Zurich · December · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Zurich in December

In December, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Zurich is Aswan, Egypt, 10.1 h of sun a day and 18.7 °C, about 8h each way by air. Without flying, it is Barcelona, Spain, 7.7 h of sun a day, about 13h 18m each way by train, for about 34× less carbon (24.7 kg CO₂e return against 847 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Zurich

Ranked on sunshine in December 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, Egypt10.1 h · 18.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h · 847 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.0 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 48m · 806 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt9.8 h · 19.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 7h 42m · 788 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.4 h · 19.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 760 kg CO₂e return
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.3 h · 18.9 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 755 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.3 h · 19.1 °C · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 750 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.3 h · 10.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 30m · 567 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.2 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 758 kg CO₂e return
Ifrane, Morocco9.2 h · 6.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 6m · 483 kg CO₂e return
Oujda, Morocco9.1 h · 11.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 42m · 417 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Barcelona is 7.7 h for 24.7 kg — about 34× less carbon than flying to Aswan.

Barcelona, Spain7.7 h · 9.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 15.8 °Crail ≈ 13h 18m · 24.7 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France7.5 h · 9.2 °C · 1.4 mm rain a day · sea 15.8 °Crail ≈ 8h 6m · 12.4 kg CO₂e return
Marseille, France7.5 h · 9.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 14.5 °Crail ≈ 9h 30m · 15.2 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France7.4 h · 10.2 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 15.2 °Crail ≈ 9h 24m · 15.2 kg CO₂e return
Huesca, Spain7.3 h · 6.8 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 30m · 27.0 kg CO₂e return
Girona, Spain7.3 h · 8.2 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 12h 48m · 22.1 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 Zurich in December within 15 hours is Aswan, 10.1 h, costing 847 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Lugano at 4.5 kg — 188× less carbon, for 3.6 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in December 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 Zurich. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against sunshine, December, departing Zurich. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

What the 15-hour limit costs: at this budget Almería can only be reached by air — 372 kg CO₂e, in 5h 30m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 43.6 kg in 22h 48m — 9× less carbon for 17h 18m more travelling.

December from Zurich — 7 destinations on the frontier, 3 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Lugano, Switzerland	Rail	4.5 kg	5.9 °C	6.5 h	1.1 mm	3h 30m
Cuneo, Italy	Rail	10.0 kg	3.5 °C	7.3 h	0.9 mm	6h 54m
Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain	Rail	25.5 kg	8.5 °C	7.8 h	0.6 mm	14h 24m
Palma, Spain	Air	249 kg	12.4 °C	8.3 h	0.6 mm	4h 48m
Almería, Spain	Air	372 kg	13.5 °C	8.9 h	0.2 mm	5h 30m
Bouarfa, Morocco	Air	471 kg	8.7 °C	9.6 h	0.0 mm	6h
Aswan, Egypt	Air	847 kg	18.7 °C	10.1 h	0.0 mm	8h

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 Bouarfa (471 kg, 9.6 h) to Aswan (847 kg, 10.1 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 376 kg — 751 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

LuganoSwitzerland4.5 kg CO₂e return5.9 °C · 6.5 h sun · 3h 30m by railcool

Vilafranca del PenedèsSpain25.5 kg CO₂e return8.5 °C · 7.8 h sun · 14h 24m by railcold but bright

AswanEgypt847 kg CO₂e return18.7 °C · 10.1 h sun · 8h by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

December 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 Aswan

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

Search places to stay in Aswan →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 Zurich

December from elsewhere

Photo credits

Lugano: Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Vilafranca del Penedès: Pere López Brosa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Oujda: Farajiibrahim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nice: Moody Dreiza (Moody751 at English Wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Toulon: Rafi88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Girona: Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Pirineu de Girona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the sunniest place to go from Zurich in December?

Aswan, Egypt, at 10.1 h. Reaching it emits 847 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere sunny from Zurich in December without flying?

Yes. Vilafranca del Penedès reaches 7.8 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 24m (modelled), emitting 25.5 kg CO₂e return — though Aswan is sunnier still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Zurich to Aswan produce?

847 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.