Lisbon · September · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Lisbon in September

In September, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Lisbon is Alexandria, Egypt, 11.9 h of sun a day and 27.4 °C, about 8h 18m each way by air. Without flying, it is Granada, Spain, 11.5 h of sun a day, about 9h 24m each way by train, for about 60× less carbon (15.2 kg CO₂e return against 913 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Lisbon

Ranked on sunshine in September 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.

Alexandria, Egypt11.9 h · 27.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 28.7 °Cair ≈ 8h 18m · 913 kg CO₂e return
Marmaris, Turkey11.8 h · 26.5 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 54m · 823 kg CO₂e return
Fethiye, Turkey11.8 h · 26.0 °C · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 27.7 °Cair ≈ 8h · 843 kg CO₂e return
Bodrum, Turkey11.8 h · 26.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 26.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 804 kg CO₂e return
Rhodes, Greece11.8 h · 27.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 27.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 825 kg CO₂e return
Damietta, Egypt11.7 h · 27.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 28.8 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 886 kg CO₂e return
Al Fayyum, Egypt11.7 h · 30.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 36m · 889 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus11.6 h · 26.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 27.4 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 879 kg CO₂e return
Amman, Jordan11.6 h · 24.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h · 964 kg CO₂e return
Heraklion, Greece11.6 h · 24.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 25.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 36m · 767 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Granada is 11.5 h for 15.2 kg — about 60× less carbon than flying to Alexandria.

Granada, Spain11.5 h · 21.6 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 9h 24m · 15.2 kg CO₂e return
Marbella, Spain11.3 h · 23.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 22.4 °Crail ≈ 8h 24m · 13.2 kg CO₂e return
Almería, Spain11.3 h · 24.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 25.1 °Crail ≈ 11h · 18.4 kg CO₂e return
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain11.1 h · 22.6 °C · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 22.6 °Crail ≈ 7h · 10.3 kg CO₂e return
Portimão, Portugal10.8 h · 21.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 19.3 °Crail ≈ 4h 6m · 5.4 kg CO₂e return
Porto, Portugal10.4 h · 18.7 °C · 3.9 mm rain a day · sea 16.3 °Crail ≈ 4h 24m · 8.1 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 September within 15 hours is Alexandria, 11.9 h, costing 913 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Portalegre at 4.8 kg — 190× less carbon, for 1.5 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in September 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, September, departing Lisbon. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

September from Lisbon — 4 destinations on the frontier, 3 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Portalegre, Portugal	Rail	4.8 kg	20.2 °C	10.4 h	2.1 mm	3h 48m
Faro, Portugal	Rail	6.4 kg	22.1 °C	10.9 h	0.7 mm	4h 30m
Málaga, Spain	Rail	13.9 kg	23.6 °C	11.4 h	1.6 mm	8h 48m
Alexandria, Egypt	Air	913 kg	27.4 °C	11.9 h	0.0 mm	8h 18m

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 Málaga (13.9 kg, 11.4 h) to Alexandria (913 kg, 11.9 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 899 kg — 1797 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

PortalegrePortugal4.8 kg CO₂e return20.2 °C · 10.4 h sun · 3h 48m by railwarm overall MálagaSpain13.9 kg CO₂e return23.6 °C · 11.4 h sun · 8h 48m by railwarm overall

AlexandriaEgypt913 kg CO₂e return27.4 °C · 11.9 h sun · 8h 18m by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

September 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 Alexandria

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

Search places to stay in Alexandria →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

September from elsewhere

Photo credits

Portalegre: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Alexandria: ASaber91, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marmaris: Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fethiye: https://www.flickr.com/photos/astolath/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bodrum: The 3B's, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rhodes: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Damietta: Mohamed Eissa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Al Fayyum: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Limassol: Xaris333, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amman: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Heraklion: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Almería: Javier rodriguez jimenez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jerez de la Frontera: Jerezplataforma, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Portimão: Jose A., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

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

Alexandria, Egypt, at 11.9 h. Reaching it emits 913 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 18m each way by air (modelled).

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

Yes. Málaga reaches 11.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 8h 48m (modelled), emitting 13.9 kg CO₂e return — though Alexandria is sunnier still, if you fly.

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

913 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.