Sunniest places to go from Manchester in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Manchester is Aswan, Egypt, 10.0 h of sun a day and 16.8 °C, about 9h 18m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, 7.4 h of sun a day, about 12h 24m each way by train, for about 20× less carbon (50.6 kg CO₂e return against 1,027 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Manchester
Ranked on sunshine in January 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, Egypt10.0 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,027 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 9h · 970 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 6m · 988 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 48m · 939 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.7 h · 10.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 54m · 638 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.6 h · 19.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 36m · 770 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 7h · 662 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 756 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 54m · 633 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.4 h · 18.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 760 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 7.4 h for 50.6 kg — about 20× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France7.4 h · 8.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 24m · 50.6 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France7.2 h · 9.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.4 °Crail ≈ 13h 12m · 51.7 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France7.1 h · 8.9 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 14.7 °Crail ≈ 15h · 51.4 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France6.9 h · 6.4 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 12h · 48.1 kg CO₂e return- Turin, Italy6.2 h · 2.6 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 15h · 48.2 kg CO₂e return
- Geneva, Switzerland5.1 h · 3.1 °C · 3.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 12h 24m · 43.1 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 Manchester in January within 15 hours is Safaga, 10.0 h, costing 983 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Peterborough at 13.4 kg — 73× less carbon, for 5.1 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in January and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Tortosa can only be reached by air — 358 kg CO₂e, in 5h 24m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 56.2 kg in 18h 48m — 6× less carbon for 13h 24m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peterborough, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.4 kg | 5.0 °C | 4.9 h | 1.6 mm | 3h 54m |
| Chambéry, France | Rail | 44.5 kg | 4.2 °C | 5.5 h | 4.6 mm | 13h |
| Sion, Switzerland | Rail | 44.7 kg | 3.3 °C | 5.9 h | 3.2 mm | 14h 24m |
| Alès, France | Rail | 47.0 kg | 5.5 °C | 6.5 h | 1.0 mm | 13h 30m |
| Nîmes, France | Rail | 48.1 kg | 6.9 °C | 7.0 h | 1.2 mm | 12h 18m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 50.6 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 12h 24m |
| Tortosa, Spain | Air | 358 kg | 10.2 °C | 7.9 h | 0.6 mm | 5h 24m |
| Torrevieja, Spain | Air | 435 kg | 12.5 °C | 8.6 h | 0.4 mm | 5h 48m |
| Ifrane, Morocco | Air | 561 kg | 5.7 °C | 9.0 h | 1.2 mm | 6h 30m |
| Errachidia, Morocco | Air | 604 kg | 10.2 °C | 9.5 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 42m |
| Safaga, Egypt | Air | 983 kg | 18.9 °C | 10.0 h | 0.0 mm | 9h 6m |
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 Errachidia (604 kg, 9.5 h) to Safaga (983 kg, 10.0 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 378 kg — 757 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
PeterboroughUnited Kingdom13.4 kg CO₂e returncoolMarseilleFrance50.6 kg CO₂e returncold but bright
SafagaEgypt983 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
January 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 Safaga
Places to stay in Safaga, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Safaga →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 Manchester
January 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
- Peterborough: NotFromUtrecht, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Safaga: User:MatthiasKabel, 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
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Toulon: Rafi88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Nice: Moody Dreiza (Moody751 at English Wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, 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
Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Manchester in January?
Safaga, Egypt, at 10.0 h. Reaching it emits 983 kg CO₂e return, travelling 9h 6m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Manchester in January without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 7.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 12h 24m (modelled), emitting 50.6 kg CO₂e return — though Safaga is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Manchester to Safaga produce?
983 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.