Sunniest places to go from Zurich in March
In March, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Zurich is Luxor, Egypt, 11.4 h of sun a day and 22.7 °C, about 7h 48m each way by air. Without flying, it is Lleida, Spain, 10.4 h of sun a day, about 14h 54m each way by train, for about 31× less carbon (26.4 kg CO₂e return against 806 kg).
The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Zurich
Ranked on sunshine in March 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.
Luxor, Egypt11.4 h · 22.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 48m · 806 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain11.3 h · 21.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 760 kg CO₂e return
Assiut, Egypt11.3 h · 20.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 30m · 751 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt11.2 h · 23.4 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h · 847 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain11.1 h · 18.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 755 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain11.1 h · 18.9 °C · 1.4 mm rain a day · sea 20.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 750 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco10.8 h · 16.8 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 30m · 567 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco10.8 h · 17.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 36m · 591 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco10.7 h · 18.3 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.6 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 614 kg CO₂e return
Sousse, Tunisia10.6 h · 16.4 °C · mostly dry · sea 16.0 °Cair ≈ 5h 12m · 326 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Lleida is 10.4 h for 26.4 kg — about 31× less carbon than flying to Luxor.
Lleida, Spain10.4 h · 12.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 54m · 26.4 kg CO₂e return- Barcelona, Spain10.2 h · 12.9 °C · 1.2 mm rain a day · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 13h 18m · 24.7 kg CO₂e return
- Taranto, Italy10.1 h · 13.1 °C · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 14.5 °Crail ≈ 14h 24m · 30.5 kg CO₂e return
Girona, Spain9.9 h · 12.5 °C · 1.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 12h 48m · 22.1 kg CO₂e return- Catanzaro, Italy9.8 h · 12.3 °C · 1.9 mm rain a day · sea 14.5 °Crail ≈ 15h · 33.8 kg CO₂e return
- Naples, Italy9.8 h · 12.5 °C · 2.9 mm rain a day · sea 14.9 °Crail ≈ 10h 6m · 25.3 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 Zurich in March within 15 hours is El-Tor, 11.4 h, costing 764 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Sion at 4.6 kg — 166× less carbon, for 3.9 hours less sunshine.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in March and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sion, Switzerland | Rail | 4.6 kg | 7.1 °C | 7.5 h | 6.7 mm | 3h 48m |
| Milan, Italy | Rail | 6.4 kg | 10.5 °C | 8.0 h | 3.9 mm | 4h 48m |
| Pinerolo, Italy | Rail | 8.6 kg | 9.0 °C | 8.7 h | 4.7 mm | 6h 12m |
| Grasse, France | Rail | 12.7 kg | 10.8 °C | 9.4 h | 5.2 mm | 8h 12m |
| Marseille, France | Rail | 15.2 kg | 11.6 °C | 9.6 h | 2.6 mm | 9h 30m |
| Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain | Rail | 22.4 kg | 12.9 °C | 10.2 h | 1.9 mm | 13h |
| Palma, Spain | Air | 249 kg | 14.4 °C | 10.7 h | 1.4 mm | 4h 48m |
| El-Tor, Egypt | Air | 764 kg | 20.9 °C | 11.4 h | 0.1 mm | 7h 30m |
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 Palma (249 kg, 10.7 h) to El-Tor (764 kg, 11.4 h) buys 0.7 hours more sunshine for an extra 515 kg — 736 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.
The pick of them
El-TorEgypt764 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
March 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 El-Tor
Places to stay in El-Tor, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in El-Tor →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
March 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
- El-Tor: Staselnik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Assiut: Hypatia Foundation, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, 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
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sousse: BishkekRocks 15:01, 29 December 2005 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lleida: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Girona: Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Pirineu de Girona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the sunniest place to go from Zurich in March?
El-Tor, Egypt, at 11.4 h. Reaching it emits 764 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 30m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere sunny from Zurich in March without flying?
Yes. Sant Feliu de Guíxols reaches 10.2 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 13h (modelled), emitting 22.4 kg CO₂e return — though El-Tor is sunnier still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Zurich to El-Tor produce?
764 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.