Warmest places to go from Cardiff in February
In February, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Cardiff is Maspalomas, Spain, averaging 18.8 °C across day and night and 10.4 h sun a day, about 7h 18m each way by air. Without flying, it is Perpignan, France, averaging 10.4 °C across day and night, about 14h 6m each way by train, for about 15× less carbon (46.7 kg CO₂e return against 713 kg).
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in February.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Cardiff
Ranked on warmth in February 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.
Maspalomas, Spain18.8 °C · 10.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 18m · 713 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt18.6 °C · 10.0 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 54m · 953 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain18.0 °C · 10.1 h sun a day · 1.5 mm rain a day · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 12m · 703 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt17.7 °C · 10.3 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,011 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain17.6 °C · 10.3 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 12m · 700 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt17.6 °C · 9.9 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 22.5 °Cair ≈ 9h · 958 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco17.3 °C · 9.1 h sun a day · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 17.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 42m · 604 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan16.4 °C · 9.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 22.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 48m · 931 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco15.9 °C · 8.8 h sun a day · 2.3 mm rain a day · sea 17.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 30m · 575 kg CO₂e return
Ponta Delgada, Portugal15.1 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 5.0 mm rain a day · sea 16.9 °Cair ≈ 6h 36m · 586 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Perpignan is 10.4 °C for 46.7 kg — about 15× less carbon than flying to Maspalomas.
Perpignan, France10.4 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 1.5 mm rain a day · sea 12.8 °Crail ≈ 14h 6m · 46.7 kg CO₂e return
Toulon, France10.2 °C · 8.0 h sun a day · 2.7 mm rain a day · sea 14.0 °Crail ≈ 13h · 47.6 kg CO₂e return
Nice, France9.7 °C · 8.1 h sun a day · 4.0 mm rain a day · sea 14.1 °Crail ≈ 14h 48m · 47.3 kg CO₂e return
Marseille, France9.3 °C · 8.3 h sun a day · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 13.7 °Crail ≈ 12h 12m · 46.6 kg CO₂e return
Truro, United Kingdom8.2 °C · 4.5 h sun a day · 3.8 mm rain a day · sea 10.1 °Crail ≈ 4h 12m · 15.2 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 Cardiff in February within 15 hours is Maspalomas, 18.8 °C, costing 713 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Portsmouth at 13.2 kg — 54× less carbon, for 11.1 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in February 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 Alicante can only be reached by air — 371 kg CO₂e, in 5h 30m. Allow up to 24 hours and the train does the same journey for 60.2 kg in 22h 18m — 6× less carbon for 16h 48m more travelling.
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth, United Kingdom | Rail | 13.2 kg | 7.7 °C | 4.3 h | 3.0 mm | 3h 54m |
| Newquay, United Kingdom | Rail | 14.3 kg | 8.6 °C | 4.6 h | 4.1 mm | 4h 6m |
| Lannion, France | Rail | 28.5 kg | 8.9 °C | 4.7 h | 2.8 mm | 13h 18m |
| Perpignan, France | Rail | 46.7 kg | 10.4 °C | 7.9 h | 1.5 mm | 14h 6m |
| Vila do Conde, Portugal | Air | 303 kg | 11.6 °C | 8.5 h | 3.9 mm | 5h 6m |
| Alicante, Spain | Air | 371 kg | 13.0 °C | 8.9 h | 0.5 mm | 5h 30m |
| Almería, Spain | Air | 410 kg | 14.1 °C | 9.2 h | 0.3 mm | 5h 42m |
| Melilla, Spain | Air | 453 kg | 14.9 °C | 9.3 h | 1.3 mm | 5h 54m |
| Essaouira, Morocco | Air | 575 kg | 15.9 °C | 8.8 h | 2.3 mm | 6h 30m |
| Taroudant, Morocco | Air | 599 kg | 17.8 °C | 8.9 h | 1.6 mm | 6h 42m |
| Maspalomas, Spain | Air | 713 kg | 18.8 °C | 10.4 h | 0.6 mm | 7h 18m |
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 Perpignan (46.7 kg, 10.4 °C) to Vila do Conde (303 kg, 11.6 °C) buys 1.2 °C more warmth for an extra 256 kg — 213 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
PortsmouthUnited Kingdom13.2 kg CO₂e returncoolPerpignanFrance46.7 kg CO₂e returnmild and brightMaspalomasSpain713 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
February 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 Maspalomas
Places to stay in Maspalomas, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Maspalomas →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 Cardiff
February 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
- Portsmouth: en:User:AlanFord, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Perpignan: Jean Tosti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, 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
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ponta Delgada: Maximilian Schönherr, 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
- Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Truro: Tim Green, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Cardiff in February?
Maspalomas, Spain, at 18.8 °C. Reaching it emits 713 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 18m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Cardiff in February without flying?
Yes. Perpignan reaches 10.4 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 6m (modelled), emitting 46.7 kg CO₂e return — though Maspalomas is warmer still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Cardiff to Maspalomas produce?
713 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.