Warmest places to go from Amsterdam in May
In May, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Amsterdam is Aswan, Egypt, averaging 31.5 °C across day and night and 12.0 h sun a day, about 8h 42m each way by air. Without flying, it is Lleida, Spain, averaging 19.1 °C across day and night, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 25× less carbon (36.6 kg CO₂e return against 921 kg).
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in May.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Amsterdam
Ranked on warmth in May 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 warmth each extra kilogram buys.
Aswan, Egypt31.5 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 42m · 921 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt31.2 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 30m · 882 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt30.0 °C · 12.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 24.5 °Cair ≈ 8h 24m · 917 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan28.2 °C · 12.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 8h 12m · 890 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco23.0 °C · 12.4 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 54m · 647 kg CO₂e return
Tataouine, Tunisia22.9 °C · 11.4 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 24m · 555 kg CO₂e return
Marrakesh, Morocco22.5 °C · 12.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 6h 54m · 637 kg CO₂e return
Adana, Turkey22.0 °C · 11.6 h sun a day · 3.6 mm rain a dayair ≈ 7h 24m · 734 kg CO₂e return- Nicosia, Cyprus21.9 °C · 12.5 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.0 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 741 kg CO₂e return
Limassol, Cyprus21.9 °C · 12.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 30m · 747 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Lleida is 19.1 °C for 36.6 kg — about 25× less carbon than flying to Aswan.
Lleida, Spain19.1 °C · 13.0 h sun a day · 1.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 42m · 36.6 kg CO₂e return
Zaragoza, Spain18.8 °C · 13.1 h sun a day · mostly dryrail ≈ 14h 24m · 37.4 kg CO₂e return- Reus, Spain18.1 °C · 13.0 h sun a day · 1.9 mm rain a day · sea 18.2 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 37.8 kg CO₂e return
Perpignan, France17.9 °C · 11.3 h sun a day · 1.6 mm rain a day · sea 16.0 °Crail ≈ 11h 12m · 32.1 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France17.6 °C · 11.5 h sun a day · 2.4 mm rain a day · sea 17.8 °Crail ≈ 11h 54m · 28.9 kg CO₂e return- Barcelona, Spain17.2 °C · 12.5 h sun a day · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 17.8 °Crail ≈ 12h 54m · 36.6 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 warmest place you can reach from Amsterdam in May within 15 hours is Luxor, 31.2 °C, costing 882 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Duisburg at 4.9 kg — 180× less carbon, for 16.6 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in May 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 Alzira can only be reached by air — 384 kg CO₂e, in 5h 30m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 45.0 kg in 18h 6m — 9× less carbon for 12h 36m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duisburg, Germany | Rail | 4.9 kg | 14.6 °C | 11.2 h | 3.6 mm | 4h 24m |
| Mainz, Germany | Rail | 10.5 kg | 15.3 °C | 10.6 h | 2.9 mm | 6h 24m |
| Milan, Italy | Rail | 24.5 kg | 16.9 °C | 9.6 h | 9.3 mm | 13h 12m |
| Pordenone, Italy | Rail | 26.8 kg | 17.6 °C | 9.5 h | 9.5 mm | 14h 24m |
| Cannes, France | Rail | 29.3 kg | 18.0 °C | 11.8 h | 2.1 mm | 11h 54m |
| Lleida, Spain | Rail | 36.6 kg | 19.1 °C | 13.0 h | 1.4 mm | 14h 42m |
| Alzira, Spain | Air | 384 kg | 20.3 °C | 12.2 h | 1.3 mm | 5h 30m |
| Córdoba, Spain | Air | 447 kg | 21.3 °C | 12.2 h | 1.0 mm | 5h 54m |
| Gafsa, Tunisia | Air | 508 kg | 22.9 °C | 11.7 h | 1.2 mm | 6h 12m |
| Metlaoui, Tunisia | Air | 510 kg | 23.8 °C | 11.8 h | 0.8 mm | 6h 12m |
| Tozeur, Tunisia | Air | 520 kg | 25.8 °C | 11.6 h | 0.6 mm | 6h 18m |
| Recani, Morocco | Air | 619 kg | 26.6 °C | 12.1 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 48m |
| Zagora, Morocco | Air | 655 kg | 27.6 °C | 12.4 h | 0.0 mm | 7h |
| Nag Hammadi, Egypt | Air | 869 kg | 30.4 °C | 12.0 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 24m |
| Luxor, Egypt | Air | 882 kg | 31.2 °C | 12.0 h | 0.0 mm | 8h 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 Lleida (36.6 kg, 19.1 °C) to Alzira (384 kg, 20.3 °C) buys 1.2 °C more warmth for an extra 347 kg — 289 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
LleidaSpain36.6 kg CO₂e returnwarm overallLuxorEgypt882 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
May 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 Luxor
Places to stay in Luxor, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Luxor →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 Amsterdam
May 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
- Lleida: Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 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
- Tataouine: Averater, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Marrakesh: Donar Reiskoffer, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Adana: Anatolianpride, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Limassol: Xaris333, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Zaragoza: Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Perpignan: Jean Tosti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Nice: Moody Dreiza (Moody751 at English Wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Amsterdam in May?
Luxor, Egypt, at 31.2 °C. Reaching it emits 882 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 30m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Amsterdam in May without flying?
Yes. Lleida reaches 19.1 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 36.6 kg CO₂e return — though Luxor is warmer still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Amsterdam to Luxor produce?
882 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.