Lisbon · October · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Lisbon in October

In October, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Lisbon is Aswan, Egypt, 11.0 h of sun a day and 29.1 °C, about 9h 12m each way by air. Without flying, it is Benidorm, Spain, 9.7 h of sun a day, about 13h 18m each way by train, for about 43× less carbon (23.1 kg CO₂e return against 998 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Lisbon

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 12m · 998 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt11.0 h · 28.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h · 971 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10.9 h · 29.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 28.3 °Cair ≈ 9h 6m · 977 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus10.8 h · 23.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 879 kg CO₂e return
Paphos, Cyprus10.7 h · 22.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 24m · 930 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain10.7 h · 24.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.0 °Cair ≈ 5h 18m · 341 kg CO₂e return
Konya, Turkey10.6 h · 14.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 18m · 906 kg CO₂e return
Antalya, Turkey10.6 h · 21.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 8h 6m · 875 kg CO₂e return
Alanya, Turkey10.6 h · 22.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.8 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 906 kg CO₂e return
Nicosia, Cyprus10.4 h · 21.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.5 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 881 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Benidorm is 9.7 h for 23.1 kg — about 43× less carbon than flying to Aswan.

Benidorm, Spain9.7 h · 20.7 °C · 1.4 mm rain a day · sea 23.2 °Crail ≈ 13h 18m · 23.1 kg CO₂e return
Elche, Spain9.4 h · 20.5 °C · 2.1 mm rain a day · sea 23.2 °Crail ≈ 12h 36m · 21.7 kg CO₂e return
Granada, Spain9.3 h · 17.8 °C · 2.1 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 9h 24m · 15.2 kg CO₂e return
Almería, Spain9.3 h · 21.5 °C · 2.3 mm rain a day · sea 21.1 °Crail ≈ 11h · 18.4 kg CO₂e return
Portimão, Portugal8.9 h · 19.8 °C · 4.0 mm rain a day · sea 20.1 °Crail ≈ 4h 6m · 5.4 kg CO₂e return
Biarritz, France7.3 h · 17.6 °C · 4.7 mm rain a day · sea 20.0 °Crail ≈ 13h 54m · 24.4 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 October within 15 hours is Luxor, 11.0 h, costing 971 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Figueira da Foz Municipality at 4.7 kg — 207× less carbon, for 3.8 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.

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, October, departing Lisbon. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

October from Lisbon — 6 destinations on the frontier, 3 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Figueira da Foz Municipality, Portugal	Rail	4.7 kg	18.4 °C	7.2 h	6.6 mm	3h 48m
Portimão, Portugal	Rail	5.4 kg	19.8 °C	8.9 h	4.0 mm	4h 6m
Motril, Spain	Rail	16.0 kg	20.2 °C	9.4 h	2.4 mm	9h 48m
Essaouira, Morocco	Air	202 kg	21.4 °C	10.2 h	1.0 mm	4h 36m
Icod de los Vinos, Spain	Air	339 kg	23.1 °C	10.5 h	0.7 mm	5h 18m
Luxor, Egypt	Air	971 kg	28.4 °C	11.0 h	0.0 mm	9h

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 Icod de los Vinos (339 kg, 10.5 h) to Luxor (971 kg, 11.0 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 632 kg — 1265 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

Figueira da Foz MunicipalityPortugal4.7 kg CO₂e return18.4 °C · 7.2 h sun · 3h 48m by railwarm but wet MotrilSpain16.0 kg CO₂e return20.2 °C · 9.4 h sun · 9h 48m by railwarm overall

LuxorEgypt971 kg CO₂e return28.4 °C · 11.0 h sun · 9h by airwarm, bright and dry

The 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 Lisbon

October from elsewhere

Photo credits

Figueira da Foz Municipality: Threeohsix, 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
Benidorm: Simon Cobb, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Almería: Javier rodriguez jimenez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Portimão: Jose A., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biarritz: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

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

Luxor, Egypt, at 11.0 h. Reaching it emits 971 kg CO₂e return, travelling 9h each way by air (modelled).

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

Yes. Motril reaches 9.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 9h 48m (modelled), emitting 16.0 kg CO₂e return — though Luxor is sunnier still, if you fly.

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

971 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.