Sunniest places to go from Glasgow in December
In December, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Glasgow is Aswan, Egypt, 10.1 h of sun a day and 18.7 °C, about 9h 42m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 7.5 h of sun a day, about 14h 48m each way by train, for about 15× less carbon (74.2 kg CO₂e return against 1,087 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Glasgow
Ranked on sunshine in December 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, Egypt10.1 h · 18.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 42m · 1,087 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.0 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 30m · 1,048 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt9.8 h · 19.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 9h 24m · 1,028 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.4 h · 19.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 818 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.3 h · 18.9 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 803 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.3 h · 19.1 °C · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 808 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.3 h · 10.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 12m · 700 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.2 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 994 kg CO₂e return- Ifrane, Morocco9.2 h · 6.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 48m · 625 kg CO₂e return
Oujda, Morocco9.1 h · 11.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 36m · 594 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 7.5 h for 74.2 kg — about 15× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France7.5 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.5 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 74.2 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France6.8 h · 6.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 24m · 71.7 kg CO₂e return- Saint-Etienne, France5.3 h · 4.2 °C · 2.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 66.9 kg CO₂e return
- Geneva, Switzerland5.0 h · 3.3 °C · 4.9 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 48m · 66.7 kg CO₂e return
Grenoble, France5.0 h · 5.1 °C · 6.8 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 69.0 kg CO₂e return- Basel, Switzerland3.7 h · 3.8 °C · 3.5 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 48m · 65.5 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 Glasgow in December within 15 hours is Luxor, 10.0 h, costing 1,048 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Whitehaven at 12.3 kg — 85× less carbon, for 7.9 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in December 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 | 12.3 kg | 6.7 °C | 2.1 h | 6.6 mm | 3h 42m |
| Grimsby, United Kingdom | Rail | 29.8 kg | 7.3 °C | 2.7 h | 2.9 mm | 6h 54m |
| Caen, France | Rail | 52.3 kg | 7.9 °C | 3.4 h | 2.3 mm | 14h 6m |
| Angers, France | Rail | 57.9 kg | 7.5 °C | 4.2 h | 1.6 mm | 14h 48m |
| Nantes, France | Rail | 59.1 kg | 8.2 °C | 4.5 h | 2.3 mm | 13h 42m |
| Geneva, Switzerland | Rail | 66.7 kg | 3.3 °C | 5.0 h | 4.9 mm | 14h 48m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 74.2 kg | 9.0 °C | 7.5 h | 1.1 mm | 14h 48m |
| Tortosa, Spain | Air | 430 kg | 11.0 °C | 7.9 h | 0.4 mm | 5h 48m |
| Alicante, Spain | Air | 495 kg | 13.3 °C | 8.5 h | 0.2 mm | 6h 6m |
| Melilla, Spain | Air | 576 kg | 15.2 °C | 8.9 h | 0.4 mm | 6h 36m |
| Bouarfa, Morocco | Air | 654 kg | 8.7 °C | 9.6 h | 0.0 mm | 7h |
| Luxor, Egypt | Air | 1,048 kg | 18.0 °C | 10.0 h | 0.0 mm | 9h 30m |
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 Bouarfa (654 kg, 9.6 h) to Luxor (1,048 kg, 10.0 h) buys 0.4 hours more sunshine for an extra 393 kg — 983 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
WhitehavenUnited Kingdom12.3 kg CO₂e returngrey and wetMarseilleFrance74.2 kg CO₂e returncold but brightLuxorEgypt1,048 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
December 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 Glasgow
December 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
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Oujda: Farajiibrahim, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Glasgow in December?
Luxor, Egypt, at 10.0 h. Reaching it emits 1,048 kg CO₂e return, travelling 9h 30m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Glasgow in December without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 7.5 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 48m (modelled), emitting 74.2 kg CO₂e return — though Luxor is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Glasgow to Luxor produce?
1,048 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.