, Egypt | Air | 1,036 kg | 28.4 °C | 11.0 h | 0.0 mm | 9h 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 Aigio (683 kg, 10.4 h) to Isparta (808 kg, 10.5 h) buys 0.1 hours more sunshine for an extra 125 kg — 1253 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 returnmild but wetMarseilleFrance72.5 kg CO₂e returnwarm overallLuxorEgypt1,036 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
October 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 Luxor
Places to stay in Luxor, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Luxor →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
October 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
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Limassol: Xaris333, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Paphos: unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Alanya: Ozgurmulazimoglu, 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
- Lyon: Otourly, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Canterbury: Michael Pead, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Edinburgh in October?
Luxor, Egypt, at 11.0 h. Reaching it emits 1,036 kg CO₂e return, travelling 9h 24m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Edinburgh in October without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 9.0 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 72.5 kg CO₂e return — though Luxor is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Edinburgh to Luxor produce?
1,036 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.