Lisbon · March · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Lisbon in March

In March, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Lisbon is Luxor, Egypt, 11.4 h of sun a day and 22.7 °C, about 9h each way by air. Without flying, it is Benidorm, Spain, 10.4 h of sun a day, about 13h 18m each way by train, for about 42× less carbon (23.1 kg CO₂e return against 971 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Lisbon

Ranked on sunshine in March 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.

Luxor, Egypt11.4 h · 22.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h · 971 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain11.3 h · 21.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.2 °Cair ≈ 5h 18m · 341 kg CO₂e return
Assiut, Egypt11.3 h · 20.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 48m · 922 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt11.2 h · 23.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 12m · 998 kg CO₂e return
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain11.1 h · 18.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 5h 18m · 331 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain11.1 h · 18.9 °C · 1.4 mm rain a day · sea 20.2 °Cair ≈ 5h 18m · 331 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco10.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 4h 42m · 224 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco10.8 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.1 °Cair ≈ 4h 36m · 202 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco10.7 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.6 °Cair ≈ 4h 42m · 233 kg CO₂e return
Sousse, Tunisia10.6 h · 16.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 16.0 °Cair ≈ 5h 54m · 447 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Benidorm is 10.4 h for 23.1 kg — about 42× less carbon than flying to Luxor.

Benidorm, Spain10.4 h · 15.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 15.1 °Crail ≈ 13h 18m · 23.1 kg CO₂e return
Lleida, Spain10.4 h · 12.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 48m · 26.3 kg CO₂e return
Elche, Spain10.2 h · 15.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 15.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 36m · 21.7 kg CO₂e return
Almería, Spain10.2 h · 16.7 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 15.5 °Crail ≈ 11h · 18.4 kg CO₂e return
Portimão, Portugal9.5 h · 14.8 °C · 2.7 mm rain a day · sea 15.6 °Crail ≈ 4h 6m · 5.4 kg CO₂e return
Coimbra, Portugal8.7 h · 12.9 °C · 4.7 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 4h 6m · 5.2 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 Lisbon in March within 15 hours is Arrecife, 11.4 h, costing 291 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Coimbra at 5.2 kg — 56× less carbon, for 2.7 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in March and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.

Where they are. Solid lines are rail or ferry, dashed are flights, from Lisbon. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against sunshine, March, departing Lisbon. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

March from Lisbon — 5 destinations on the frontier, 3 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Coimbra, Portugal	Rail	5.2 kg	12.9 °C	8.7 h	4.7 mm	4h 6m
Portimão, Portugal	Rail	5.4 kg	14.8 °C	9.5 h	2.7 mm	4h 6m
Almería, Spain	Rail	18.4 kg	16.7 °C	10.2 h	1.3 mm	11h
Essaouira, Morocco	Air	202 kg	17.1 °C	10.8 h	1.1 mm	4h 36m
Arrecife, Spain	Air	291 kg	18.4 °C	11.4 h	0.3 mm	5h

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 Almería (18.4 kg, 10.2 h) to Essaouira (202 kg, 10.8 h) buys 0.6 hours more sunshine for an extra 184 kg — 306 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

CoimbraPortugal5.2 kg CO₂e return12.9 °C · 8.7 h sun · 4h 6m by railmild and bright

AlmeríaSpain18.4 kg CO₂e return16.7 °C · 10.2 h sun · 11h by railwarm overall ArrecifeSpain291 kg CO₂e return18.4 °C · 11.4 h sun · 5h by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

March 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 Arrecife

Places to stay in Arrecife, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.

Search places to stay in Arrecife →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 Lisbon

March from elsewhere

Photo credits

Coimbra: Luca Boldrini, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Almería: Javier rodriguez jimenez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Assiut: Hypatia Foundation, CC BY 3.0, 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
Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sousse: BishkekRocks 15:01, 29 December 2005 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Benidorm: Simon Cobb, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lleida: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Portimão: Jose A., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the sunniest place to go from Lisbon in March?

Arrecife, Spain, at 11.4 h. Reaching it emits 291 kg CO₂e return, travelling 5h each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere sunny from Lisbon in March without flying?

Yes. Almería reaches 10.2 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 11h (modelled), emitting 18.4 kg CO₂e return — though Arrecife is sunnier still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Lisbon to Arrecife produce?

291 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.