Sunniest places to go from Sheffield in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Sheffield 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 18m each way by train, for about 21× less carbon (47.9 kg CO₂e return against 1,015 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Sheffield
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 · 1,015 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 9h · 959 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 6m · 977 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 48m · 927 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 · 774 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 7h · 663 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 760 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 54m · 634 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 · 763 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 7.4 h for 47.9 kg — about 21× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Marseille, France7.4 h · 8.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 12h 18m · 47.9 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France7.2 h · 9.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.4 °Crail ≈ 13h 6m · 48.9 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France7.1 h · 8.9 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 14.7 °Crail ≈ 14h 54m · 48.6 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France6.9 h · 6.4 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 11h 54m · 45.4 kg CO₂e return- Turin, Italy6.2 h · 2.6 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 54m · 45.4 kg CO₂e return
- Geneva, Switzerland5.1 h · 3.1 °C · 3.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 12h 18m · 40.3 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 Sheffield in January within 15 hours is Icod de los Vinos, 9.9 h, costing 767 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Colwyn Bay at 12.1 kg — 63× less carbon, for 6.2 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 — 354 kg CO₂e, in 5h 24m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 53.4 kg in 18h 42m — 7× less carbon for 13h 18m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colwyn Bay, United Kingdom | Rail | 12.1 kg | 6.2 °C | 3.7 h | 4.8 mm | 3h 42m |
| Cambridge, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.6 kg | 4.8 °C | 4.8 h | 1.6 mm | 3h 54m |
| Rennes, France | Rail | 29.9 kg | 5.9 °C | 5.1 h | 2.6 mm | 10h 42m |
| Sion, Switzerland | Rail | 41.9 kg | 3.3 °C | 5.9 h | 3.2 mm | 14h 18m |
| Alès, France | Rail | 44.2 kg | 5.5 °C | 6.5 h | 1.0 mm | 13h 24m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 47.9 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 12h 18m |
| Tortosa, Spain | Air | 354 kg | 10.2 °C | 7.9 h | 0.6 mm | 5h 24m |
| Torrevieja, Spain | Air | 431 kg | 12.5 °C | 8.6 h | 0.4 mm | 5h 48m |
| Almería, Spain | Air | 463 kg | 13.3 °C | 8.8 h | 0.2 mm | 6h |
| Errachidia, Morocco | Air | 603 kg | 10.2 °C | 9.5 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 42m |
| Icod de los Vinos, Spain | Air | 767 kg | 18.2 °C | 9.9 h | 0.2 mm | 7h 36m |
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 Marseille (47.9 kg, 7.4 h) to Tortosa (354 kg, 7.9 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 306 kg — 611 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
Colwyn BayUnited Kingdom12.1 kg CO₂e returngrey and wetMarseilleFrance47.9 kg CO₂e returncold but brightIcod de los VinosSpain767 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 Icod de los Vinos
Places to stay in Icod de los Vinos, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Icod de los Vinos →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 Sheffield
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
- Colwyn Bay: Dot Potter, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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 Sheffield in January?
Icod de los Vinos, Spain, at 9.9 h. Reaching it emits 767 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 36m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Sheffield in January without flying?
Yes. Marseille reaches 7.4 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 12h 18m (modelled), emitting 47.9 kg CO₂e return — though Icod de los Vinos is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Sheffield to Icod de los Vinos produce?
767 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.