Sunniest places to go from Stockholm in January
In January, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Stockholm is Aswan, Egypt, 10.0 h of sun a day and 16.8 °C, about 8h 54m each way by air. Without flying, it is Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 3.9 h of sun a day, about 14h 48m each way by train, for about 32× less carbon (30.0 kg CO₂e return against 957 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Stockholm
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 ≈ 8h 54m · 957 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt10.0 h · 18.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 881 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt9.9 h · 16.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 42m · 914 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 12m · 894 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.7 h · 10.1 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 24m · 923 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.6 h · 19.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,017 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco9.6 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 8h 36m · 895 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.5 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco9.5 h · 16.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 871 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.4 h · 18.8 °C · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,007 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Leeuwarden is 3.9 h for 30.0 kg — about 32× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands3.9 h · 4.6 °C · 3.3 mm rain a day · sea 7.1 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 30.0 kg CO₂e return
Groningen, The Netherlands3.9 h · 4.3 °C · 3.0 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 12m · 28.9 kg CO₂e return
Esbjerg, Denmark3.7 h · 3.2 °C · 4.4 mm rain a day · sea 4.8 °Crail ≈ 10h 24m · 21.2 kg CO₂e return- Emden, Germany3.5 h · 4.3 °C · 3.3 mm rain a day · sea 6.0 °Crail ≈ 13h 30m · 27.7 kg CO₂e return
- Eisleben Lutherstadt, Germany3.5 h · 2.5 °C · 1.6 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 13h 42m · 28.3 kg CO₂e return
Bremerhaven, Germany3.0 h · 3.8 °C · 3.5 mm rain a day · sea 5.5 °Crail ≈ 12h 18m · 25.6 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 Stockholm in January within 15 hours is Safaga, 10.0 h, costing 895 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Linköping at 5.1 kg — 175× less carbon, for 7.8 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 Trnava can only be reached by air — 306 kg CO₂e, in 5h 6m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 35.9 kg in 19h 30m — 9× less carbon for 14h 24m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linköping, Sweden | Rail | 5.1 kg | -0.9 °C | 2.2 h | 2.4 mm | 4h |
| Västervik, Sweden | Rail | 5.7 kg | 0.2 °C | 2.7 h | 2.6 mm | 4h 18m |
| Halmstad, Sweden | Rail | 12.6 kg | 1.1 °C | 3.2 h | 4.4 mm | 7h |
| Esbjerg, Denmark | Rail | 21.2 kg | 3.2 °C | 3.7 h | 4.4 mm | 10h 24m |
| Trnava, Slovakia | Air | 306 kg | 2.5 °C | 4.3 h | 2.0 mm | 5h 6m |
| Budapest, Hungary | Air | 331 kg | 2.5 °C | 4.7 h | 2.2 mm | 5h 18m |
| Innsbruck, Austria | Air | 355 kg | 1.9 °C | 5.6 h | 2.2 mm | 5h 24m |
| Merano, Italy | Air | 372 kg | 5.0 °C | 6.9 h | 1.0 mm | 5h 30m |
| Marseille, France | Air | 498 kg | 8.5 °C | 7.4 h | 0.9 mm | 6h 6m |
| Aigio, Greece | Air | 594 kg | 10.6 °C | 7.9 h | 3.4 mm | 6h 36m |
| Syracuse, Italy | Air | 624 kg | 12.2 °C | 8.7 h | 1.1 mm | 6h 48m |
| Gafsa, Tunisia | Air | 717 kg | 9.9 °C | 9.0 h | 0.0 mm | 7h 18m |
| Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt | Air | 868 kg | 18.9 °C | 9.9 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 24m |
| Safaga, Egypt | Air | 895 kg | 18.9 °C | 10.0 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 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 Esbjerg (21.2 kg, 3.7 h) to Trnava (306 kg, 4.3 h) buys 0.6 hours more sunshine for an extra 285 kg — 475 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
LinköpingSweden5.1 kg CO₂e returncoolEsbjergDenmark21.2 kg CO₂e returngrey and wet
SafagaEgypt895 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 Stockholm
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
- Linköping: Thuresson, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
- Esbjerg: No machine-readable author provided. Cnyborg assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Leeuwarden: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Groningen: Braun & Hogenberg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Bremerhaven: Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Stockholm in January?
Safaga, Egypt, at 10.0 h. Reaching it emits 895 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 36m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Stockholm in January without flying?
Yes. Esbjerg reaches 3.7 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 10h 24m (modelled), emitting 21.2 kg CO₂e return — though Safaga is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Stockholm to Safaga produce?
895 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.